In a surprise ceremony on Tuesday, the city of Fort Thomas honored the man known to most simply as Coach Kenney. The city renamed basketball courts at Tower Park for Robert Kenney Shields, whose long and winning career has spanned more than three decades.
Shields served as basketball coach for St. Thomas High School for 10 years and spent 13 years at Highlands High School, before moving on to coach 16 more years at Northern Kentucky University. A sign at the courts now reads “Coach Kenney Shields Basketball Courts” and his signature, taken from a 1967 St. Thomas yearbook, is emblazoned across the court.
Celebrating a winning career
City officials, with the help of family and friends, planned for the honor and managed to keep the project secret to surprise the coach. They gathered with community members and former players and fellow coaches to pay tribute to his leadership and legacy in the community.
Shields was born in Covington but spent much of his adult life in Fort Thomas. He and his wife, Marie, have been residents of Fort Thomas since 1965. In addition to teaching and coaching at St. Thomas and Highlands, he also directed summer recreational programs for the city of Covington from 1961 to 1985, and for Fort Thomas from 1986 to 1988.
The coach holds the Greater Cincinnati area record with 766 career wins in 39 seasons as both a high school and college head basketball coach. At Highlands he won 261 games and five Ninth Region championships and Coach of the Year awards in 13 seasons. He also conducted free basketball camps at the armory for the youth in Fort Thomas for 35 summers and led numerous basketball camps at NKU and Sports of All Sorts for many years.
In 1995, he earned National College Coach of the year in NCAA Division II men’s basketball and guided NKU to two national championships earning runners-up honors in 1996 and 1997. He has been inducted into 12 Athletic Halls of Fame on national, regional and local levels. At least 55 of his former players have gone on to become coaches and/or teachers.
Teaching the fundamentals of basketball — and life
The Shields’ children (Dawn Hils, Gina New, Sally Brewer, Kenney Shields and Joy Smith) shared some details about their father’s life and career:
“…Camp youngsters, estimated to be greater than 20,000 in his career, often recall Coach’s inspirational stories — fundamentals of LIFE— even more than they remember the fundamentals of basketball. Not surprisingly, Ken Shields was a beloved classroom teacher here in Ft. Thomas and at NKU, as well,” they wrote.
“When asked what his greatest accomplishment is, Coach reveals it is the faith he shares with his wife, their five children known as the “starting five,” their spouses and the “Sweet 16” grandchildren. All live here in Ft. Thomas. In December, Coach, who is in his 58th year of marriage with Marie, will celebrate his 81st birthday.
“Coach Shields is genuinely interested in people, especially the youth of the community. He is personable, engaging and encouraging without fail. He has touched lives and had a positive influence on generations in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. A recent post on Twitter stated, ‘Coach Shields was my high school coach at Highlands. But, more importantly, he’s the best person I ever met. Period.’”
Mayor Eric Haas and Highlands Varsity Basketball Coach Kevin Listerman spoke at the ceremony to honor the coach, who thanked the city and the community for the honor.
