As wins pile up, so do the lessons Havelka has taught
It should surprise no one that Ron Havelka drove from practice Wednesday to watch three of his ex-players in a game at Loyola University.
If it's two things Havelka loves, it's softball and the girls who play for him.
Havelka, now starting his 18th season at Downers Grove South, is three wins away from No. 500.
Like a proud papa he is quicker to point out the 3.5 grade-point average last year's team carried than its batting average or his own win total. Wins are a number, a by-product of the kids he's been blessed to coach.
"A lot of things I've learned from him aren't even softball-related," said first-year Neuqua Valley coach Elaina Tanaka, who played second base at Downers Grove South under Havelka. "He's just a great guy."
Havelka, who taught social studies and special education at Darien's Eisenhower Junior High until retiring in 2007, got his start in softball playing intramurals at Northern Illinois University.
He began playing competitive fast-pitch softball in 1973 and pitched for several years with the premier 12-inch Bank of Westmont travel team.
"He's one of the most intense competitors I ever played with and it carried over into coaching," said Jim Cushing, Havelka's assistant coach since Day One, a friend and softball teammate for some 30 years. "He demanded his players play well behind him."
Havelka, who was for many years the girls and boys basketball coach at Eisenhower, applied for the Downers Grove South softball job in 1993.
In his first season the Mustangs won the Class AA state championship behind All-America pitcher Amy Elza.
"Once you do that," said Havelka, whose team took second in 2006, "you want to do it again."
Havelka does it walking that fine line between "tough guy" and "softie." He is caring toward his kids, who in turn feed off his intensity. Devoted to the minute details that make a difference in softball, Havelka dedicates time in every practice to defensive drills and game situations.
Tanaka recalls practicing at McCollum Park in pouring rain.
"We were soaking wet and we were practicing turning double plays and we kept dropping the ball," Tanaka said. "We thought it was hilarious. He did not think it was funny."
Havelka is the coach who would play softball from sunrise to sundown, if given the opportunity. He is the coach who drags the field himself to prepare it for practice or game day.
The knowledge of game strategy, be it lineup changes or pinch hitters, comes naturally. The recall of Chicago-area softball players could fill a college recruiter's database.
"He's kind of taught me everything I know about softball," said first-year Montini coach Richie Costante, a student manager while at Downers Grove South and assistant for eight years under Havelka. "Last Thursday we met up for dinner, the day before my first game, to double-check certain things. Nothing I didn't know - I just wanted to make sure it was done the right way. He's kind of like a father figure."
Tanaka, whose older sister Nicole played on the 1993 state championship team, finds herself as a coach passing on to her players the same words Havelka told her as a kid. She talks to Havelka frequently even now.
"He's the one that inspired me to be a coach in the first place," she said.
In a sense it is Havelka's kids who inspire him. They inspire him as he watches them improve over the course of a season, when he watches them play over the summer or work out religiously in the fall. It even carries into adulthood as he watches Tanaka and Costante follow in his coaching footsteps.
"I've enjoyed it. It keeps you young," Havelka said. "I've been blessed to have wonderful coaches and kids that love to play the game."
jwelge@dailyherald.com