Pittsford's Burger steps down as track coach

[caption id="attachment_694" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pittsford boys' track and field coach Mike Burger has stepped down after six successful seasons at the helm."][/caption]

After winning six SCAA championships in six seasons as the Pittsford boys' track and field head coach, Mike Burger is calling it quits to focus on another group of young athletes — his own kids.

Burger said he will continue his coaching duties as an assistant with the football program and as the head varsity basketball coach for now, but it is the right time to try and find a bit more balance in his life.

"Track is a tremendous time commitment you know, with almost every Saturday in the spring — we only have one Saturday off at Pittsford and that's for prom," he said.

"There are some other opportunities available. I'm going to try to spend some time coaching some little league baseball for (my son) Jake, and (my daughter) Stacy, she's playing softball and I don't want to miss that."

Burger had big shoes to fill when he took over the boys' track and field program, those of Bruce Caswell — a state championship winning coach — to be exact, and he did Caswell, as well as the legendary Ralph Crume's tradition justice by creating a winning tradition of his own.

Even though his  boys dealt with affliction throughout the 2009 track season and lost a pair of SCAA dual meets, they ultimately came out on top at the league championship meet, just like they have the previous five seasons.

Burger was visibly stirred on May 19 when his team achieved that feat, and he held nothing back in showing how he felt.

“I don’t know if this team is as gifted on the track as some of the others I’ve had, but this team certainly sticks together well, they work hard everyday in practice and it’s been amazing,” Burger said following the SCAA championship meet. “We were so focused tonight because we wanted it bad; sure a division title in the regular season would’ve been the frosting on the cake, but we think this meet is a true representative of our league and it was a goal and it was the biggest one.”

That championship victory came just one day after Burger told his squad that this would be his final season at the helm.

"I think that they were disappointed. It it is good I guess, but it didn't make the decision any easier," he said.

Burger informed Wildcat athletic director John Hoeft midway through the season and he admits the entire process has been far from easy.

"It was pretty difficult. Especially the way the season ended, the kids really overcame some adversity this year and some injuries and stepped it up and won the league, and then Ben (Wines) did a great job at the state meet, so it wasn't easy," he said.

Burger said some of his favorite memories, aside from going 6-for-6 on league championships, were watching some of the individual and relay team state champs he coached train for success all year long and then come through in late May.

When asked who he thinks would be a good choice to succeed him, he said he hasn't really concerned himself with that, as it's really in the hands of Hoeft. Several messages were left with Hoeft, but the calls were not returned.

But Burger said he obviously wants somebody good, and he would have some simple advice for whoever takes over.

"Whoever is next to take it, I would just say they have to work hard, try to be the best that they can be and make sure they represent Pittsford well," he said.

Burger said he also feels confident that he isn't leaving the cupboard anywhere close to bear.

"I think the team should honestly be fine next year. We only have two seniors, we have Garet Lee back, we have Brent Smith back, we have guys who can step into Ben's shoes, good throwers, in Jason Smith and Brandon Williams," he said. "We have great pole vaulters. We don't have a whole lot of sprinters, but we didn't have them anyways."

Burger said he is thankful for the role coaching plays in his life and he absolutely loves the kids he coaches, as if they were his own, but it certainly is only part of who he is.

"For now. I try not to let anything dominate my whole life," he said. "To me coaching has been part of my career, it's not my life. I read something a long time ago, from legendary basketball coach Don Meyer (the winningest NCAA men's basketball coach of all time and currently the head coach at Northern State University). He said you've got to work in a way that will allow you to keep working that way for 20 years, and that's how I want to be."

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Stroble steps down as Comets' head coach

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="199" caption="After three seasons as the head football coach at Jonesville High School Brian Stroble has resigned."][/caption]

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on March 27, 2009

Just when it looked like the Brian Stroble-era of Jonesville football was getting rolling, it has suddenly come to a screeching halt.

The Comets head coach of three seasons notified the school of his resignation Tuesday, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and focus on things other than football in what had become a year-round, daily commitment.

Jonesville Community Schools has already posted the coaching vacancy on its Web site and Stroble will officially announce his resignation at the district's next board of education meeting.

Jonesville went 10-17 under Stroble's leadership, including a promising 5-4 campaign in 2008, where the Comets came up just one win short of a playoff berth.

While Stroble admitted it was tough to step down, Jonesville athletic director Kathy Bondsteel agreed that the timing is right for both Stroble and the program as a whole.

"Brian has a new family and I know he wants to spend some time with his family and it's a lot time away from them to have to run a football program," she said. "I don't think I would ever say it wasn't the right fit. It's just that a varsity position is a huge time commitment and sometimes when you have a family it's hard...it's really hard to say."

Bondsteel added that her former head coach is a great teacher who does a good job with children, the current state of Jonesville football just dictated that the parties go their separate ways.

Stroble has a daughter who turns five in July and a 4-month-old son and he said he just couldn't put the football program's success ahead of spending quality time with his family.

"I think in order for the program to continue to get better I would have had to spend more time working in the program and with the program, and it takes a lot (of hours) to be the varsity football coach. I know Marc Lemerand over at Hillsdale has a young family and he's made it work, but right now in my life I'm young. I'm only 30 years old and other opportunities will come around," he said. "Football, as much as I love the kids and the game, my family comes first. My son was born in December and now summer is coming along and I'd be spending hours in the weight room and hours in meetings and sessions, but my son is only going to be young once."

Bondsteel echoed Stroble's mindset, saying whoever is hired to replace him is going to have to prove to her they want to "live, breathe, and die football at Jonesville" starting July 12.

"They've got to want to have the parents of the players on board and I've got parents here who are waiting to be as helpful as they can, because they like to see success for the kids and for the community as a whole," she said. "The (community) takes ownership and have pride in Jonesville and that's one thing that's a positive aspect here."

Stroble said he has no regrets from what he is calling his "first career" in football, but did say it would've been nice to go out after a playoff appearance and he wishes he would've started using the Wing-T offense a little sooner to give his players a better shot at success. He said a 10-17 record isn't one he considers to be great by any means, but he does feel good about how with the help of assistants like Dustin Scharer and Louie LaMothe the Comet football team seems headed in the right direction.

"With next year's group of guys coming through, Jonesville looks to be reckoned with. We have 17 starters returning...I feel like I've left the program in a great position and now I can focus on my family and teaching," he said.

This was never an easy decision for Stroble, who said he will "always love the game" and be back coaching when his children are older, so not surprisingly he actually found some solace in the words of a fellow Big Eight coach earlier this week.

"I e-mailed the Big Eight coaches and thanked them for three years of, I guess you could say, ethical football coaching; and I got a response back from (Reading's) Rick Bailey and he expressed that he was sorry to hear I was leaving and he thought I had done a great job and he could see Jonesville working their way back to where (former coach) Greg Morrison had it," he said. "I played against (Rick's teams) when I was in high school at Quincy and as an official I've crossed paths with him lots of times, so I took what Rick Bailey had to say, and that helped me out a lot."

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Brian Stroble steps down as Jonesville High School head football coach

After just three seasons at the helm, Jonesville High School football coach Brian Stroble has resigned as the Comets head coach. He resigned Tuesday, citing the desire to spend more quality time with his family, instead of living in the weight room and film room.

He has a little girl who is almost five years old and a 4-month-old son. From talking with several sources off the record I thought there may have been quite a rift between Stroble and Jonesville athletic director Kathy Bondsteel, but after talking with both of them at length I thing my radar may have been a bit off.

No, they're probably not best friends and never will be, but they had a solid working relationship and both of them came to the realization Stroble needed to show more commitment to the program to take it to the next level and they both knew he wanted to put that time in elsewhere — with his wife and kids — which I personally think is a great thing, despite what Comet athletic boosters and some fans might think.

A full-length article with quotes and other details will be on here tomorrow afternoon.

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