Dolney, Beebe love 1st year as ADs

The 2010-11 academic year is nearly in the books. The county's two new athletic directors, Dan Dolney of St. Charles North and Dan Beebe of Aurora Christian, give their first term rave reviews.

“I've really enjoyed it,” Dolney said. “It's really nice walking into a situation where you have great coaches, great coaches who want to do the right things for kids, that really care about the well-being of the kids and the community.”

Beebe sings a similar tune.

“The parents and the boosters and just the people in general are just awesome here at Aurora Christian,” he said. “It's been a pleasure working in my first year here.”

The men came from different backgrounds, though sports played a big part for each.

Dolney gave up being Maine East's varsity baseball coach, as well as a physical education teacher there, for the St. Charles North position. A former minor league catcher who graduated from and later coached at New Trier, his observations helped ease the transition process into the larger job at St. Charles North. Dolney also continued to take input from Jim Bloch and Wayne DeMaar, the interim athletic directors he succeeded.

As a former coach himself, that experience gave him insight into what coaches “are going through every day and how I can help them,” Dolney said.

As recent events surrounding St. Charles high school athletics have shown, there also is no lack of input into how things should be done.

“Around here people are always willing to give feedback,” Dolney said. “They'll tell you what they don't like, but in the same sense they're the people who'll say, ‘Good job.'”

It's got to be a good job for a 36-year-old father of two young children. Who wouldn't want to play in a big gym with shiny wooden floors or — at any age — ride around in a cool golf cart? As long as they don't get in the way, Dolney's kids — 5-year-old Will, 3-year-old Annika — sometimes get to hang out with dad on the job.

“My kids love coming to, they call it the office,” said Dolney, himself the son of two gymnasts. “They love running around the gym, going to the games. They're young, but I grew up in a gym and I don't see a better way than for kids to grow up around athletics.”

Dolney was thrilled to see his other “kids” get a chance to play at the next level. North Stars such as K.K. Barr heading to Northwestern's women's soccer team and Josh Mikes bound for Winona State for football, for instance.

Dolney said at the beginning of the year the catch phrase was, “Don't worry, it just happens.” Aside from the emergency medical vehicle showing up automatically for each home football game, that wasn't the case. But he couldn't think of one negative instance in his first year, unless the daily commute from his Wheeling home counts.

There were many more positives, such as his favorite event, the Kick-A-Thon that last year raised $73,630 for the LivingWell Cancer Resource Center, the American Cancer Society's Fox Valley Chapter, and the St. Charles North and East drill teams.

From the parents and students to coaches and administration, Dolney had nothing but praise.

“Everyone's been fantastic, very welcoming and very hard working,” he said. “It's been really nice to come in there.”

Same for Dan Beebe, whose arrival as Aurora Christian's athletic director coincided with a landmark year for Eagles sports.

The former Chadron State head men's basketball coach oversaw another state quarterfinal berth by the football team, an Elite Eight appearance by the boys basketball team, conference titles by both sophomore and varsity baseball for the first time in history and the girls track team's first sectional title and seventh-place finish in Class 1A.

That's a lot of paperwork and scheduling, and Beebe had no problem at all given the reasons why.

“I wouldn't say it makes it more difficult, it makes it more exciting,” he said. “But definitely, there's a lot that goes into those type of events.”

Like Dolney, Beebe has some athletes who either now or in the future will garner college attention. Along with older brother Don Beebe, the Eagles' head varsity football coach — younger brother Dave is the team's defensive coordinator, but everyone seems to get the right mail — Dan has dealt with a stream of recruiters looking at junior football player Anthony Maddie.

Girls track star Mackenzie Bollinger, who just won the 1A 200-meter dash, one of her four-all-state finishes last Saturday, is still a sophomore but may start generating interest.

“This is an exciting time,” Beebe said.

An athletic director's day often lasts from dawn until well past sunset, but this is the odd athletic director who may be enjoying more time at home than he did before taking the job.

Beebe remains president and managing partner, with brother Don, of the House of Speed franchising company. With a recent hire delegated to open new stores, he's not on the road as much.

He's definitely not traveling as much as when he coached basketball at his alma mater Chadron State from 1996-2006. That makes things a little nicer for his wife, Stacy, especially now that they have little Trey and 11-month-old Ty.

“Here as athletic director I'm gone all the time, but at least I'm home at night,” Dan said. “Before, about fifty nights out of the year I was in a hotel room.”

Beebe had nothing but good things to say about booster and parental involvement. In a year that's been very eventful on the field, it's been pretty uneventful off it. That's a good thing.

“It was well-planned, well thought out,” he said. “We executed the game plan, so to speak.”

The racer's edge

For the second straight year, Aurora Christian's valedictorian is a member of the girls track team.

Amy Berger, a two-year captain of both the Eagles' cross country and track teams, is the 2011 valedictorian. The daughter of assistant track coach Lila Berger, she's headed to Illinois to study materials science and engineering.

Last year's valedictorian was Danielle Gorder, who also ran track and cross country, and is now at Tulane.

As a junior, Amy Berger was listed as an alternate with Aurora Christian's downstate track entourage, but not this year. Still, coach Dr. Jeff Schutt valued her motivational qualities strongly enough to have her travel to Charleston with the team.

“For me, as a sub at Aurora Christian, track mom and working closely with cross country as well, I've seen these athletes in many different settings and can say I'm proud of their character, determination and goals in life,” Lila Berger said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com