Newby aims for similar success with Fremd’s boys team

Like one of the water polo teams he’s coached at Fremd, Brian Newby saw an opportunity and pounced on it.

After a stunningly successful 10-year run as the girls coach, Newby switched to Fremd’s boys program this spring.

“It was the hardest decision I had to make in my coaching career leaving an awesome group of girls,” Newby said, “but there is never a great time to leave, and the opportunity was there — and I was never sure it was going to be there again.

“The Fremd girls team is an amazing team and it was such a difficult team to leave. I look forward to seeing their success from the stands this year and many more after that. I know that they have the talent and the drive to go after another trophy at all the levels.”

This was not a case of a coach leaving the cupboard bare — maybe just the opposite. New girls coach Ray Roth has a team loaded with seniors who have already had a couple tastes of state tournament competition, among them Sam del Prado, Sam Matuszewski, Lauren Zambelli, Emily McCarthy and Julie Conrath. That group is partly responsible for Fremd’s dominance over the last several years against Mid-Suburban League teams in the regular season, as Newby’s girls team amassed a 52-game winning streak and four straight league titles while advancing to the state’s Elite Eight in each of the last four seasons.

In a 10-year span, Newby’s teams finished with a record of 192-61, without a single losing season.

That cupboard isn’t bare on the boys’ side, though. Andre Degla was one of the league’s top players last season, and he’s joined by experienced, capable players such as Daniel Knudsen, Dillon Heinlein, Ryan Helsdingen and goalie Max Plichta.

The Vikings boys are 3-0 against Mid-Suburban West foes and seem to be replicating the success Newby has had in the past.

“I have the same expectations as I had for the girls,” said Newby, “and the boys are doing everything that I have asked and taking some initiative on their own also. It has been awesome to see their transformation and what they are capable of.”

Unlike the girls program, the Fremd boys have so far been unable to win a sectional title and qualify for state. That’s partly due to quality programs in place at Schaumburg, Conant and Palatine blocking their path.

Newby is embracing the challenge and welcoming his change of perspective.

“The boys here are very talented and I know they are capable of greatness,” he said. “I look forward to watching them achieve that from the side of the deck instead of the stands.”