35|35 Anniversary Website
This is the 14th installment of a series of 35 moments, milestones, and facts that will be featured throughout the 2013-14 academic year to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
For the better part of the three decades he has spent on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College, one thing has always resonated with Bill Massoels. Seasons change, people come and go. Teams win, teams lose. But one thing has always remained the constant.
Family.
Prior to arriving in Rensselaer, Ind., in the fall of 1985, Massoels grew up knowing that his father always wanted one of his children to attend Saint Joseph’s. The family Parish was also a C.PP.S., a Catholic church sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, and several priests were graduates of Saint Joseph’s. At one point, Massoels had given serious consideration to the Priesthood and often confided in those Puma graduates during times of soul searching.
As it turned out, Massoels’ path led him to what has become nearly a 30-year career in Saint Joseph’s athletics. He became a student-athlete in both cross country and track and field in the mid-1980s and served as captain in both sports. Following his graduation in 1989, Massoels was hired by his alma mater in 1990 and has yet to leave.
In that time, he has served as Associate Director of Athletics, Director of Compliance, Sports Information Director, head coach of the men's and women's cross country and track and field programs, and professor in the College's Physical Education Department. He has been the school’s Athletics Director since 1999.
Saint Joseph’s was also where he continued to date his high school sweetheart and future bride, Teresa. After she graduated from SJC, she soon became a professor and the school’s Faculty Athletics Representative for the GLVC – a position she still holds today.
Massoels’ career has come full circle at Saint Joseph’s as last year he had the opportunity to coach his son Patrick as a freshman member of the Pumas’ cross country and track and field squads.
And now his eldest of two daughters, Samantha, has been accepted to several colleges and universities, including Saint Joseph’s.
“After enrolling in 1985 and throughout my four years as a student here, it became very apparent to me that Saint Joseph’s was a special place,” Massoels said. “I told then-Athletics Director Bill Hogan upon graduation that if he ever needed anything to let me know. I did not think six months later he would call me about coming back as a head coach and an assistant sports information director.”
It was confirmation for Massoels that Saint Joseph’s was where he needed to be. It was where he belonged.
At least 32 GLVC current administrators and coaches have been welcomed back home to serve at their alma mater.
An additional nine individuals competed either as a GLVC student-athlete or at an institution that was or is currently a GLVC member, and have since gone on to serve in an administrative role at another GLVC school.
For a look at all 41 representatives, click here. |
Since taking over the Pumas’ athletics department in 1999, Massoels has tried to maintain that family feel by welcoming back select SJC graduates with head coaching or administrative opportunities. While a Saint Joseph’s diploma has not been a prerequisite, Massoels notes that same understanding of the family concept is paramount to maintaining the culture.
“Just like any other AD, the obvious things are needed: integrity, knowledge of sport, ability to recruit, etc.,” he said. “But unlike many, if not most, I do look for the person to be able to fit into the family. I tell them it is a dysfunctional family, but it is our family just the same. Since we are a smaller staff than most, we must pitch in more than most places. So I really like to get a perspective if the person will fit into the family environment and that becomes a big factor for me when hiring.”
Three such coaches have followed the Massoels model and returned to their roots at Saint Joseph’s to lead the team on which they once competed.
Rick O'Dette was a member of the SJC baseball team from 1995-97. He finished his career with a record of 15-3 on the mound and was named to the All-Region Team in 1996 prior to leading the Pumas to the NCAA Division II National Championship final series in Montgomery, Ala. The following year he was named a second-team All-GLVC selection.
For someone who has been a student-athlete at Saint Joseph’s, and knows what it takes to play in that final game of the baseball season, O’Dette feels it is easier to share those memories from the dugout and connect directly with his current crop of players.
“I think anytime you can have passion for the place you work at,” O’Dette said, “it makes your job seem like less of a ‘job.’ I am not only able to share baseball drills and strategies, but I am also able to share my excitement and love for Saint Joseph’s College.”
In O’Dette’s 13 years on the bench, he is the Pumas’ all-time winningest coach with a record of 390-307-3 and a 247-192 mark in the GLVC games.
Cory Sanders was a three-year captain of the Pumas’ football team from 2002-05 and returned to campus to serve as defensive coordinator in 2010, only to be appointed head coach the following season. During the inaugural year of GLVC football in 2012, Sanders led the Pumas to a 6-5 overall record and a third-place league finish at 5-3. It marked the program’s first winning season since 2006. This past year, SJC tied for second in the league at 5-2 and finished 8-3 overall – the best season since that 2006 campaign.
“(Coaching your alma mater is) something you always think of as a player and what it would be like to run the program you played for, but you never think it is really going to happen,” Sanders said. “A big reason why I came here initially back in college was the people and that's a big reason why I wanted to become the head coach here as well. I enjoy the work environment and the people I work with. I think it’s a special experience to be a part of Saint Joseph’s College and watch the growth and development of kids. The growth does not only come from a coach working with them, but with an entire campus and community as well, and I think that is special. You can walk across campus and within five minutes you can tell it’s a place that cares about you. It's important to be around people that genuinely care.”
Kenny Badylak, a 2005 Academic All-GLVC selection while a member of the Pumas’ men’s golf team, returned to campus three years after graduating to first take over sports information director duties and coach the women’s golf team. A year later, he added men’s golf coach to his multi-job title.
At 31 years of age, Badylak has been given the responsibility of coaching two golf programs while overseeing 16 other sports and a total of 400 student-athletes. But as Badylak pointed out, the ones who succeed at Saint Joseph’s are the ones who comprehend the importance of an all-hands-on-deck family concept.
“The best way to describe the Saint Joseph’s family is that we genuinely care for each other’s success,” he said. “There is no manual on how to be successful. I have learned and adapted to numerous circumstances in my tenure here all while making decisions that would make Saint Joseph’s proud.”
Yes, scores are still kept. Times are recorded. The wins make it worth it all. The losses continue to sting. Coaches are still held to performance standards and are evaluated annually.
Yet beyond all that, the sense of family remains.
“The best reward I have been given is being invited to weddings of our former athletes," Badylak said. “I feel that is the ultimate compliment a student-athlete can give us as coaches. Saint Joseph’s made a positive impact on my life and each day I try to repay them by making a positive impact on someone else's.”
The unique Puma family connection extends beyond head coaches as well.
Linda Deno
was featured in a recent 35|35 series as one of the two longest-tenured administrators in the conference. A former three-sport student-athlete at Saint Joseph’s, the 1982 SJC graduate competed prior to the NCAA officially recognizing women’s sports although Saint Joseph’s was a full-time member of the GLVC at that time. Deno went on to serve as the Pumas’ head volleyball coach from 1987-95 and again from 2004-05. She currently serves as Senior Woman Administrator and Associate Athletics Director for compliance.
“As an administrator now, it is great to have the opportunity to know many more athletes from sports other than what I coached, and see them succeed in both the athletic and academic realm,” Deno said.
Her counterpart in the front office, Joe Koczan, is the Pumas’ business manager and Massoel’s longtime assistant coach for throws on the school’s track and field teams. Koczan was a six-time GLVC Champion and a four-time All-GLVC selection in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw events from 1997-2001.
In July of 2013, Massoels found a new SJC women’s soccer coach within the GLVC family in University of Indianapolis graduate Amanda Reese. Prior to spending two years as an assistant coach at UIndy, Reese was a four-time All-GLVC selection and earned an All-Region nod in each of her four years as well as a member of the Greyhounds. She closed out her UIndy career with 31 goals and 10 assists to her credit, good for 72 total career points.
And despite not having any prior ties to Saint Joseph’s, Reese has been able to apply her knowledge and past experiences in the GLVC to fit right in with her new family.
“Because I played and coached in the GLVC, the transition here to Saint Joseph’s was an easy one,” Reese said. “I knew what direction I wanted to take this team before even getting on campus, and knew what we would be competing against in the conference. The GLVC in my mind is the best all-around conference in Division II.”
And Reese has been welcomed with open arms. She is now a part of the Saint Joseph’s family and takes on the responsibility of not only leading her student-athletes on the pitch and in the classroom, but helping them become better people as well.
That is the same approach Massoels takes with his coaches throughout the athletics department. Commit to your team, commit to our family. Lead by example. Simple as that.
Other newcomers have bought into the system as well. First-year women’s basketball head coach Steve Harold was quick to grab a brush and a bucket of paint and give the Pumas’ locker room a makeover over the summer, while new men’s basketball coach Tom Church and first-year SJC softball coach Diane Stephenson both took time moving dirt around in an effort to improve the Pumas’ softball field. Weeks later, O’Dette’s baseball team spent time there laying sod and brick.
After all, that’s what a family does.
“I truly feel when our guys leave,” said O’Dette, “they leave with a sense of pride in Saint Joseph's College and a place they can call home.”
And just was the case with Massoels, Deno, O’Dette, Sanders, Koczan and Badylak, it’s a home where they will always be welcomed back.