Jim Erzar’s coaching career ended several years ago, but the accolades keep coming for the Ely native.
Last weekend, was inducted into the state high school coaches’ hall of fame.
That recognition came at a banquet in the Twin Cities, where Erzar was joined by family and friends as he received the honor bestowed by the Minnesota High School Coaches Association.
Erzar, who coached at Deer River from 1982 until 2017, was named to the state baseball coaches hall of fame 13 years ago, and the latest recognition comes from an organization that encompasses all high school sports in the state.
The latest hall of fame induction comes in the aftermath of a storied coaching career for Erzar, who grew up in Ely and graduated from Memorial High School in 1970.
He went on to teach and coach at Deer River, and amassed more than 400 wins as a high school baseball coach there, guiding teams to the State Class A tournament on three different occasions.
In 2011, Erzar was named the state’s Class A Coach of the Year and his teams were perennial contenders in Section 7A.
Erzar also built the baseball program at Deer River from the ground up, starting American Legion, VFW and Little League programs in the community, located just west of Grand Rapids.
But before he ever coached a game in Deer River, Erzar was already steeped in baseball knowledge and tradition.
As a player, he was part of district high school and American Legion championship teams in Ely, and he was involved in Ely’s summer program for several years after graduating.
Erzar coached VFW baseball in Ely for two summers and coached the now-defunct amateur Ely Blue Sox for three campaigns. He also worked at the baseball field, got his start on a better than 50-year career in officiating and helped install the wood poles for the original lighting system at Veterans Memorial Field.
Erzar remains active in the winter, journeying to gymnasiums across Minnesota and the upper Midwest as a basketball official at the high school, junior college and NCAA Division II levels.
