New ADs excited about opportunities at SCN, Aurora Christian

In baseball, "strong up the middle" starts behind home plate. Looking to continue St. Charles North's position of strength in athletics next year is former minor league catcher Dan Dolney.

Dolney, coming from Maine East where he's a baseball coach and physical education teacher, will join familiar name Dan Beebe - who's already in the process of succeeding Aurora Christian's distinguished Don Davidson - as the area's new athletic directors.

"I'm really excited to be there, and I'm really looking forward to this," said Dolney, who was approved as the successor to St. Charles North's dynamic duo of interim AD's, Wayne DeMaar and Jim Bloch.

"Obviously it's my first athletic director position so it adds a little more excitement to it," Donley said, "but I'm just thrilled to be joining the St. Charles North family."

Speaking of family, Dan Beebe is the middle brother of Aurora Christian football defensive coordinator Dave Beebe (no relation to the Rosary basketball coach of the same name) and head football coach Don Beebe, eldest of the three.

Don and Dan now have 23 House of Speed franchises nationwide, but Dan sought to dip his toes back into administration. The Kaneland graduate and former Chadron State basketball coach does have a background in teaching.

"This position opened and I always wanted to dive in a little bit as an athletic director," said Beebe, 42, who started assuming Davidson's duties in March and is now in full-time.

This initially was not the smoothest of transitions as Davidson wound down his career as a force at Aurora Christian. The 2009 staff reduction that cost Davidson's son, Mark, his teaching job and boys basketball coaching assignment meant the anticipated handing down of the athletic director's position was not to be.

So, sunny comments by the elder Davidson - who Beebe praises as "a man of God" - shine particularly bright on the Eagles' new man.

"He'll do an excellent job. I just have the greatest confidence that he's going to carry on the tradition of keeping Christ first in our athletics," said Davidson, whose sincerity, consideration and gravitas, among many other traits, will be missed.

"Most importantly," Davidson continued, "he's going to follow on with discipling young men and women and having coaches that'll be great examples for kids of Christ in their lives. I know that's going to continue. I'm very pleased by the hire from the administration here."

This indeed is a mutual admiration society.

"In one sense I'm very humbled to take that man's position, and also I'm very honored to take his position," Beebe said.

They've gotten cracking, filling coaching positions for girls basketball (Jerry Tokars), boys golf (Robbie Baumann) and poms (Niki Chesley) and working to hire a girls volleyball coach.

After Davidson took Aurora Christian to 13 interscholastic sports from two when he started, Beebe seeks his own challenges.

"Probably for myself, to get everything streamlined to a way that we can make every program successful," Beebe said. "We've had a few programs on campus that are very good, and we'd like to see every program take that leap - especially when you're in the Suburban Christian Conference."

Back in the Upstate Eight, Dolney will officially join St. Charles North on July 1st, though his first assignment will be attending the June athletic directors' meeting.

As Dolney said, he was thrilled to be joining the family at St. Charles North, and knows several people there including Bloch, a former New Trier athletic director brought out of retirement for the transition year.

Dolney, a 1993 New Trier graduate, was on the baseball coaching staff of both the Trevians' 1999 Class AA runner-up and the 2000 state champions. As a player, Dolney caught for an Elite Eight team at New Trier. He was drafted by the Houston Astros and played three years in rookie ball and Single-A before a shoulder injury forced his retirement.

The 34-year-old comes from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, where he taught physical education for more than nine years and head baseball coach for seven.

"I'm going to miss coaching a lot," Dolney admitted. "When I first started teaching I thought I'd be coaching for thirty years. Obviously, aspirations change."

Upon his approval Monday he was given the grand tour by St. Charles North Principal Kim Zupec and was reminded of how impressed he was by the folks there.

"It's just a great community that wants to see their kids be successful and move on to become great citizens," he said.

Donley brings a passion for athletics he once flashed behind the plate, and is convinced he's in a place where that's standard practice.

"I'm really expecting to have a hardworking bunch of coaches that are passionate about their sports, passionate about the kids at St. Charles North, and want to see success at every level whether it's athletically or academically," Dolney said.

"I'm fortunate to be there to help them be successful."

Home away from homeElfstrom Stadium in Geneva, home of the Kane County Cougars, is hosting a pair of prep baseball games that combine fun with a good cause.St. Francis and Aurora Central Catholic play a Suburban Christian Conference game under the lights, 7 p.m. May 18, in an event billed as "Strike Out Cancer."St. Francis parent Denise Woodard, a St. Charles resident and cancer survivor, got the ball rolling on what's hoped to be an annual event. The Spartans will be wearing pink wristbands and uniforms (gotta get one of those) with fans wearing pink T-shirts. Fans will have the chance to bid on memorabilia and Cougars tickets, and proceeds from the event will benefit the American Cancer Society."High school athletes and coaches can get too wrapped up with wins and losses sometimes," St. Francis baseball coach Rich Janor said in a statement. "An event like this is great because it puts things in perspective."Following suit the next night at Elfstrom, Kaneland comes in hosting DeKalb in a Western Sun Conference baseball game. Kaneland's senior night affair likewise starts at 7 p.m. on May 19, with all proceeds donated to Children's Memorial Hospital. Any Little Leaguer in uniform gets in free.Repeat after me: No rain, no rain, no rain...