John Shipley
Coach
John Shipley joined the Harrisonburg City Public School System in 1985 as a teacher at HHS coaching the Freshman Football team. John brought with him an impressive personal sports resume including starter roles in both football and baseball in high school and college. As a junior defensive back at Annandale High School (VA) in 1971 John played on a football team that was the Northern Region Runner-up, losing to T.C. Williams (the “Remember the Titans” team). In 1972 his team was the Virginia AAA State Champion. In 1973 John played second base for the Annandale High School Baseball team. That year the team was Northern Region Runner-up.
From 1974 to 1977 John attended West Virginia University and started four years at second base. As a freshman, John led the team with a .404 batting average. Continuing his education in Athletic Training, he remained with the university as a Student Athletic Trainer (1977-1979).
From 1979 to 1985 John taught and coached in both the Christiansburg and Blacksburg school systems. From 1979 to 1985 at Blacksburg High School he was Head Athletic Trainer, Assistant Varsity Football Coach and Head Varsity Baseball Coach. The 1982 Blacksburg High School Baseball team was a Regional Runner-up and the football team was the State AA Runner-up.
John arrived at HHS in 1985. In football, the 1985 and 1987 Varsity Football teams were Regional Runner-up and the 1986 team was Regional Champion. John was freshman coach in 1985 and Varsity Football coach from 1986 to 1990.
John was assistant coach for the Varsity Baseball from 1985 to 1991. The 1987 team finished fourth in the district, winning their last seven games to make the District Playoff. The 1991 team was Regional Runner-up.
In 2013 John returned to coaching as Assistant Coach for the Valley Baseball League Champions, the Waynesboro Generals.
John was a dedicated teacher and administrator for the Harrisonburg City Public School system. He taught Earth Science and served as General Supervisor of Math, Science and Technology from 1991-1995. He also served as Assistant Principal at Thomas Harrison Middle School from 1995 to 2012. John was a member of the Exchange Club of Harrisonburg, serving as President and Treasurer.
John is retired and resides in Waynesboro, Virginia with his wife Sarah. John’s son Michael graduated from JMU in 2017 and now lives in Texas. His daughter Katy was All-State Cheerleader at Rockwell-Heath (TX) High School, 2015-16. She was also a member of the schools Power Lifting Team during the same time. Katy finished 10th overall in the 2015 State Meet. In the 2016 State Competition she finished 3rd overall and 1st in the Bench Press. Katy is currently a sophomore at the University of Arkansas.
