Rolando will take over as St. Edward coach
Mike Rolando may be best known for his high school days as a Larkin quarterback and his more current job as St. Edward's head football coach, but he's no stranger to a softball field either.
Having coached his daughter Veronica the last 6 years in the Elgin Classic Little League, Rolando figured the time was right to invest some time in the St. Edward softball program.
St. Edward athletic director P.J. White confirmed Wednesday that Rolando will be the new head softball coach for the Green Wave. He will be assisted by Scott Brockner and Eloy Diaz, both Green Wave football coaches who also have daughters in the softball program. Brockner's daughter, Kristina, is a sophomore, and Diaz's daughter, like Rolando's, is a freshman.
"I've played baseball my whole life and coached softball the last 5-6 years," said Rolando, who was a member of Larkin's 1991 Elite Eight baseball qualifier.
"I know a lot of these girls from when they were younger and some of them have been water girls for the football team."
Rolando takes over the program for Keith Chuipek, who is also the school's boys basketball coach. Chuipek stepped in at the last minute last season after the school learned the coach it had hired, Tammy Gamble, did not have ASEP certification.
Chuipek's son, Drew, is a senior golfer at St. Ambrose University in Iowa. He missed some games last year to see his son play golf, but he isn't leaving the program with any negatives.
"With Keith it's family matters," said White. "With Drew being a senior, Keith wants to see him play as much as possible. The neat thing about this is we have people here who are willing to help out the program."
Rolando, who will undergo surgery Fridaty for an Achilles Heel he injured playing basketball, said his decision -- as well as Brcokner's and Diaz's -- to pursue the softball job was finalized recently.
"We talked over Christmas break and decided it would be a good opportunity for us to put some time into the softball program," said Rolando, who will meet with interested players today and another potential assistant coach tonight. "It's tough for Keith coming right from basketball and we have the time right now."
Rolando, who coached the Elgin Classic Junior All-Stars to a District 13 title last summer, is excited about the Green Wave's potential. While the team only went 6-15 last year, there is a lot of experience back with players such as Kelly Knott, Kristi Knott, Megan Smith, Brockner, Megan Pozezinski, Erin McGraw, Meghan Petersen, Paige Mashinski and Stephanie Werner, among others, all expected to return.
"There's a lot of good athletes here and we're excited to get going and see what they can do," Rolando said.