FARMINGTON – Roy Johnson, longtime high school sports coach with numerous state championships in wrestling and softball, has been inducted into the New Mexico High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Honor.
Johnson, a two-time state wrestling champion as a student at Carlsbad High School, is an assistant coach on the Piedra Vista High School staff. In a nearly 50-year career as a coach, Johnson coached the Farmington High wrestling team to three state championships, as well as leading the Aztec High School softball team to a state title in 2017.
Johnson has also served as an assistant coach for baseball and softball teams across the region, well as in places like Gadsden and Tohatchi.
Johnson arrived in Farmington in 1981 to be an assistant under Mike Enright, who coached the Scorpions football and wrestling teams, and is also an inductee into the NMHSCA Hall of Honor.
“(Enright) was my wrestling coach in Carlsbad, and he’s really been my mentor,” Johnson recalled. “He talked me to coming to Farmington, and we had a lot of success.”
Hard work and dedication to the betterment of student athletes is just one of the things Johnson is most grateful for in receiving this distinction.
“This is a great honor. I’m really happy to be inducted and that my coaching work and reaching kids' lives are being recognized,” said Johnson. “I thank my family for standing behind me. If you are going to be a coach you need the support of family and administrators and I’ve had that.”
Johnson was inducted into the Farmington High School Hall of Fame in 2013 for Softball and Wrestling. Johnson led the Lady Scorpions softball team to back-to-back appearances in the Class 4A state championship game.
Johnson was enshrined in the New Mexico Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009 and has been awarded Wrestling Coach of the Year titles six times in his career.
The New Mexico High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor is the highest award recognized in the NMHSCA and for the state of New Mexico. To be chosen as an NMHSCA Hall of Honor Inductee, the coach must have reached the pinnacle of coaching in New Mexico and be a member of the NMHSCA for a minimum of 20 years.
The Hall of Honor, which contains nearly 130 coaches and administrators across the state, was created in 1975 and includes local and regional coaches like Enright, as well as Herb Stinson, Marv Sanders, Bill Slade, John Gutierrez and Bill Cawood.
“I played baseball against (Cawood) as a student,” Johnson recalled. “I learned so much from the work and effort they put in as coaches and I tried to mentor myself after those people.”
In addition to the latest induction, Johnson has also been enshrined in the Carlsbad High School Hall of Fame in 1994.
Johnson recalled the 1992 state wrestling championship team he coached to success at Farmington as one of his greatest memories.
“If you work hard and believe in kids, they’re the ones who win state championships,” Johnson said. “I didn’t do one thing other than be a great cheerleader for these kids. But it was a such good moment.”
Winning championships and competing as a student athlete and winning championships as a coach are both accomplishments for which Johnson has tremendous respect.
“Being a state champion as a student is fun as yourself, but the gratitude of watching kids succeed is something so much different,” Johnson said. “Being able to give kids the skills to get better and be successful reaps benefits all around. Usually it’s the kids that put you there.”
