Husker Sports Network Women’s Basketball radio play-by-play man Matt Coatney is most noted for his catch phrase, “You Betcha!”
When asked if he would serve as the guest speaker for the annual Alliance Chamber of Commerce awards banquet, Coatney didn’t deliver a rousing, “You Betcha,” but instead offered a humble, “I’d be honored. Alliance folks have been so wonderful to me.”
Thus, the theme of this year’s banquet is: Building the Best Hometown in America … You Betcha!
Coatney has been announcing NU Lady Husker hoops on the Husker Sports Network for 13 years, and has described every one of the nearly 2,000 points that former Alliance Bulldog Jordan Hooper has scored for the Big Red over the past three-and-a-half years.
The banquet will be held on Wednesday, January 22, at 6 pm at the Westside Events Center. Tickets are $25. Reservations are needed by January 14 by phoning the chamber at 762-1520.
Several awards will be presented, including: Friend of Tourism, Chamber Volunteer of the Year, Chamber Ambassador of the Year, Chamber Ag Committee Farm/Ranch Family of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Large Business of the Year, and the Chamber Lifetime Service Award.
Coatney offers an impressive resume. He has been the voice of Nebraska Women’s Basketball on the Husker Sports Network since 1999.
He was the original radio voice for his alma mater, the Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears in Springfield, Missouri in 1985 as the first radio broadcast of women’s basketball in the Gateway Conference.
Coatney’s full-time career is with the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. He was recently promoted to CDL Program Manager for the state after serving as the department’s District II Supervisor for 14 years.
Coatney has been active as a softball umpire since 1984 and has officiated five national ASA Softball Championships. In 2012, Coatney was awarded ASA Elite Umpire status, the highest honor an official can receive other than selection to the Hall of Fame.
Coatney spent eight years in the US Navy as a Cryptolinguist. Fluent in Persian-Farsi, he spent five years at the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. and two years in the Persian Gulf area.
Matt has four college-aged children. Jill is a junior at Florida State University, while Nate, Ben and Hannah go to school at UNL in Lincoln. Nate played in the Cornhusker Marching Band his freshman year while Ben is in his third season as a saxophone player and Hannah her second playing the piccolo.
In August 2013, Coatney joined the Husker Sports Network’s Game Day football coverage as the studio anchor and host of the post-game Fifth Quarter Show and host of Big Red Reaction.
Click on the left side of the icon below to access Matt Coatney’s chamber banquet promotion announcement.
Coatney’s chamber banquet presentation is co-sponsored by KCOW Radio, First National Bank, Western Heritage Credit Union, Box Butte General Hospital, Bank of the West, Consumers Coop Federal Credit Union, Great Western Bank, Farmers State Bank and Wells Fargo.