HENDERSON, Nev. (February 19, 2020) – Before something is great, there's always the story of 'The Climb' – the figurative rise to greatness.
 
In each such story, there is normally a central figure who helps to motivate, lead and envision something greater; a success story in a place where infrastructure is as foreign as lush vegetation in Boulder Canyon. If there was ever to be such a story written about the rise of the College of Southern Nevada baseball team, the central figure would certainly be late CSN baseball coach Tim Chambers.
 
Chambers, who served as a longtime skipper of the CSN program before becoming a successful coach at UNLV, was a baseball fixture in the Las Vegas Valley for decades, leading players who ranged from beginners to future Major League All-Stars to success. The longtime Coyotes coach passed away in 2019, with the program he helped build paying tribute his extraordinary tenure in a game against Okanagan College on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Morse Stadium.
 
CSN coach Nick Garritano, who first knew Chambers as a prep player (Chambers coached high school baseball at Bishop Gorman while Garritano starred at Chaparral), said their relationship blossomed in a fashion that was similar to the rise of the CSN program.
 
"We would coach against one another at the high school level for a few years and that is where Coach Chambers and I became better friends," he said. "We developed a great friendship that turned into many rounds of golf; we worked camps together and I enjoyed working closely with him to help our players at Green Valley High School go to CSN."
 
Personal relationships weren't the only lasting impact left by Chambers. He also created a sustainable culture that is part of the CSN program today, focused on 'family-first' thinking and a 'team-first' attitude on the field, according to Garritano. Additionally, the impressive infrastructure Southern Nevada enjoys today was largely credited to the vision of Chambers.
 
Dexter Irvin, CSN's Director of Athletics & Recreation, said the vision of Chambers when it came to baseball is what helped Southern Nevada develop as an entire athletic department.
 
"We owe in great measure the success of CSN Athletics to (Coach Chambers)," he said. "The beauty of Morse Stadium is a testament to his vision and hard work.  He was also skilled at managing the daily, weekly and yearly challenges of running intercollegiate teams on soft money.
 
"Coach Chambers was a master of my personal motto, 'find a way'. He was never defeated and always engaged in his approach to improvement, and we owe much of what we are now to his efforts and vision for this program and institution."
 
From a baseball-centric standpoint, Garritano noted how CSN's infrastructure is infused with the spirit of Chambers.
 
"When you walk into the main gates at Morse Stadium, it is simply the house that Tim Chambers built," he said. "He was the man that secured all of the funds for the field, rock seating, stadium seats, press box, lights, batting cages, scoreboard and the club house.  He developed a rich tradition that we have done the best we can to keep going.  Tim always had an amazing culture around CSN baseball.  He was much more than a baseball coach; he was a father figure to many of the players he coached."
 
As part of Thursday's ceremony, the College of Southern Nevada will present a bronze plaque to Chambers' wife, Kim, and his daughters, McKenzie and Chase. His family will also throw out the ceremonial first pitch.