semissourian
In the realm of Kennett athletics and the broader community, few individuals stand out as prominently as Chris Sledge. His impact is so profound that those who work alongside him struggle to find adequate words to describe his contributions.
Kennett High School boys basketball coach Seth McBroom, who has known Sledge for years, emphasizes the positivity Sledge brings to every situation. "Positive is a good word for him," McBroom remarked. "He's a positive influence and positive role model for kids and just people in general in the community there in Kennett. He's always willing to help out with whatever resource the school or a sports team may need—and then he's like that with the community as well, so I can't say enough positive things about him."
McBroom first encountered Sledge during his time as an educator and coach at Twin Rivers and Holcomb, but his appreciation for Sledge has only deepened since taking the helm of the basketball program in 2024. "He does a ton for the community," McBroom said. "I've known him for a long time before I got to Kennett, and he has just been a good, good person and a good resource friend to me over the years. Now that I get to be close by and see him in Kennett, I see what impact he has on not only the school, but more so the community here."
Longtime KHS football coach Joel Wyatt shares similar sentiments. Wyatt first crossed paths with Sledge while purchasing gear at Skeeter Kell during his coaching stint at Malden, but it was after moving to Kennett that he truly grasped Sledge's significance. "He was always in my corner if I needed him to reach out and talk to a kid to maybe see if he had interest in playing football, so that's how it started," Wyatt explained. "But since I moved back last year, it's grown a little bit for the simple fact his son (Zayden) will be a freshman. With his son going into high school and his son's friends playing football as well, Chris has just been a lifesaver as far as transportation. When these guys don't have rides, he's loading up four or five people to get them here or to get them here to weights or to get them here at practice."
Sledge was also instrumental in establishing a youth football program in Kennett, a move that has paid dividends as those young players now transition to the high school level. "He was one of the first, if not the first, to start the youth football program here and get that going back when his son was younger," Wyatt said. "He got that going, which was really good from a football standpoint. And no matter what the sport, he's going to be for Kennett, but now I think that's even more so since he's got a son that's going to be a freshman and going to be a three-sport player."
Former KHS athletic director and basketball coach Jim Vaughan, now assistant athletic director at Three Rivers College, offers high praise for Sledge. "Chris Sledge is 100% invaluable to not just the Kennett athletic department and the Kennett school district, but he is invaluable to the Kennett community," Vaughan said. "He is such a servant and a true blood, bleed-black-and-gold, kind of servant to that community. He's a Kennett Indian through and through. It's his hometown, obviously where he grew up, it's where he came back to set his roots and where he's raising his kids now. But he was seriously invested into the improvement of Kennett athletics and the Kennett community in general prior to him being married and having his own kids."
Vaughan also notes that Sledge's influence extends far beyond Kennett. "Chris Sledge serves so many athletic communities due to his job," Vaughan said. "He is so valuable to so many schools, not just in the Southeast Missouri area, but even out of state. But he's just a guy that is so much for young people improving, not just in athletics, but in their lives—and that's what he did before he became a husband and father."
Key Analysis
During Vaughan's tenure at Kennett, the Indians achieved significant postseason success, including a state quarterfinal run in boys basketball in 2010 and final four appearances in baseball in the early 2010s. Vaughan attributes much of that success to Sledge's foundational work with youth sports. "He coached kids before he had kids of his own, and I got to reap the benefits of that," Vaughan said. "Arguably the best groups that I had when I was coaching basketball there at Kennett were kids that he had coached when they were in grade school. He already instilled something in them—and that's what he does. He's a guy that instills the right kind of purpose, the right kind of drive and expectation out of kids. One of the biggest reasons for the success that I was able to incur there at Kennett has everything to do with Chris Sledge."
Originally reported by semissourian.