Steve Schuette estimates that his girls’ softball teams won 200 to 300 games when he was their coach at Cuba High School, and his teams won 50 to 60 more games than they lost.

Schuette has been a fixture in the Cuba High School sports community for over 40 years. And now, the state of Missouri has recognized him for his years of work and dedication. He was inducted into the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Jan. 10 in Columbia. Schuette was technically named to the Hall of Fame last year, but a winter storm pushed the ceremony back a year.

Robyn Eckhoff was one of Schuette’s former assistant coaches at Cuba High School and introduced him at the ceremony. Following his induction, Eckhoff made a Facebook post reflecting on what Schuette meant to her.

“He taught me coaching was more than balls and strikes and wins and losses. He taught me it was about relationships with the athletes; keeping up with the things they were involved in and letting them know we truly cared about them. Thank you, Steve, for investing in me, too,” Eckhoff shared.

Schuette coached Cuba’s softball team from 1983 to 2018. He came back to coach the Lady Wildcats in 2022 before retiring for good. Schuette also coached Cuba’s girls’ basketball team for 19 seasons and was Cuba’s athletic director for multiple years. 

Schuette grew up in Alma, Mo., a town of 300 people east of Kansas City. He said his love of softball started in the fifth grade, when he began playing fast-pitch softball. He played softball, baseball, football and ran track in high school before attending Central Missouri State University. He didn’t play sports in college and got a degree in safety, expecting to teach driver’s education. He said that he quickly realized that he wanted to be a coach and set out looking for jobs as a physical education teacher. Schuette said that every open position at the time had “stacks of applications,” and he spent his first year out of college working as a custodian at a local high school.

Schuette got his first coaching job one year later at Sweet Water High School, where he coached boys’ basketball and baseball. He remained at the school after the school consolidated with Larry City to form Lakeland High School. A couple of years later, he got his first opportunity to coach softball at Higbee High School. He described the school as “a little town not known for athletics that just started its softball program.” Schuette coached in Higbee for a few years before moving with the school’s superintendent to Pleasant Hope High School near Springfield, where he coached girls’ basketball. 

In 1983, Schuette was called for an interview to be Cuba’s softball and girls’ basketball coach. Schuette said that after he got the job offer, he talked to his wife, Cheri, about it. She encouraged him to take the job, he said, but told him that she didn’t want to move anymore.

The Schuettes have since become staples in Cuba’s community. Toward the end of Steve’s coaching career in 2016, the softball field at Cuba High School was named in his honor. Cheri worked at a local doctor’s and chiropractor’s office before taking a job at Crawford Electric Cooperative, where she worked for 30 years before retiring. She’s been a member of the Crawford County R-2 School District’s Board of Education for the last few years and will finish her term this year. Steve gave credit to his wife for his success throughout the years.

“What I’ve done coaching, I could have never done it without her,” said Schuette. “She’s always been an amazing supporter of me. When things were tough, she was right there. I’m so proud of her. I love her deeply and all my family.”

The Schuettes went to the same high school in Alma, where Steve was a senior, and Cheri was a freshman. Steve said that he knew of Cheri, but didn’t connect with her until he was back from a college break a year later and ran into her at the Waverly fair.

“I saw her and asked her to ride a ride with me, and the rest is history,” Steve beamed.

The two got married two years later in 1972. The Schuettes have twin daughters, Jodie and Jamie, and another daughter, Stephanie. Jodie and Jamie played volleyball at Cuba High School and Stephanie played softball. 

Schuette said that he has seen the town of Cuba develop throughout the decades and was drawn to the people in the community, like former band director Stan Moore.

“There was no Walmart here when we first moved here. There was nothing, you know. But it was a nice town, people that we met were really nice. And Stan Moore, who is king around here, is a great guy and we both grew our programs here together throughout the years.” 

Despite his winning record, Schuette said that his favorite part of coaching was spending time with his student-athletes.

“In my case, I wanted to win all the time, but I truly enjoyed just being with the kids through all the ups and downs,” Schuette said. “I had some really good teams and some teams that weren’t so good, but the kids were great, and that’s what I remember the most.”

Schuette is still a fixture in the crowd at Cuba’s softball and basketball games and is in tune with all of Cuba’s athletics. This year’s softball team at Cuba High School was 1-23 in head coach James Steiner’s first season, but Schuette said that he sees promise in Steiner and the program’s future.

“Those kids needed a really good coach, and I think they have it now,” Schuette said. “We’ve talked quite a bit, and I believe he’s really going to be okay. He kind of reminds me of myself when I was younger. The kids really like him, which is a great start.”

While reflecting on the current state of Cuba’s athletics, Schuette praised the girls’ basketball team for their style of play.

“They don’t have any seniors, and they’re a strong team,” Schuette said. “They’re playing with a lot of intensity, and they’re not really big there, but they’re fast. When they can get into their running game where they shoot layups, you’re in trouble.” 

Schuette spoke glowingly about the district’s decision to join forces with Steelville for football. 

“I think that it’s great that they’re merging together for football. I tried to talk them into doing it when I was athletic director,” Schuette said. “Steelville has great athletes, so it would be beneficial for both schools and their student athletes.” 

Schuette remains humble when reflecting on what the Hall of Fame induction means to him.

“It means a lot to me because my peers had to nominate me. I have no clue who would nominate me because I didn’t win a state game or very many district games,” Schuette said. “But the more I think about it, I cared for the kids and stayed there as long as I did. I was well respected in the area and had assistant coaches who went on to do great things.”