Coach

Frances Keir coached at Apex High School from 1977-1999. As one of the most influential coaches in Apex High School female athletics history, she is the first female coach selected into the Apex High School / Apex Consolidated Athletics Hall of Fame. 

As a coach at Apex, she had many notable accomplishments such as being the first coach of the integrated Apex High School to beat Cary in a women’s basketball game. She also coached the 1983-1984 basketball team to the state semi-finals (Final 4). On that team she had eight freshmen and by taking that team as far as she did, she received the “Key to the City ” in a postseason recognition ceremony from the Town of Apex. She organized and participated in creating the first softball field on Laura Duncan Road campus and she coached the first softball game on this campus (in the lower practice field area behind the stadium field). Other accomplishments include being the first women’s golf team coach and winning “Conference Coach of the Year” multiple times in men’s and women’s tennis. She started coaching at Apex in 1977 and coached until 1992. She later returned to coach both women’s and men’s golf and JV women’s basketball (42-0 record) when needed during her last few years before retiring from teaching. Her ability to take coaching principles and have success in such a variety of sports at our school for such a lengthy tenure in our school’s history is remarkable and hall-of-fame worthy. 

What is more important than her accomplishments in wins and losses is the type of mentor and friend Frances was and is to her athletes. Frances was demanding. Her philosophy was to “always play to win.”  Her teams played with discipline and anyone who played for her always mentions how important being in shape was to Coach Keir. The girls ran a lot, and she demanded a lot of them. However, she also had the ability to let them have fun when it was appropriate and the consistent theme with her former athletes is how much she cared for them as people. 

Frances has always had an amazing uplifting spirit. When they built the first softball field on the Laura Duncan Road campus, she didn’t know how to use the tractor, so she would drive her convertible Mustang around the field with the drag behind it before games. If you know Frances, that captures her spirit perfectly. Since retirement, she has lived at Topsail Beach and she has been playing a lot of golf and she has been an active member of the Emma Anderson Memorial Chapel. She participates in worship day responsibilities and she has gone on two missions to other countries while working for this church. She also helps collect supplies for Samaritan’s Purse and she also travels to Boone each year with other church members to participate in the Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox packaging event. 

Frances represents all that is good about Apex. She understood how to instill confidence in a team, yet she was able to remain sincerely humble. Frances deflects praise as a coach and instead will quickly tell you, “I had good players, it ain’t all about coaching!” Frances had outstanding players, but her players also had an outstanding coach. With all of her accomplishments and “firsts” that she was part of while at Apex, it is fitting that she is the first female coach to be inducted into the Apex High School / Apex Consolidated Hall of Fame.