DeMers inducted into Meet of Champions HOF

POST FALLS — Earlier this season, 1978 Sandpoint graduate and 1995 Sandpoint Hall of Fame inductee, David DeMers, was inducted into the District 1 Meet of Champions Coaches Hall of Fame.

DeMers, who had a stellar athletic career as a Bulldog, went on to attend Boise State on a football scholarship before being forced to quit due to knee injuries. Shortly after, DeMers found a renewed love for track and field and joined the Broncos, where he participated in the javelin throw and the decathlon. During his time in the program, he set a former school record (javelin) and several meet records along the way.

DeMers started his coaching and teaching career at Boise High, where he was a student teacher. In 1984, he was hired by Kuna High and coached three different sports — football, basketball, and track and field. In 1985, DeMers came back to Sandpoint and was hired as the high school’s new head track and field coach. Down the road, DeMers became the athletic director at Sandpoint Middle School, a position he held for 25 years, and in addition to track and field, coached football and basketball at the high school and middle school.

DeMers has now been coaching for over 40 years, 27 of those as a head coach. During his coaching tenure, his teams have won a multitude of regional and district titles and he has helped produce a plethora of individual state champions. Most notably, in 2003, the Sandpoint High boys’ track and field team won the 4A state championship and DeMers was named the 4A Boys’ Coach of the Year following the feat. 

After his retirement from SMS and the Lake Pend Oreille School District, the track complex was named in Demers’ honor. Even in retirement, DeMers is still active … he is currently a volunteer high jump and javelin coach at Sandpoint High. DeMers has received many awards in his career as a teacher, coach, and athletic director. A few of the most notable are when Demers was named Idaho Regional and National Runner-up for Athletic Director of the Year at the national conference for physical education and coaching held in Chicago in 2005. Most recently, Demers received the Track and Field Distinguished Coach of the Year Award from the Idaho State Coaches Association in 2021.

“This is a tremendous honor from my peers and it means so much to me,” DeMers said in reference to being inducted into the Meet of Champions HOF.

Demers said his greatest joy in coaching was being able to coach his own children in track and field. He said watching them grow and compete from middle school all the way to college was a wonderful thing. Demers also said he loved seeing students and athletes grow into wonderful citizens and that "paying it forward" was truly rewarding. DeMers wanted to thank all of his past coaches, students and the Sandpoint community for making his career special.