The Question Of Athlete Overlap And How This Spring, Sharing Is Caring: "It's a big puzzle we are putting together"
With nine more sports starting Monday, collaboration and cooperation between administrators and coaches more important than ever
(Photo Credit: Glenbrook North Baseball)
Dom Savino had a 9 p.m. coaches Zoom meeting Sunday night.
But the Glenbrook North multi-sport coach (football, baseball) squeezed in time for a phone interview.
The reason for the conversation? His life, and that of thousands of athletes and coaches throughout the state Illinois, was about to change Monday.
April 5 marks the beginning of the Illinois High School Association’s summer sport season. Nine sports—baseball, softball, boys and girls track and field, boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, boys volleyball and boys tennis—conduct their first practices. Three spring season sports—girls volleyball, boys soccer and football—are still playing. This conflict, brought on by the postponement of traditional fall and winter sports in 2020-21 due to the coronavirus pandemic, creates scheduling and logistical challenges for athletes, coaches and administrators.
For three weeks in April, Savino, the Spartan football team’s offensive coordinator and head baseball coach, is tasked with coaching both sports.
That means overlap for him, several assistant coaches six athletes who coach and play football, baseball and lacrosse.
“It’s a big matrix,” Savino said. “Every day it’s something different what the needs are for each sport.”
Front and center in all conversations, according to Savino, is the well-being of the athletes.
After having the entire 2020 spring sports season wiped out, that means advocating for participation regardless of the overlap conflicts.
“The thing I keep saying is if you asked us a year ago, ‘are you interested in this?’ We would jump at the chance,” Savino said. “Our motivation behind all the decisions is to make sure the student-athletes have the best experience possible.”
The girls water polo team at Mundelein High School played its first home game on April 1.
Mike Vukovics, the head coach, performed all the pre-match responsibilities of a head coach. But when the match started at 6:15 p.m., Vukovics had already left the school’s nanatorium.
Vukovics could not stick around because he had to be at Lake Zurich High School for the varsity football team’s 5:30 p.m. kick off against the Bears. Vukovics is an assistant football coach for the Mustangs.
Charged with head coaching responsibilities for the girls water polo team falls to assistant coach Amanda Boothe.
“I’ve done all the logistics, had the parent meeting, just couldn’t be there (for the April 1 match),” Vukovics said. “I hate not being around my girls right now. I want to be there, it’s my team, my program.”
But Vukovics can’t be in two places at once. His situation is one that for coaches and athletes, is playing out in almost every high school in the state of Illinois this month.
Mundelein Athletic Director Troy Parola said he’s been aware of the overlap problem since the IHSA released a revamped schedule two months ago. How to work through overlap requires foresight and agility, in both planning and staffing.
For girls water polo, Parola took an assistant coach from another sport, gymnastics, and hired her (Tracy Carlson) on an interim basis to assist Boothe in Vukovics’ absence. Another solution is to move a mid-week baseball practice to another day so a coach in another sport can attend. The girls volleyball coach, George Dressen is also the boys volleyball coach. Starting Monday, both sports are going on simultaneously. Many of Dressen’s assistants coach both sports, requiring them to miss all or a portion of one sport’s practice to attend another.
Sundays, typically off days, will now be used as practice days throughout April.
“It’s a big puzzle we are putting together,” Parola said.
A puzzle that to complete, depends on cooperation and mutual support from all involved.
Vernon Hills football coach Bill Bellecomo has several multi-sport athletes who play football, baseball, lacrosse and track. For 20 days in April, all sports are active at the same time.
“Just like anything in this Covid year, you have to be adjustable,” Bellecomo said.
Two of Bellecomo’s football assistants also coach baseball. He said having coaches on the staff of two sports makes it easier to avoid conflicts.
The less ramp up time mandated for baseball, labeled a lower risk sport by the Illinois Department of Public Health, allows for a simpler transition from another sport such as football.
“Baseball doesn’t have a practice limit which is nice, so you can go off our (football) practice field and go play a (baseball) game,” Bellecomo said.
If there is an example of how collaboration is essential between coaching staffs and administrators, it’s Glenbrook North High School.
Along with Savino, four football assistants are head coaches of other sports that began their seasons Monday—Justin Georgacakis (boys lacrosse), Sean Brandt (boys track and field), Justin Weiner (JV baseball) and Zach Hinkamp (freshman baseball).
Last last week, Matt Purdy, the Spartans head varsity football coach, met with Savino in one of the school’s locker rooms to map out the first week’s schedule.
“(We discussed) when can I start, when can he start, when I can get him to come over to (football) practice and adjust practice to benefit him,” Purdy said.
Four Spartan linebackers—seniors Luke Henry and Aiden Casey, and juniors Nate Glazebrook and JR Flood—also play lacrosse. Their lacrosse coach, Georgacakis, is the football team’s defensive coordinator and plotting out mutually beneficial times for the sharing of athletes is not as difficult as say for instance, if Georgacakis was solely the lacrosse coach.
Purdy said he is confident coaches will figure it out. He does admit concern about potential overuse of athletes this spring, especially with contact sports such as football and lacrosse.
“Two contact sports, a lot of running, those are the ones I’m worried about,” Purdy said. “The coaches are easy, I can have someone cover Dom’s calls or Justin’s calls. We tell our athletes not to worry about how things shake down. We will take care of you.”
Savino enters his 11th season as Spartans varsity baseball coach this spring. He understands the importance of preparation before a long season.
Four players expected to pitch for the Spartans in 2021 are juniors Ryan Henschel, Quinn Clarke and sophomores Patrick Mahoney and Max Mulvihill.
All of them are varsity football players.
“The arm care piece is very important. We have to make sure the health and safety of a player’s arm is a priority and that we take a slow approach,” Savino said.
Savino and his staff are working on tailored practice plans knowing for three weeks, the overlap with football means limited time to build up arm strength. Strategic aspects of how the Spartans play—moving runners over, base running—are built into spring practice plans. Those are things that can be communicated through Zoom or other means such as digital slide presentations, according to Savino.
Whenever Savino is feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all, he quickly resets.
After a 2020 with no baseball or football, problems created by the overlapped seasons this spring are good ones to have when the alternative (no sports) is considered.
Top of mind for coaches—maximize participation opportunities and each athlete’s mental and physical well-being.
“Every day is different with the needs of each sport but you are doing the kids a disservice when you tell them they can’t do something,” Savino said. “We preach team first and selflessness and now is the best time for us to practice that as coaches.”
Purdy added: “Ninety-five percent of coaches are Type A and want things done our way all the time. But we can’t be little brats and throw a fit about whatever. One thing I’ve learned this year is to improvise and adapt. It’s going to be a challenge but our primary concern is the kids.”