For the older, and younger, tradition lives on at Palatine

The old guys (check that, the "older" guys) did pretty well for themselves.

Actually, the "older" guys defeated the young (check that, "youngish") guys. And the even younger guys, who were watching intently from the sidelines, were impressed all the way around.

Multiple eras of the Palatine boys volleyball program, which started in the early 1990s, were represented last month on campus in a special alumni event.

First-year varsity head coach Pete Gavin, a former player at Palatine himself and a senior on Palatine's 2004 team that finished a program-best fourth in state, is determined to build on a tradition started by former head coach Frank Stark, who stepped down at the end of last season.

Stark started inviting former players to come back for a day during the season and casually bump the ball around and socialize.

Gavin, looking to keep that connection with the past alive while also showing his current players the value of history and tradition, took that idea a step further and organized the first formal Palatine alumni volleyball match on March 9 that included a public address announcer, referees, rules and an actual score.

And in the end, that score read in favor of the older guys.

"We won 29 games last season and not only did we lose our head coach (Stark), we also lost nine seniors," Gavin said. "Our motto last year was 'Tradition Never Dies.' This year, it's 'Tradition Lives On.' I thought that a big alumni event like this would be a good way to show our current players that tradition never dies."

Nearly 40 former players and coaches showed up for the event, some from outside of Illinois and as far as Michigan and Iowa and central Indiana. They were anxious to show their Palatine pride and to show that they still have game. And many left the gym at the school already making plans to return for the match next spring.

"I think it was really special for the alums to be back playing on that floor," said Dan Gavin, Pete Gavin's older brother, an alum himself (Class of 1998) and now a junior varsity coach in the program. "Some guys hadn't been back for 20 years. I think they appreciated being able to see old teammates, to play and to talk to the younger kids. All of that was very meaningful to them."

The oldest players there were in their early 40s while some of the youngest graduated from Palatine just last year. The older players were grouped together and proudly took on the younger guys, led by Class of 2018 star Johnny O'Shea, who now plays football at Butler.

The oldest player on hand was from the Class of 1996, standout Doug Gamroth.

"The players on our current team were shocked at how good some of these former players were, especially the older ones," Pete Gavin said with a laugh. "You heard a lot of, 'So how old is that guy?' I think our kids had a lot of fun watching all those former players play and they were impressed with how good some of those guys still are.

"The alums had a great time, too. I think it was fun for them to be back and to be in the gym playing a game with the gym all set up for how we would play an actual game. We had parents in the stands, too, parents of former players and current players. It was a really good atmosphere."

About half of the alums went out for pizza after the match and held an impromptu 50/50 raffle, in which the winner donated his prize money back to the program. The Pirates earned $500 from the raffle.

But the strong connection forged between the different ages that day had no price tag. It was priceless.

"It was cool to see players there that spanned the whole length of Palatine volleyball's existence," said current Palatine outside hitter Curtis McLennan, a senior and four-year starter. "After the match, some of the alums talked to us about their experiences in the program and the work they put in and I think that has really inspired what we're doing today."

And the Pirates are doing pretty well today.

Already this season, Palatine has hit the 20-win mark. And it was just this week that the Pirates lost only their second match of the season, to rival Fremd.

Alum Cassidy Peterson, a middle hitter who graduated from Palatine in 2002 and now lives in Iowa with his wife and three young kids, wasn't able to make it to the alumni match. But he's up on all things Palatine volleyball and wants to play in the match next year.

He is still great friends with Pete Gavin, who was his setter senior year, and he did make a special trip in from Iowa to attend Gavin's head coaching debut in Palatine's season opener against Maine West.

"I'll look up stories on the Daily Herald website to stay up on things, I'll text Pete to find out what's going on with the team," Peterson said. "I like to see how the team is doing. I want to keep up. It's like being a part of a family.

"I remember when we would see former players coming back and supporting our program. You can learn from people who have been through it and have had success. That was huge for us and it gave us something to shoot for. I think Peter is setting that culture of excellence and giving everyone in the program something to be proud of."

Speaking of pride, all of the former coaches in the program's history were also in attendance at the alumni match, and they were beaming with it. Curt Pinley, now the head coach at Fremd, was Palatine's first head coach and was assisted by Ed Richardson, who was also in attendance. Joyce Richardson, Ed's wife, was the second head coach and Stark also returned.

"It was easy for me to get contact information for all the alums because I am good friends with all of the former coaches in this program and I still see them regularly," Peter Gavin said. "It was neat for me to have all of them involved in the alumni match because they all have meant so much to this program and this program has meant so much to me.

"It was my dream to take over this program someday and to keep the connections between former and current players and coaches going and to keep our tradition going. We want to create that sense of pride in the program. We want to make our current and future players want to come back, just like our players from the past do."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw