There is a battle going on in high school athletics.
No hidden agendas here, the acknowledgements come from both sides, MIAA schools and preps are at war for student-athletes.
Coaches at the publics are in a dogfight to keep athletes home, battling tooth and nail with the promise of grandeur in the hills of Western Mass. or on the lakes up north.
That is why the current craziness on the boys basketball scene – with five area varsity head coaching jobs now vacant as September approaches – has folks in these parts stepping things up to “DEFCON-4.”
In this together
What happens at Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, Salem and Whittier Tech in the coming month or so will impact our winter Tuesday and Friday nights immensely.
“It’s pretty simple, for a lot of reasons, but the most important? The better our league is, the better our chances are to host teams in the state tournament,” said Andover’s David Fazio, the dean of all Valley coaches with 35 years on the bench. “Of course, I’ll be keeping an eye on all those jobs for sure. The bottom line, and it’s insane. I need everyone in our league to be good.”
In Massachusetts, coaches count on teams to exhaust themselves to reach their heights. The rising tide helps lift all boats under the current MIAA playoff system.
But in the Merrimack Valley Conference, there is just more to it. There is a mystique to Valley hoops that began nearly five decades ago with Dick Licare at Central, Wil Hixon at Andover, Bill Donlon at Methuen, Charlie Ryan at Lowell and others ignited.
Along the way, coaches like Methuen’s Jim Weymouth, North Andover’s Mike McVeigh, Central’s Rick Nault, Lawrence’s Dave Giribaldi and Paul Neal and Haverhill’s Bob Walsh helped nurture the energy, the excitement and the drama.
These days, Fazio, North Andover’s Paul Tanglis and Central’s Mark Dunham have done all they can to keep the fires stoked.
Those fiercely special Friday nights, the loud, packed houses, have grown into one of the most potent weapons for area coaches in the fight to keep their athletes at home.
“It’s just getting harder for the public school coaches. The fight to keep your kids is there. You have kids you’ve worked with for years, and they decide they are going to chase their own journey,” said Fazio. “It can be tough to combat it. When (Eagle-Tribune Super Teamer) Luca Palermo told me he was leaving (after his sophomore season), the No. 1 reason he said was that the competition was better, and I can’t argue that.”
What Valley coaches can offer is the MVC experience.
Palermo helped lead the Warriors on a ride this past winter that they will never forget.
“It means something that we won the league last year. For that team to accomplish what it did in a league as tough as it was this year was one of the best accomplishments we’ve had in 35 years at Andover,” said Fazio. “It’s funny, I was talking about this with Paul (Tanglis) and he said it. ‘We need Andover to be good. We want everyone in the league to be good.’
“It’s not something we would have said 10 or 15 years ago. We’re arch-rivals (on the court). and we need each other. We need everybody.”
No single factor
All five of the area boys hoop coaching vacancies come under different circumstances.
For example, at Methuen, the ridiculous traffic on I-93, making Anthony Faradie’s commute from Medford where he teaches, to Methuen for practice, back home to Wilmington, where his wife and two small children await his return played a major role in his choice to leave.
“Anthony has a young family, and he can get closer to home. He’s one exit away now, as opposed to six exits to get home. That matters now,” said Fazio.
At Haverhill, Souleymane Wane poured his heart into his program, and coaching at a city school, with its 12-month-a-year needs, ultimately took its toll.
And at Salem, Rob McLaughlin, after 30 years devoted to Salem High hoops – first under two different head coaches (Andy Corey and EJ Perry) and then the past 14 years running his own show – it just was not the same.
Finding quality replacements won’t be easy because of one common factor.
“Coaching can be exhausting. It’s a grind,” said Fazio. “If you’re going to do it the right way, which the MVC coaches have done forever, it’s a fulltime job in the winter. and it has grown into a 12-month-a-year thing.”
Huge shoes to fill
The folks in these basketball cities and towns are counting on their administrators to find quality candidates, willing and eager to fight for their programs.
Wane battled every day, not just in the Mansfield Gym, but in the Haverhill High halls to connect with his kids and keep them moving in a positive direction. It certainly translated on court wins and excitement for the Hillie Nation.
Faradie brought Methuen back to legitimacy and kept the Rangers in the conversation with the league’s elite, as the MVC rose to a more prominent role on the statewide level.
Jesus Moore worked tirelessly for his kids, demanding commitment from his players in the mold that the legendary Neal did for him as a player – keeping Lawrence in its position as a state power.
David Charbonneau, in eight years at the helm at Whittier Tech, consistently had the Cats competing in the upper echelon of the CAC.
And at Salem, McLaughlin may not have won a state title like his predecessors, but he reached one state final and made the postseason all but one time. His commitment to the town, his fight to connect with the youth programs and keep players home, can’t be overlooked.
There are big shoes to fill. and it’s crunch time.