Coach K bids adieu to Thorold high
Coach K has retired after teaching 24 years at Thorold high but he’s not ready to give up the Xs and Os.
John Kwiatkowski coached tennis, track and field, volleyball, football, ball hockey, soccer and basketball at the Thorold high school, but his retirement won’t consist of just spending time with his son, Colin, cooking, walking the dogs and reading historical fiction.
“Maybe I can become a sports critic that rivals Stephen A. Smith,” the Acton high school alumnus said jokingly. “I have also been asked to help out a few teams which I am sure I will do. I just can’t shake the coaching bug.”
Besides his bench boss stints at Thorold, Kwiatkowski’s resume included coaching: volleyball at Ferndale, Grantham high and Thorold high while a student at Brock; volleyball, basketball and track at Holy Cross for six years while working at there as an educational assistant (he also met his future wife Karen at Holy Cross); the women’s volleyball team at Niagara College for two seasons while teaching at Thorold; and, St. Catharines CYO Rebels travel and house league basketball teams that included his son.
His motivation to coach was sparked by the great mentorship he received in high school from people such as Dave Boycott, Bruce Andrews and Anne Andrews. As a senior high school student, he was asked to help coach and was supported in developing his skills by going to clinics and getting certified in the National Coaching Certification Program.
“I then realized I had caught the coaching bug that has lasted the past 40 years. I can’t imagine it is ending here.”
He loved seeing the individual and team improvements.
“It is not about where you start but how you finish.”
Coaching was also a way to bond with the students in the classroom and in the field of play.
“As a coach, you can inspire and affect young people in a positive way,” he said. “My coaches in high school believed in me and helped form the person I became. If I could help others through positive leadership and encouragement, I wanted to do the same.”
In his final years at Thorold, he enjoyed mentoring the next generation of coaches, including former players Ben Price and Justin Ivey, and new teacher, Emily Vandyken.
“I feel like I am passing the torch.”
Paperwork was the only thing about coaching that didn’t thrill him but others pitched in.
“I had the help of our incredible school secretaries and my teaching partners and sidekicks, Kelly Pendakis and Heather Sweezey.”
Kwiatkowski was influenced by legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith. Smith not only looked for athleticism and skill, but also character and work ethic.
“Talent is not the only thing I looked at when building teams. Integrity, respect, commitment, and continuous learning were equally important to me,” Kwiatkowski said. “My players would say my philosophy is ‘There is no I in team.’ I commended them constantly for supporting one another, recognizing the assist, or taking a charge for the team.”
His coaching high points were winning Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association basketball titles in 2008 and 2009 while coaching with Duane Kemp, and coaching at OFSAA tennis.
“That (basketball) team was special because they were leaders both on and off the court,” he said. “We developed bonds with the parents, having travelled long hours together to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships) two years in a row.”
His teams made several Tribune and Standard tournament consolation finals and consistently earned berths in SOSSA and zone finals.
“Sometimes we won, other times we did not, but every time I had players with me who played with heart and integrity.”
His coaching low point came in 2013.
“A work-to-rule forced the end of our basketball season shortly after it began.”
Through all the years, he never lost his passion for coaching, but he has noticed a change in the high school athlete.
“It is more difficult to encourage students to come out for teams, forcing some schools to cancel their squads,” he said. “Students have more on their plate now and many need to work or they have other priorities.”
Kwiatkowski has a couple of suggestions for improving high school sports.
“I would like to see more opportunities to play local schools regardless of their school board,” he said. “I would also like to see students come out for school teams with a passion to learn and develop and improve instead of just a desire to win.”
The former physical education, history and civics teacher was sad to see his time at Thorold high come to an end.
“I’ll miss the Tuesday night open gym gatherings where ballers from our past and present teams came together to play pickup,” he said. “I will also miss the close-knit Thorold high community, staff, students and parents. I miss them already.”
