Coach Frank, the beloved World Civilization, US History, and AP Human Geography teacher, recently added another triptych to his résumé: the coaching triptych. The art of Coach Frank’s career includes a large mural as an assistant coach for lacrosse, a tasteful portrait on the tennis court, and a yet unpainted piece as the head coach of St. X’s hockey team.
The hockey team has been getting progressively better and was poised to make their best recent run at the state title last year. The Tigers lost in heartbreaking fashion in the state championship game last year, but that is not a part of Coach Frank’s plan for the future. Cognizant of his time as a recently promoted coach and a hardworking teacher, I emailed him some questions. Here are his responses:
How do the sports and their strategies translate? How does coaching lacrosse help you coach tennis or hockey?
On a basic level coaching across sports is sort of the same. It is about supporting the athletes and trying to foster confidence in their abilities.
Sport by sport, there is very little crossover between the three. Obviously, tennis is an individual (or two man) pursuit. With hockey and lacrosse, aside from the physical nature of the sports, they are quite different. Lacrosse is much more akin to basketball in terms of spacing, cutting, and movement.
The main thing with coaching at the high school level – where on a given team you will have a lot of different skill levels, levels of motivation, and even disparate levels of understanding of the game – is to try to get everyone to buy into the understanding of “how does what we do day-to-day translate into making our team the best team possible?”
What got you into coaching?
When I decided to go back to school to be a teacher, I couldn’t imagine NOT coaching. Pretty much all the male teachers at my high school coached. Becoming a teacher, it just seemed like a forgone conclusion that I would also be a coach, it seemed to me that was just what everyone did. I am glad that I had that exposure, as I really enjoy being involved in high school sports.
What has been your favorite moment as a coach?
My first year coaching lacrosse at St. X in 2012 – we were not the best team in the state. Trinity had an absolute powerhouse squad and had beaten us by like 12 goals in the regular season. We spent our season playing the best teams we could find, including our annual trip to Virginia. We took some bad losses that year, and barely had a .500 record; however, we got the boys to buy into the attitude that Trinity had not made the sacrifices that we had, had not taken the lumps that we had, that maybe they were a bit soft. Our boys knew that Trinity was good, but also that we had more of that weird “it factor”. We beat them 7-6 in triple overtime on their field, and it was one of the most satisfying experiences ever.
Which sport do you enjoy watching the most?
Oh, overall, you truly cannot beat the NHL playoffs. However, like most sports-loving Americans currently stuck in the sports doldrums of August, I absolutely cannot wait for a crisp fall weekend and about 18 consecutive hours of football.
At which sport are you the best?
When I was young, I was best at hockey. It was the sport with which I spent the most time. Hockey, in northern New York, was like basketball in Kentucky. Everyone grew up playing, everyone was on a team for your own little town. It was serious, and there was actually quite a lot of pressure. There was a real cultural aspect to it. Being on the “top team” went a long way in determining your friend groups, your “social life” in a way. I spent entire winters from ages 8-18 with the same 15-20 guys, many of whom are still my very best friends.
So as an 11- or 12-year-old, I can remember feeling that being good at hockey was an incredibly important thing. That might seem a bit concerning in hindsight, but it was just the reality at the time. I think if you went around the country and looked at any competitive youth sport program, you could see the same sort of phenomenon. Kids today have a great deal of pressure in the “best” club soccer, or AAU basketball, or travel baseball teams that they can manage.
As a result, I sort of burned out on hockey. Lacrosse seemed much easier, more laid back in a way. I think that is why I chose to play lacrosse over hockey in college.
Are you the best athlete from your hometown? If not, who is?
NO. There are a surprising number of good athletes from my little town. Currently, we have a Canton kid – Jordan Greenway – playing in the NHL for the Buffalo Sabers.
But from my perspective, I think the more interesting answer is probably kind of a cautionary tale. Mike Bushaw. This kid was an UNREAL hockey player, golfer, soccer player….you name it, he was good at it. He went off to play major junior hockey, and then got a Division I scholarship to Clarkson University. He was one of the top scorers as a freshman, when he got into some trouble and was kicked out of school. He resurfaced in junior college hockey later, and won a JUCO national championship, and put up some absolutely insane stats. He was this sort of fascinating figure to Canton kids like me that came after him. He had the kind of natural ability that makes the “what if?” of his whole situation all the more interesting/tragic.
What is your biggest accomplishment in any of these sports?
Individual accolades aside, the best thing I was a part of in sports was being on the 1998-99 New York State championship hockey team. I sometimes feel like we win titles so often here at St. X that one can become a bit “apathetic” about it all. My Canton High School team won four state hockey championships in the 1990s. For a town of about 5,000 people that is pretty bonkers. Everyone felt like it was the biggest deal in the world. I was on the last team that won a title, and it felt to me like being in the show “Friday Night Lights”. Upon arrival home from state, a fire truck and a cop car met our team bus on the road outside of town. We paraded through town at like 11 p.m. on a Sunday night with the sirens ringing. There was a reception at the Italian restaurant in town (the owner’s kid – Mikey Sergi was on the team). It seemed to me that the entire town was there, and it all still feels pretty surreal 25 years later.
Coach Frank’s wisdom comes in many fashions, whether it be the cautionary tale of one Mike Bushaw or the inspiring story of the 2012 win over Trinity. Coach Frank has left an indelible mark on all of his students and former players; I have no doubt he will take the hockey program above the already high levels to which it has risen — especially if he has the culinary support of Mike Sergi.
