Coach Lee Flappan began his 43-year career in 1953 as an assistant to the legendary Cecil Patterson at Southeast High School before a 16-year career at Pembroke Country-Day School in which he won four Catholic-Prep conference titles from 1961-1978.
Coach Flappan also helped to usher in the era of integration at Country-Day. Class of 1969 graduate Dr. Gerald Woods, who served as captain of the ‘68 team that finished ranked in the KC Area top 10, emphasized, “I was the first and only African-American player on those teams. Coach Flappan treated me fairly, without exclusion or bias. He promoted my development of leadership skills which saw me elected captain of my sprint team at Princeton.”
Through the 60’s and 70’s Lee was one of the few area coaches to employ the single wing offense, and additionally was an early area adopter of the run-and-shoot offense. Coach Flappan would go on to coach at Lee’s Summit and Ruskin during his career. Additionally, Lee was the victorious Missouri head coach in the 1984 MO-KAN All Star Game.
Former Pem-Day player Andy Cowherd felt Coach Flappan was a strong influence on him and many other young men. “He convinced us that even without access to the number and caliber of athletes that some of our competitor schools had, we could play as a team and win. He taught us that hard work in-season and in the off-season would yield benefits. He showed us the value of setting goals and trying to achieve them. Coach Flappan insured that we were students too. He insisted on standards of behavior and appearances that insured that his players were good representatives of our team and our school.”
Lee passed away in 2012 and is also a member of the Pembroke Hill Faculty and Staff Hall of Fame.
