Post by CEZAR on Dec 23, 2013 10:23:52 GMT -6
I asked Richie Costante who is the coach for Lemont Rockers 16uRC & Montini HS coach! if he could answer some questions for us at ILsoftball.com? well how could he say no to us haha, enjoy!!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -1. Tell us about your background, grew up, school, etc. programs your story!
RC- I grew up in Downers Grove and attended Downers Grove South. While at DGS, I was a manager for the softball team my Junior and Senior year. I got involved with the softball team because Jim Cushing is a good family friend. Over those two years I became friends with Ron Havelka. During my sophomore year of College, I asked Coach Havelka if I could volunteer since I was attending COD. I assisted Coach and Jimmy on the Varsity at DGS. The Summer of 1998, Coach and I had a 16-U travel team with the Dolls. We had players from DGS, DGN, Wheaton South, Morton as well as a few other schools. We had a very good summer, and I stayed on to coach the team the next year under a different head coach. I continued to coach at DGS, but took some time off from Summer ball.
In 2001 Coach Havelka and I had an Idea of trying to get our High School players together to play in the summer. We approached Jerry Quinn of the Chill to see if we could play under the Chill name at 18-U (Jerry's team was still a 16-U team). That Summer I coached a group of mainly Freshman and Sophomores and we played under the Chill name. Later in the Summer, I had to miss a few tournaments because my Slowpitch teams were starting to play in more and more tournaments. I decided after that summer, Travel ball was not for me. I started to work at DGS in the fall of 2002 and coach football full-time as well and stayed at DGS coaching and working until 2004.
From 2004 - 2007 I lived in Marco Island Florida. I was away from coaching and the school environment. I meet some GREAT people and eventually meet the mother of my BEAUTIFUL Daughter.
I moved back from Florida in April 2007 and picked up at DGS right away. Coach Havelka and the players welcomed me back and I realized how much I missed coaching. We were able to make a run down state that season finishing 4th. Such a GREAT group of Girls!
In August 2007, I was offered a job at Niles West High School. Along with the job came the ability to coach football and softball at Niles (Softball at Niles North) This was a big change for me since I have always coached at DGS and figured the new challenges would be good. That Summer, Mike Paulo asked me if I wanted to coach on his Rockers staff for the Summer. I agreed because I figured coaching with Mike would only benefit my coaching knowledge.
In 2010 I was named Head Coach at Montini Catholic. Currently I am still working at Niles West, Coaching at Montini as well as with the Rockers!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -2 . What made you decide to go into coaching? What is your coaching philosophy? How important is winning?
RC-When I was in High School, I did not know what I wanted to do. Sports was a HUGE part of my life and I was realistic that I was never going pro in football or baseball, so I thought coaching would be fun. As a Junior I was able to work with and coach our Wheelchair Football team at DGS with coach Phil Fox. After that, I realized that I wanted to work with children with disabilities as well as coach.
My coaching philosophy is simple. Work hard Play Hard. No matter what sport I coach, I expect my players to practice hard and play hard. When times are tough, I expect my players to fight back instead of rolling over.
Winning: Winning is important, but it should not be the end all! Sometimes you learn more in a loss than you do a win. How you play the game is the most important. If you play hard, execute and play Smart, the scoreboard will take care of itself. If winning wasn't important why do we keep score?
ILSOFTBALL.COM -3 - What type of student-athlete is most difficult for you to work with? How do you overcome this?
RC-Selfish athletes; Ones who care more about their performance than the teams. Those type of players I have a hard time coaching. I overcome it by trying to instill a sense of Team into them. In every practice or game, there are teachable moments for almost everything. Breaking thru to them will make them an even better player. And I will be honest, I have not had too many of these Athletes in Softball.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -4. what do you believe makes a great softball program, what criteria would you use to determine whether or not you have a good program?[/b]
RC-A great HIGH SCHOOL softball program will stand the test of time. Year in and Year out they are the teams people rank in there top 20. Many high schools have to deal with the talent that walks there halls. Being able to take that talent and produce successful seasons is the mark of a Great High school program. It is also no coincidence that these programs have a consistent coach in place. Many of the programs I think are great have these characteristics:
1 - Long Term Reliable Coach
2 -Players who are proud of the program (Wear their school shirts and hoodies)
3 - Younger girls excited to play for the program
4 – Not much change year to year in assistant coaches
5 – They just Win
A great SUMMER program will be similar, but also very different. A great summer program must have these characteristics:
1 – Ability to get players seen by College coaches
2 – String leadership from the President of the Organization
3 – Ability to develop strong fundamentals at the younger age
4 – Have players and Parents proud of the program (Wear Gear, Car Decals etc)
5 – Ability to Compete on the National Level
ILSOFTBALL.COM -5. How important is planning to good coaching?
RC-I feel in order to be a good coach you must plan. You have to know what you are going to work on each practice. You must know your strengths and weaknesses as a coach and work on those in practice.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -6. who is your role model?
RC-Ron Havelka, Jim Cushing, Mike Paulo and Jim Digregorio
ILSOFTBALL.COM -7. A parent complains about something that has happened in your program/playing time etc. How would you handle that? How do you deal with an upset parent?[/b]
RC-Parents have the right to express concerns. If they are complaining about playing time, that needs to be addressed to the coach FROM the player first. MOST of the time, the player knows why they are not playing. If they don’t I am sure most coaches will explain what needs to be improved in-order to get more playing time. If a parent has another concern, I have an open door. They can come and talk to me whenever they need to. We will get things resolved so they understand we are here for them!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -8 . How do you promote your program to get student-athletes involved in softball?
RC-At Montini, I offer off-season conditioning as well as Open gyms. After each session, I speak to the girls there and encourage them to bring out friends that might be interested. In-order to get more participation, I rely on the girls who are currently participating.
For the Rockers, if you come to our try-outs, we assume you are excited about participating in softball.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -9 . Explain what you envision the off-season portion of your program will entail?
RC-At Montni, we have 2 phases of Off-season. For November and December we do conditioning and core work 3 days a week for girls not playing basketball. Once January starts, we will go twice a week with Open Gyms.
For the Rockers our off-season program is individualized thru the teams and skilled development driven. Our 14-RD/ 16-RC teams practice together on Mondays, 18-Gold / 16-RC together on Wednesdays but each team will also have practices on their own. Our offseason program is skill based. We want to improve the skill of each player so that the next time they are on the field (High School ball, or at a qualifier depending on age) they have improved. Obviously our 14-U teams will do a little more “Team” Drills too, but the older teams lose 3 moths do to high school and all the “Call” need to be re-taught anyway. Winter months are for Skill Development and College Camps.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -10. How would a student-athlete describe you a year or two after she has played for you?
RC-Well there are some that will say I was a horrible coach and a horrible individual. Then there are others who will say that I was a great coach and always looked out for them. Then, yet again, there will be some that look at me as a second father. When you coach long enough you will have a disagreement about things you did. In life, you will never please everybody and early in my career I tried. I am glad I learned QUICK that pleasing everybody is IMPOSSIBLE.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -11. Some people say that a coach should be special, a role model that should be just as concerned about his/her behavior Others would say that the coach’s life should be his/her own after hours. what they do on their own time is their own business. What do you think?
RC-As a coach, you are always scrutinized. Every day you can pick up the newspaper and read about bad things that happen in our world. EVERYTIME that person who made a mistake, or did something awful is a coach, it is mentioned. When you choose to be a coach, you have to understand that ALL of your actions you must be accountable for.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -12 . What do you think of other programs that have come before or after yours?
RC-We are very luck in Illinois, and the Midwest for that fact, that we have so many GOOD programs. Each program is slightly different but most are good. Our girls should feel good about the choices they have!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -13 . What is your philosophy regarding varsity vs. JV?
RC-Depending what school you are at, it can change. There are some schools who JV team can beat other schools Varsitys. Some areas just have more talent than others. As long as you work hard in practices and games, your high school season will be beneficial. All our girls know what they need to do to improve.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -14. What are your thoughts vs PGF,ASA,USSSA NSA?
RC-Each coach and Each program need to find there need and there fit. For the Rockers, we believe ASA and PGF are the right fits for us. At the end of the day, when you look at the championship games, each sanction will have good teams that can compete across all the letters!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -15. what role did your parents play in you coaching softball?
RC-More than most know. My father was at ALMOST every game while I was at DGS. He supported the team and us coaches like no one else. As a matter of fact, when he passed in 1998, there were SO MANY students from DGS that came by to show their respects, that a good family friend started the Dick Costante Memorial scholarship at DGS. As for my Mother, she was right there as well. More so the last few years. She retired in 2006 so when I moved home in 2007 she came to as many games as she could. My first game at Montni she even yelled at Coach Bu, telling him to watch out for me there. Even last year at Montini, while battling thru Chemo and Radiation she came to 4 games. Unfortunately she was only able to come sit in the stands for one of those games, she supported me with everything she had. It will be tough playing a home game this year knowing she won’t be on the sidelines.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -16, what do you think about women coaches in IL? who are some of your favs?
RC-I think we need more. Female coaches can relate to the players so much easier, and on a whole new level. Some of my Favorites:
Julie Fonda
Lauren Zembruski
Denise Bombarick
Jenn Tyrell
The Douglas Sisters
ILSOFTBALL.COM -17.how do you see PGF growing on the futures and national level.
RC-I see PGF as becoming the desired place to play for the top teams. HOWEVER if they keep the nationals in Huntington Beach, they might not attract the top East Coast and Midwest teams. Locally, I still feel it is tougher to win an ASA metro because usually that is the only tournament that weekend. This year, it may change a little
ILSOFTBALL.COM -18. Any questions for myself or ILsoftball.com
RC-Why don’t you tell people who you are? Just Kidding. I feel you do a great job with your site, however the times have changed. Message boards use to be fun. Lately all they seem to be is a place for people to take pot shots. I like message boards that you have to register for. Personally, it holds people a little more accountable.
Thanks for your time!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -1. Tell us about your background, grew up, school, etc. programs your story!
RC- I grew up in Downers Grove and attended Downers Grove South. While at DGS, I was a manager for the softball team my Junior and Senior year. I got involved with the softball team because Jim Cushing is a good family friend. Over those two years I became friends with Ron Havelka. During my sophomore year of College, I asked Coach Havelka if I could volunteer since I was attending COD. I assisted Coach and Jimmy on the Varsity at DGS. The Summer of 1998, Coach and I had a 16-U travel team with the Dolls. We had players from DGS, DGN, Wheaton South, Morton as well as a few other schools. We had a very good summer, and I stayed on to coach the team the next year under a different head coach. I continued to coach at DGS, but took some time off from Summer ball.
In 2001 Coach Havelka and I had an Idea of trying to get our High School players together to play in the summer. We approached Jerry Quinn of the Chill to see if we could play under the Chill name at 18-U (Jerry's team was still a 16-U team). That Summer I coached a group of mainly Freshman and Sophomores and we played under the Chill name. Later in the Summer, I had to miss a few tournaments because my Slowpitch teams were starting to play in more and more tournaments. I decided after that summer, Travel ball was not for me. I started to work at DGS in the fall of 2002 and coach football full-time as well and stayed at DGS coaching and working until 2004.
From 2004 - 2007 I lived in Marco Island Florida. I was away from coaching and the school environment. I meet some GREAT people and eventually meet the mother of my BEAUTIFUL Daughter.
I moved back from Florida in April 2007 and picked up at DGS right away. Coach Havelka and the players welcomed me back and I realized how much I missed coaching. We were able to make a run down state that season finishing 4th. Such a GREAT group of Girls!
In August 2007, I was offered a job at Niles West High School. Along with the job came the ability to coach football and softball at Niles (Softball at Niles North) This was a big change for me since I have always coached at DGS and figured the new challenges would be good. That Summer, Mike Paulo asked me if I wanted to coach on his Rockers staff for the Summer. I agreed because I figured coaching with Mike would only benefit my coaching knowledge.
In 2010 I was named Head Coach at Montini Catholic. Currently I am still working at Niles West, Coaching at Montini as well as with the Rockers!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -2 . What made you decide to go into coaching? What is your coaching philosophy? How important is winning?
RC-When I was in High School, I did not know what I wanted to do. Sports was a HUGE part of my life and I was realistic that I was never going pro in football or baseball, so I thought coaching would be fun. As a Junior I was able to work with and coach our Wheelchair Football team at DGS with coach Phil Fox. After that, I realized that I wanted to work with children with disabilities as well as coach.
My coaching philosophy is simple. Work hard Play Hard. No matter what sport I coach, I expect my players to practice hard and play hard. When times are tough, I expect my players to fight back instead of rolling over.
Winning: Winning is important, but it should not be the end all! Sometimes you learn more in a loss than you do a win. How you play the game is the most important. If you play hard, execute and play Smart, the scoreboard will take care of itself. If winning wasn't important why do we keep score?
ILSOFTBALL.COM -3 - What type of student-athlete is most difficult for you to work with? How do you overcome this?
RC-Selfish athletes; Ones who care more about their performance than the teams. Those type of players I have a hard time coaching. I overcome it by trying to instill a sense of Team into them. In every practice or game, there are teachable moments for almost everything. Breaking thru to them will make them an even better player. And I will be honest, I have not had too many of these Athletes in Softball.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -4. what do you believe makes a great softball program, what criteria would you use to determine whether or not you have a good program?[/b]
RC-A great HIGH SCHOOL softball program will stand the test of time. Year in and Year out they are the teams people rank in there top 20. Many high schools have to deal with the talent that walks there halls. Being able to take that talent and produce successful seasons is the mark of a Great High school program. It is also no coincidence that these programs have a consistent coach in place. Many of the programs I think are great have these characteristics:
1 - Long Term Reliable Coach
2 -Players who are proud of the program (Wear their school shirts and hoodies)
3 - Younger girls excited to play for the program
4 – Not much change year to year in assistant coaches
5 – They just Win
A great SUMMER program will be similar, but also very different. A great summer program must have these characteristics:
1 – Ability to get players seen by College coaches
2 – String leadership from the President of the Organization
3 – Ability to develop strong fundamentals at the younger age
4 – Have players and Parents proud of the program (Wear Gear, Car Decals etc)
5 – Ability to Compete on the National Level
ILSOFTBALL.COM -5. How important is planning to good coaching?
RC-I feel in order to be a good coach you must plan. You have to know what you are going to work on each practice. You must know your strengths and weaknesses as a coach and work on those in practice.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -6. who is your role model?
RC-Ron Havelka, Jim Cushing, Mike Paulo and Jim Digregorio
ILSOFTBALL.COM -7. A parent complains about something that has happened in your program/playing time etc. How would you handle that? How do you deal with an upset parent?[/b]
RC-Parents have the right to express concerns. If they are complaining about playing time, that needs to be addressed to the coach FROM the player first. MOST of the time, the player knows why they are not playing. If they don’t I am sure most coaches will explain what needs to be improved in-order to get more playing time. If a parent has another concern, I have an open door. They can come and talk to me whenever they need to. We will get things resolved so they understand we are here for them!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -8 . How do you promote your program to get student-athletes involved in softball?
RC-At Montini, I offer off-season conditioning as well as Open gyms. After each session, I speak to the girls there and encourage them to bring out friends that might be interested. In-order to get more participation, I rely on the girls who are currently participating.
For the Rockers, if you come to our try-outs, we assume you are excited about participating in softball.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -9 . Explain what you envision the off-season portion of your program will entail?
RC-At Montni, we have 2 phases of Off-season. For November and December we do conditioning and core work 3 days a week for girls not playing basketball. Once January starts, we will go twice a week with Open Gyms.
For the Rockers our off-season program is individualized thru the teams and skilled development driven. Our 14-RD/ 16-RC teams practice together on Mondays, 18-Gold / 16-RC together on Wednesdays but each team will also have practices on their own. Our offseason program is skill based. We want to improve the skill of each player so that the next time they are on the field (High School ball, or at a qualifier depending on age) they have improved. Obviously our 14-U teams will do a little more “Team” Drills too, but the older teams lose 3 moths do to high school and all the “Call” need to be re-taught anyway. Winter months are for Skill Development and College Camps.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -10. How would a student-athlete describe you a year or two after she has played for you?
RC-Well there are some that will say I was a horrible coach and a horrible individual. Then there are others who will say that I was a great coach and always looked out for them. Then, yet again, there will be some that look at me as a second father. When you coach long enough you will have a disagreement about things you did. In life, you will never please everybody and early in my career I tried. I am glad I learned QUICK that pleasing everybody is IMPOSSIBLE.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -11. Some people say that a coach should be special, a role model that should be just as concerned about his/her behavior Others would say that the coach’s life should be his/her own after hours. what they do on their own time is their own business. What do you think?
RC-As a coach, you are always scrutinized. Every day you can pick up the newspaper and read about bad things that happen in our world. EVERYTIME that person who made a mistake, or did something awful is a coach, it is mentioned. When you choose to be a coach, you have to understand that ALL of your actions you must be accountable for.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -12 . What do you think of other programs that have come before or after yours?
RC-We are very luck in Illinois, and the Midwest for that fact, that we have so many GOOD programs. Each program is slightly different but most are good. Our girls should feel good about the choices they have!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -13 . What is your philosophy regarding varsity vs. JV?
RC-Depending what school you are at, it can change. There are some schools who JV team can beat other schools Varsitys. Some areas just have more talent than others. As long as you work hard in practices and games, your high school season will be beneficial. All our girls know what they need to do to improve.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -14. What are your thoughts vs PGF,ASA,USSSA NSA?
RC-Each coach and Each program need to find there need and there fit. For the Rockers, we believe ASA and PGF are the right fits for us. At the end of the day, when you look at the championship games, each sanction will have good teams that can compete across all the letters!
ILSOFTBALL.COM -15. what role did your parents play in you coaching softball?
RC-More than most know. My father was at ALMOST every game while I was at DGS. He supported the team and us coaches like no one else. As a matter of fact, when he passed in 1998, there were SO MANY students from DGS that came by to show their respects, that a good family friend started the Dick Costante Memorial scholarship at DGS. As for my Mother, she was right there as well. More so the last few years. She retired in 2006 so when I moved home in 2007 she came to as many games as she could. My first game at Montni she even yelled at Coach Bu, telling him to watch out for me there. Even last year at Montini, while battling thru Chemo and Radiation she came to 4 games. Unfortunately she was only able to come sit in the stands for one of those games, she supported me with everything she had. It will be tough playing a home game this year knowing she won’t be on the sidelines.
ILSOFTBALL.COM -16, what do you think about women coaches in IL? who are some of your favs?
RC-I think we need more. Female coaches can relate to the players so much easier, and on a whole new level. Some of my Favorites:
Julie Fonda
Lauren Zembruski
Denise Bombarick
Jenn Tyrell
The Douglas Sisters
ILSOFTBALL.COM -17.how do you see PGF growing on the futures and national level.
RC-I see PGF as becoming the desired place to play for the top teams. HOWEVER if they keep the nationals in Huntington Beach, they might not attract the top East Coast and Midwest teams. Locally, I still feel it is tougher to win an ASA metro because usually that is the only tournament that weekend. This year, it may change a little
ILSOFTBALL.COM -18. Any questions for myself or ILsoftball.com
RC-Why don’t you tell people who you are? Just Kidding. I feel you do a great job with your site, however the times have changed. Message boards use to be fun. Lately all they seem to be is a place for people to take pot shots. I like message boards that you have to register for. Personally, it holds people a little more accountable.
Thanks for your time!