Tears flowed after the La Conner Braves’ 13-2 Senior Day softball loss to Friday Harbor last Monday.

But the emotional release by La Conner players on May 4 wasn’t so much a reaction to the final score as it was to the reluctant acknowledgement that the tenure of popular Braves head coach Loran James was winding down.

Just 48 hours later, James coached the last game for his alma mater, a 17-7 setback in the season-ending La Conner-Friday Harbor rematch on San Juan Island.

James, who has been at the Braves’ softball helm for a decade and was on the La Conner football and basketball staffs prior to that, is leaving the coaching ranks to devote more time and energy to his new role as director of the Swinomish Education Department.

“He has a lot on his plate,” La Conner Middle and High School Principal/Director of Athletics Christine Tripp said of James this week.

A tribal fisher and former La Conner Schools classroom teacher, James has a well-known appetite for taking on varied and specialized roles in public education, Tripp noted.

“He always wants to give students a platform to be at their best and also share his knowledge and what he wants to teach,” she said.

Tripp alluded to James’ recent guidance of La Conner fourth and fifth graders with their construction and launch at the marina of remotely operated vehicles as part of a lesson blending elementary social studies with environmental science.

“Loran often uses activity to foster creativity, to engage kids in ways that lead to learning. He’s a great model for that kind of servant leadership,” Tripp explained. “The moral of the story is that kids learn through those lessons.”

A prime example has been his mentorship with the Braves softball program, where James has provided opportunities and encouraged countless student-athletes to play a varsity sport when they otherwise might not have made the attempt, helping build self-confidence and self-worth to last a lifetime.

“Loran is always so positive with the kids, regardless of the situation,” said Charlie Edwards, director of the Swinomish Boys & Girls Club.

That approach is one passed down to him by his late father, the legendary La Conner High coach Landy James, for whom the school’s gymnasium is named.

“You’re the coach that your father would’ve wanted you to be,” James’ daughter and Braves’ softball co-coach Taysha James-Sherman said during a ceremony honoring her dad after the team’s home finale with Friday Harbor last week.

“You stand for so much more than just winning games,” she said.

Loran James, like his father before him, was a standout athlete at La Conner. In the 1980s, he scored 30 points in a State B Basketball Tournament game at the old Spokane Coliseum, a contest that his dad coached.

Also like his father, James has repeatedly scored points for his ability to motivate players to perform at their best. But the salute given him by players, parents and fans after the Friday Harbor game left James nearly speechless.

“Normally I have something to say. But this time it’s difficult for me. If I can leave anything for these players, it’s the love of the game and the grit to succeed on a daily basis,” he said. “These are words that were given to me from my dad.

“That’s what gets me up every day,” James continued. “I really believe you players can do everything.”

Senior Kat Edwards, her voice cracking with emotion, spoke for the team, thanking James for his coaching style.

“The past four years have been the best,” she said.

As for a successor, La Conner Schools may not have to look far.

“Taysha was the team’s co-coach this year,” Tripp said, “and hopefully she’ll consider taking on the head (coaching) role.”

Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.