Haywood Irwin Obituary (1947

Haywood Irwin was born April 11, 1947, in Los Angeles, CA, where he was raised and spent a good portion of his life until moving to Yakima, WA where he began his coaching career. Haywood coached numerous organized sports in AAU basketball and Yakima National Little League baseball. Haywood was the founder of Eastside Youth Sports, a year round program for kids to play sports for free. This same program today is known as Youth Eastside Sports though the YMCA. Sports was not the only thing Haywood taught young boys and girls. He also taught them how to be student athletes on and off the court. He wanted kids to stay focused on school and have a goal to attend college. School came first and sports was the "HOOK". These teams: Thrillers, Dream Team, Dream Teams 2,3 and 4, were fundamentally sound and feared by teams throughout the basketball Yakima Valley. Although he coached renowned basketball teams, baseball was the sport he enjoyed. The Cardinals and Tigers were outstanding teams of his. He was also a part of the Grid Kids Saints coaching staff. Haywood also coached at the CBA tryouts for the Yakima Sun Kings. His love and knowledge for sports transferred to social media. You could find Haywood on Facebook and Twitter where he had over 2,500 followers and 20,000 tweets. His Twitter name was luvdagame54. One of his tweets landed on the national sports news network ESPN. Haywood enjoyed sports so much that he was determined to teach and train his own son Haywood Irwin IV (Lil' Haywood) to play sports. Haywood's dream came to fruition when Lil' Haywood adapted the same "luvdagame" attitude which has allowed him to attend and play basketball, (currently at Howard College in Texas). Haywood departed this life on February 4, 2017 in Tacoma, Washington. Haywood is preceded in death by both parents, a brother and a sister. He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Caroline Irwin of Tacoma, Washington and four sons: Craig, Kyle, Jordan Everhart and Haywood Irwin IV; father & mother-in-laws: John and Annie Everhart; brother-in-law: Stacy Everhart; brother: Barry A. Erwing; three nieces: Anja Mia Irwin, Lashaun Payne and Monetia Everhart; five grandchildren: and one godson: Sylas Carter, and many close extended family members and friends.