Ponaganset High School Athletic Hall of Fame
Induction Class of 2012
Paul Shawver
Coach 1971-2003: Girls Basketball, Baseball, Football, & Boys Basketball
Coach Shawver began his teaching career at Ponaganset Middle School in 1971. During his early years, Shawver served many roles within athletics, acting as an assistant football coach, a JV boys' basketball coach and both an assistant and head baseball coach before finally beginning his career as Ponaganset's head girls' basketball coach in 1978, just one year after moving to the high school to teach math and serve as the department head.
Realizing that a feeder system would greatly benefit the Chieftains' new program, Shawver started a girls' recreation youth basketball program with $300 he received from the Foster and Glocester Recreation Departments. The program would later be taken over by local parents and would go on to produce many talented players, all of whom would help make Ponaganset one of the top girls' basketball programs in Rhode Island.
Shawver served as the Ponaganset hoops boss for a quarter century, compiling an impressive 440-157 record (420-87 in the last 20 years). During his tenure, his teams won eight state titles, including seven in Division 1, took home 12 division titles and recorded a regular-season winning streak of 152 games. Many of his players were recognized with first team all-state honors and any more went on to prestigious college careers.
The Words Unlimited Schoolgirl Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1997, Shawver was named the 1999 National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Association District I Girls' Coach of the Year. He is a member of the North Providence Sports Hall of Fame, is a 2006 inductee into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame (His 1996 team was inducted in 2003) and was inducted into the RIIL Hall of Fame in 2010.
Shawver and his wife Barbara have lived in North Providence for the past 33 years. Despite retiring in 2003, he currently teaches math at LaSalle Academy, where he is still volunteering his talents with the girls' basketball program. He also continues to officiate Rhode Island Interscholastic football games, as he has for the past 30 years.