Mission High Dedicates Gym to Coach Mac

By Lee Hubbard He was a beloved coach, mentor, father and friend to thousands of students, colleagues and people who interacted with Ernest “Mac” McNealy Sr., a teacher, basketball and track coach at Mission High School in San Francisco. McNealy came to Mission in 1957 and worked at the school for over 40 years until 1997. Though he passed in 1999, his legacy remains at Mission High. The student alumni association will honor his memory, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m.,  presenting his wife Analosa McNealy and his family with a framed San Francisco school board resolution, officially dedicating the gym in his name. The boy’s gymnasium will be called the Ernest “Coach Mac” McNealy, Sr., Memorial Gymnasium.  A bronze plaque will be placed at the entrance to the gym, and many of his former players and students will be present to honor his memory. “He was a father figure to me and a dedicated teacher, counselor and coach,” said Rosalind Butler, a former student and player for McNealy at Mission. “His dedication to his players in basketball and track, making sure they completed their education and going on to college, really impressed me the most.” Born and raised in Memphis, TN in 1923, he attended Central High School in Galveston, TX, where he played basketball, football and ran track. He later moved to California, attending and graduating from UC Berkley with a BA in Physical Education.  He went on to earn a Masters Degree from San Francisco State University. Finding a job at San Francisco Unified, he began working at Mission High as a physical education  teacher.  In the 1960s he became the first Black basketball coach in the San Francisco Public school league. Aside from teaching physical education, he worked as a counselor and taught auto shop and driver’s education. He helped to moderate the Black Student Union and was an advisor to the Latino and Samoan clubs. On the court, while his teams did not have the top players in San Francisco, his teams always competed hard. He coached three all-state teams in 1977, 1990 and 1991. “He was concerned about all of the kids at Mission,” said Julie Wilson, a former Mission High student. “A lot of the kids who played for him really didn’t have a place to go or they didn’t have a lot. Mr. McNealy looked out for them, evening coming out of his own pocket to help them,” she said.