See my post. I agree with you that something is wrong there but maybe the new coach can change things? We shall see. It will take time.
Lockport Hires Czart as New Head Coach
- Thread starter Lockport Dad
- Start date
See my post. I agree with you that something is wrong there but maybe the new coach can change things? We shall see. It will take time.
LWE is 8.3 miles from Providence.
Lockport High School is 6.3 miles from Providence.
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anon_4vszfu35bv677
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Where would they go? I can guarantee you the Stallion players are not going to Provi. Only a handful are going to SR or MC. Maybe Benet.
I believe the Jr Porter concept is only 4 years old so maybe this “feeder” concept hasn’t paid dividends yet?
A feeder program or a lot of kids who have played tackle footbal before high school? Non of the traditional Catholic powers (JC, Montini, Naz, MC etc.) have a feeder program and they all seem to do fine.
Distance as the crow flies...civilization vs. backroad country.
However, if you read their rosters at home games, they usually include a designated column that features the community youth FB program or private elementary school teams from which they originate. Believe me, these kids HAVE played before HS!
I agree that a decent amount of the kids at successful high school programs have played tackle football prior to HS.. However, I thought people were claiming the real benefit of a "feeder" program was that the kids were running the same system that they have at the local high school.
IMO, the benefit of a good feeder program is good coaching and kids actually playing football prior to high school. I was not talking about running the same system ect.
I stand corrected. Hard to believe but map doesn’t lie. In any case 2 miles doesn’t make a difference.
The whole running the same system thing is very overrated. Most kids who are currently in 5th or 6th grade will not have the coordinators or head coach the current high school has now.
That's right, I forgot. The private schools pick and choose which kids they want.
I think USD may have intended to have his sarcasm font on...
Corey:
Ordinarily, I wouldn't wade into a discussion over a school of which I have so little knowledge, but I do have an vast ecosystem of acquaintances to whom I regularly speak; and one is somewhat aware of the state of affairs at LTHS.
I tend to agree with you over your point there may exist a cultural issue at Lockport. But which kind of cultural issue? Is it an issue among students, within the program, or does it lay inside the school's administration? While many involved in this thread are questioning the state of the program, the relationship between feeder programs and the LTHS football, and the former head coach, I think you have, in a very understated way, done a service to this thread for alluding to the reality any problem at LTHS may lay elsewhere other than with the head coach or feeder programs and could reside in the school's administration.
I've lived in Winnetka since 1984 and have since witnessed administrators and educators come and go from both New Trier and LA. With numerous neighbors enrolling their kids at both schools, and three of mine matriculating through LA, I am often kept appraised of what occurs at both schools.
The reason I chose to enter into this thread is because the now-former head coach served at New Trier for four years before leaving for Lockport; his time at NT gave me some insight over how he led the program. From scouring the newspaper archives, I discovered he was the head coach at Glenbard South prior to joining NT. I glanced at his record at both schools and he won approximately 60 percent of his games at both schools.
After arriving at Glenbard South, a school which had virtually no consistent success of which to speak, he enjoyed a 37-26 record in six years, with four playoff appearances. In his fifth and sixth year, both 9-3 seasons, the program twice advanced to the state quarterfinals. I think it is fair to say he had the program on solid footing.
At New Trier, and I have an abundance of knowledge on this matter from NT parents, Starkey inherited a team in complete disunity, with kids retreating from the program in substantial numbers. I believe he had the NT's program advancing in the same course as he had at Glenbard South and was building some momentum before he departed for Lockport. At NT, he qualified for the playoffs all four years. From my familiarity with parents of students enrolled at NT at the time, players entering and returning to the program surged and had a better experience under him.
I do not know why he left NT for Lockport, one supposes NT would be a plum job, but as the head coach at two schools before taking over at Lockport, the man found success.
At Lockport, he, once again, came into a program which had won 11 games in the three year period before he arrived, including years in which the team went 1-8 and 3-6. Reversing a downward trajectory, Starkey's first three season saw him guide the team to 3-6, 4-5, and 6-3 seasons. This is a complete turnaround from the three-year tenure of his predecessor. In his time as head coach, Lockport beat two of the three LW teams and also beat Bolingbrook for the first time in nearly a decade.
While his final two years were not as successful, I am aware of the fact during his tenure the schools experienced a significant turnover in administrative personnel, including three ADs in a five year period.
Three ADs in a five-year period is a powerful suggestion of a muddled hierarchy at the school, and perhaps with the district administration. Say, for example, a Fortune 500 firm has three CFOs in a five year period. If such a scenario emerged at Boeing, for instance, it would indicate a rudderless corporate structure, the stock value would plummet, and investors would flee.
In either setting, corporate or educational, it's a sign of chaos, or worse, toxicity.
It is also my understanding some of the new administrators are acquainted with the new coach, and were inclined to see him at the helm at Lockport. Moreover, I understand the culture at Lockport today is such it practically demands athletes compete in only one sport. A "one-sport" environment is equally toxic.
My overarching point is it appears if the new head coach was the beneficiary of a relationship with new administrators and the district leadership at LTHS.
My suspicion is there are more factors in this storyline and I believe it rests above the football program, beyond feeder programs, and the former head coach. I am not implying anything sinister in any way, but the turnover in administration in such a short period of time, and the shifting of personnel, some of whom originated in the LW school district, and their arrival at LTHS, have left me with the impression the school waited for a poor season and ousted Starkey.
I hasten to tip my homburg to CB for mentioning how the LWN fans here succumbed to hysterical fits when the Phoenix lost a playoff game to WWS only a few years back. I wish Czart no ill will, but the man was rhetorically bludgeoned by several posters for what they claimed at the time was dreadful mismanagement of the game.
If there is an issue at Lockport, I don't fully believe it exists with the former head coach. Rather, it could be a problem with the administration.
Generally it’s never just one person that will cause a program to go into the toilet. If I were to guess what your saying makes a lot of sense. Let’s hope the administration, fans and community give this new coach the support he will need to turn this program around otherwise it will be the same outcome. I have no doubt their is plenty of talent at LPHS only time will tell if the culture will allow the talent to shine.
Congrats to Coach Czart.
I have to think that a return to prominence for the Porters is bad news for Providence and JCA. The years of only one Joliet team and one Lincoln-Way helped, in my opinion, push some kids towards the catholic powers. Even with the huge enrollment increases, two Joliets and four, now 3, Lincoln-Ways is so much different than the '90s were for the privates...
And I have to believe that the feeder program concept is so much stronger once you get to communities south of the school districts that touch I-80. Wilmington has no level that throws first, they learn the double wing in kindergarten. Manteno starts searching for a QB, on the other hand, in kindergarten. The unit school districts tend to have one youth football team per junior high - Coal City one, Peotone one, Wilmo one, Manteno one, Peotone one, Herscher two, Bradley one, Bourbonnais one, Kankakee two, Crete-Monee three...But there is no McNamara feeder per se (not that the Irish haven't tried in the past, but the community programs keep running the Irish boosters off)...That is the benefit to a Varsity head coach in a 4A or smaller size community...
I have to think that a return to prominence for the Porters is bad news for Providence and JCA. The years of only one Joliet team and one Lincoln-Way helped, in my opinion, push some kids towards the catholic powers. Even with the huge enrollment increases, two Joliets and four, now 3, Lincoln-Ways is so much different than the '90s were for the privates...
And I have to believe that the feeder program concept is so much stronger once you get to communities south of the school districts that touch I-80. Wilmington has no level that throws first, they learn the double wing in kindergarten. Manteno starts searching for a QB, on the other hand, in kindergarten. The unit school districts tend to have one youth football team per junior high - Coal City one, Peotone one, Wilmo one, Manteno one, Peotone one, Herscher two, Bradley one, Bourbonnais one, Kankakee two, Crete-Monee three...But there is no McNamara feeder per se (not that the Irish haven't tried in the past, but the community programs keep running the Irish boosters off)...That is the benefit to a Varsity head coach in a 4A or smaller size community...
You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I just wish to add that Joliet Catholic drawing students (let alone student athletes) who would attend Lockport if they chose the in-district Public School pretty much went dry 30 years ago. There are a few exceptions, but those are few and far between. Hopefully the new coach gets a once proud program back to their winning ways.
Great article! Love his answers! Go Porters!
https://www.chicagotribune.com/subu...ball-lockport-george-czart-st-0228-story.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/subu...ball-lockport-george-czart-st-0228-story.html
Starkey lived in Lockport when he was coaching New Trier, that had to be a brutal commute. Coaching his home town team made sense.
https://www.suntimeshighschoolsport...statement-on-dan-starkey-taking-lockport-job/
Great point on the turnover at the Lockport Athletic Director job.
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anon_4vszfu35bv677
Guest
Number one job of a high school coach these days is to keep the kids in the building. Couple of kids each class could make a big difference.
There are a LOT of private schools within 30 miles of Lockport.
I really hope that is not the number one job of a high school coach these days. As has been discussed at length on this board, losing kids to private schools does not seem to be the reason that LP has struggled in football.
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