It feels like if anything notable in West Noble athletics has happened in the past forty years, these two were somehow connected to it. There’s evidence to quite a bit of athletic success that has followed Randy and Becky Younce as they served for four decades at West Noble, and the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (IIAAA) recognized the couple for their tireless work in Charger athletics with the Distinguished Service Award.
The Younces were honored Sunday evening at the IIAAA awards banquet in Indianapolis, where they were one of six Distinguished Service Award winners from around the state. The Younces represented District 2, which covers north/central Indiana.
Sorting through four decades of accomplishments for the couple took some time, but notably, both were involved in West Noble track for over 30 years, both in coaching and as starters, and both coached every level of boys and girls basketball for a better part of 36 years, both coaching with each other in the respective girls and boys varsity programs throughout the 1990s. Both also oversaw the middle school golf program for a decade, Randy also stepping into the high school coaching role with the both boys and girls programs.
The two also did high school radio broadcasts for a decade, and most recently this past fall, served on the football chain gang faithfully for their 37th year.
The Younces both retired from teaching this past school year, completing 40 years in the district. Randy taught biology, AP biology and anatomy while Becky taught middle school science. Both were student council sponsors, Becky for 35 years at the middle school and Randy for 10 years at the high school. Becky, the 2007 Walmart Teacher of the Year, organized a sixth grade outdoor school and canoe club, and organized a middle school spring fling that ran for 27 years. Randy, the 2000 Walmart Teacher of the Year, was the high school FCA sponsor for a quarter century, and was a CPR/First Aid trainer for 35 years.
The West Noble Memorial Gardens are also a product of the Younces, where Becky’s sixth grade class raised over $26,000 to start the project in 2004, which represents and honors West Noble and community ties to this day.
The Younces joined a short list of West Noble-based award winners for the IIAAA, which includes Media Coordinator Mike Deak, a 2022 Distinguished Service Award winner. Athletic Director Tom Schermerhorn was the 2019 IIAAA Athletic Administrator of the Year, and Gene Teel was named the IIAAA Middle School/Junior High Athletic Administrator of the Year in both 2016 and 2022.