John Beam made a difference. The Chronicle wants to hear about Bay Area coaches who helped you

An image of Coach John Beam is displayed on the big screen during a memorial luminaria walk in honor of Laney College Coach John Beam in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. Beam had spent more than 40 years coaching, teaching and mentoring Oakland youth and beloved in the community before his shooting death in November. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle) In life, John Beam was remarkable for the impact he made on the lives of the people he worked with, coached, led and helped as a coach at Skyline High in Oakland and then Laney College. Generations of student-athletes - young men and women alike - benefited from his wisdom, patience and leadership.

>As we've written in the past, Coach Beam "helped thousands of young men gain self-esteem, improve their grades and achieve the ultimate goal for community college students: a bachelor's degree somewhere, anywhere, and a chance at a better life."

>Coach Beam made a difference over his 44 years as a coach and sports administrator. His example inspires action. Working with the Beam family and with Santa Clara University, the Chronicle has created the John Beam Community Action Award, to recognize and reward the women and men across the Bay Area who similarly make a difference

>This award is being chosen by the Chronicle's sports team in consultation with the Beam family, veteran journalists on the high school sports beat - and with your help.

>We want to hear from you, parents, sports fans, teachers, coaches active and retired, past and active players.

>Who do you think has best embodied the values that allowed Beam to have such an impact  in your school, in your community, in your lives?

>We're not just interested in the impact coaches make with their players on the field and during games, but in their communities. We're interested in wins and losses beyond the standings, measured in the lives of the young men and women beyond the field, and the futures they've helped make possible outside sports and school

>Testimonies and comments will be shared with the Beam family, who have their own award to celebrate his life and impact through Coach Beam's Legacy Foundation. The co-winners of that award in its first year were Virgil Hart, the head football and girls basketball coach at Hayward High School, and Charlie Ramirez, the head football coach at Pittsburg High.

>The other awards being created by the Chronicle and Santa Clara - to honor the Sports Innovator of the Year, the Ethics in Sports Business Award, the Athlete Game Changer Award and Sports Business Advocate Award - are being chosen by a panel of experts and sports stars that includes prominent figures such as soccer star and Bay FC executive Brandi Chastain, A's executive Billy Beane, WCC commissioner Stu Jackson, three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and Chronicle columnist Ann Killion.

>This award is different by design, because we know the impact that coaches make on the lives of young men and women. We look forward to hearing from you!

SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at John Beam made a difference. The Chronicle wants to hear about Bay Area coaches who helped you.