Latorre opts out of Driscoll
Driscoll has lost another quality coach, and a quality person.
Following football coach Mike Burzawa's January resignation to coach at Evanston, Highlanders nine-year head varsity boys basketball coach Nick Latorre has likewise found work in the public sector, at Oswego East High School.
"Driscoll was great. My resignation was just purely a family decision that was really difficult to make," Latorre said Friday, a week after turning in his resignation to athletic director Bob Carlson.
Under Latorre, a 1983 Addison Trail graduate who played both basketball and baseball in college, Driscoll was really difficult to beat.
The Highlanders went 168-92 with four Suburban Catholic Conference championships in his nine seasons in Addison. Driscoll tied for the conference lead the past two seasons, each with SCC records of 12-2.
His Highlanders of 2003 won a sectional title to go with regional championships in 2004 and 2006.
"What I'll remember most is the kids, all the players -- getting to know all those guys and watch them become men," said Latorre, who will teach business and assist in the boys basketball program at Oswego East.
"Getting invited to a couple weddings, and having them come back to coach, guys like Joe LeMone and Paul Pedi.
"That is priceless to me, and that's athletics. And the people at Driscoll have just been great to me."
For the head of a young family -- Bartlett residents Nick and Maureen Latorre have a 3-year-old son, Philip -- leaving Driscoll was a tough call he felt had to be made.
Latorre spoke with and sought the viewpoint of former high-profile Driscoll coaches who've gone elsewhere, among them Tim Racki, Rod Molek and Jeff Sefcik.
"They all feel that they'd love to stay -- if you could, if it was feasible, you'd stay. But it's just really tough," Latorre said.
"But Driscoll was great. They gave me a chance to coach there with no head coaching experience. It was really difficult to tell the kids that I wasn't going to be coaching them anymore."
Athletic director Bob Carlson is seeking resumes to fill the position. Resumes may be faxed to (630)543-1638 or e-mailed to: bob.carlson@driscollcatholic.com.
Window closes, another opens: One of Latorre's friendly SCC rivals, former Montini coach Tom Sloan, has been named the new head boys varsity basketball coach at Lyons Township.
Sloan, who teaches at the LaGrange school, had resigned the Montini coaching job following last year's 11-18 season, which was complicated by health problems to his newborn son.
Following the May resignation of Lyons coach Conte Stamas, Sloan was offered the job. He accepted it June 6.
They're No. 1: In a process that began when some players were as young as 8, the Glen Ellyn Lakers boys soccer under-14 Green Team won the 2008 Northern Illinois Soccer League North Gold 1 Division championship.
The Lakers, who finished with a record of 6-1-3, warmed up for the title with an overtime victory over the Naperville Galaxy to win the Oswego Soccer Classic.
Coached by Bill Loftus and Leo Lanzillo with training by Dante Espejo, the 2008 Lakers include: Daniel Bianchini, Daniel Crowley, Alex Emanuel, Patrick Fay, Domenic Frappolli, Aaron Griffin, Niall Griffin, John Hupp, Joseph Lanzillo, Brendan Loftus, Patrick Mazza, Thomas Mojica, Leandro Perez, Anthony Sansone, Joseph Zaccaria and Terros Dilworth.
Clash of the titans: At 6 p.m. June 25 at Neuqua Valley High School, the Sports Performance 18 Elite girls volleyball team will play Japanese power Kyushu Bunka Gakuen High School, out of Nagasaki.
Boasting 26 top-four finishes in 27 years, Kyushu Bunka Gakuen has won the Japanese National High School Championship 11 times and reached the finals 18 times.
The Sports Performance squad was recently ranked No. 1 in the United States by Prepvolleyball.com.
Among the Sports Performance team are Michelle Kocher and Megan Barnicle of St. Francis; Colleen Ward, Christine Wu and Julie Chin (Naperville North); and Mollie Kolosky and Rebecca Zlabis (Wheaton Warrenville South).
Cost to attend the match at Neuqua Valley is $3 for adults and students, free for children under 12.
High marks: Two local athletes attending Illinois State recently received Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Awards.
Basketball player Tiffany Hudson, from Naperville Central, maintained a 3.37 cumulative GPA in her double-major of public relations and recreation and park administration and management. On the court last season she averaged 9 points and 3.3 assists, finishing 21st in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio.
She also received the Missouri Valley Conference Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award.
As did former Addison Trail student Carl Azab, now running track for the Redbirds.
Azab, an MVC Track and Field Scholar-Athlete selection, has a 3.32 GPA in physical education. He placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles at the MVC outdoor track championships.
Good and good for you: The Kicks 4 Cancer three-on-three youth soccer tournament will be held at Schaumburg's Olympic Park on July 12.
Raising money for the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation in Chicago, since its 2003 founding the tournament has donated $40,000.
The tournament is for girls and boys three-on-three teams, between under-9 and under-14. For details, visit www.kicks4cancer.org.
Batter up: Headed by first-year North Central College baseball coach John Fitzgerald, a series of youth baseball camps will be held at the Naperville facility in July.
Held on North Central's Alumni Field at Zimmerman Stadium, the camps will offer individual and group instruction in hitting, pitching, base-running, infield and outfield play and catching. The drills are the same used by the North Central baseball program.
Separate sessions for children ages 5-9 will be held on July 7-10 and July 21-24; for kids 10-16 the dates are July 14-17 and July 28-31.
Cost for each camp is $150. For details, call NCC's community development office at (630)637-5560.