For almost his entire life, Chris Bartolucci had been involved with St. Charles College and high school football.
Starting as a student and then becoming a teacher and coach at
the school for the past 31 years, Bartolucci was passionate
about his job. But, this past January, he stepped away from it
all when he retired.
After high school, Bartolucci went to Laurentian University and
studied sociology and religion. From there he went to teacher's
college and came to teach at St. Charles in 1976.
The 53-year-old was hired to teach religion, something he would
end up instructing his entire career.
He was also asked to take on a coaching role and Bartolucci
selected football, basketball and track and field.
He put three years in track, 15 into basketball and was a
football coach for 30 straight years.
When the dust settled on his career, Bartolucci had 12 city
senior boys' championships under his belt, along with another
three at the junior level. He also guided a squad to a NOSSA
championship in 1980 and also collected five city basketball
titles.
He also took over the head coaching reigns of the Sudbury
Spartans in 2006, helping them to a 3-5 record and a playoff
spot. More importantly, Bartolucci brought back a lot of
respect and dignity to the troubled franchise. The team took a
one-year absence in 2007 due to a lack of players.
Bartolucci's impact on the education system can't be measured,
nor can his influence on the sport of football.
The SDSSAA honours Bartolucci each year with a trophy bearing
his name, which goes to the top offensive player in the high
school football league.
In 2006, Bartolucci was named the winner of the Colin Hood
award for coaching, which goes to a coach who best demonstrates
the value of school sport and teaching lifelong lessons.
He along with Sid Forster, Al Lekun and Michale Staffen
established the highly successful Joe MacDonald Youth Football
League (JMYFL).
Bartolucci has been married to Patti, his high school
sweetheart for 27 years. They have two children, Jimmy, 23, and
Michael, 19.
Recently, Bartolucci sat down with Northern Life reporter Scott
Haddow and talked about his career, how retirement is treating
him and football.
SH: How has retirement been for you?
CB: It feels good now. It was strange at first, stopping
something I did for 31 years cold turkey. It took a month or so
to get into it. I did question the move at one point, but it
has since gone away. It was the right time and the best
decision. I believe in going out on top, and I feel I did
it...you have to leave them crying for more. I felt I left a
good mark.
SH: Have you been bored?
CB: My days fly by and there's always something to do around
the house. Maybe in five years I'll be bored. There's a real
element of freedom. Things don't have to be done today...I can
do them tomorrow. Everyday is Saturday for me now. I will play
more golf, do more woodworking. I do miss the people and
believe it or not, the students. I still go back...the other
day I was at the school for lunch. It's amazing how quickly one
can become disconnected from the education field.
SH: Are you keeping involved in football?
CB: I'm on the executive board for the JMYFL...I'm in charge of
equipment and player safety. I'm sure I'll be doing something
with St. Charles football in the fall...it's one of my loves
and something I'll always be connected with.
SH: Overall, what really stood out about your time at St. Charles?
CB: I was proud I was at St. Charles my whole career. It never
crossed my mind to leave and I always wanted to be there. I
left with no regrets. I left more in the school than I took out
of it. I was happy to have had a positive impact on people's
lives. It might have been small, but I was a part of people's
success as they moved on through life. I was also fortunate to
be surrounded by a lot of good people over the years, from
staff to co-coaches.
SH: What are you most proud of in life?
CB: My sons and my family. I am also proud of the fact I was
able to do what I did with respect and dignity. That's what I
tried to pass onto my students and athletes.
SH: What did football give you?
CB: It taught me a lot about me. Winning was important because
of what it represented, which was hard work. Nothing comes easy
and you have to work for it. That's what I tried to pass onto
kids.
SH: Overall, what's your take on the local football scene?
CB: I really like how the high school league is going. There's
a lot of kids playing and a lot of good coaches teaching the
game. I think the JMYFL is doing a great job in developing
players. I think the Northerners program is good, but just
needs to be fine tuned. There will always be football in
Sudbury...how strong it is relies on the players, coaches,
officials and volunteers.
SH: There's no Spartans for 2007. What's your
take?
CB: Hopefully, it's just a setback. If something doesn't happen
for next year...that could be it. I thought there would be more
of a backlash, but there wasn't. Maybe senior men's football
has had its day in Sudbury. A 53-year tradition ended on my
watch. We might see another Ontario varsity Football League
(OVFL) team, for players aged 20 to 24, in Sudbury before the
Spartans come back. Time will tell if it really is over for the
Spartans.
SH: What's some of the funniest or weirdest things to happen to you in your career?
CB: (Loud and long laugh) Oh boy...there's been plenty. I've
been spit at. People have thrown rocks at me. A parent jumped a
fence to get at me one time. One time, I was giving a fire and
brimstone speech...just tearing apart a team verbally. I
slammed a ball in disgust and it bounced up and hit me in the
head. Everyone started laughing. I've thrown a ball down on the
ground and had it bounce back up and hit me in the groin...a
few times. It always hurts and is always funny to other people.
It was a great ride and we made sure we had fun while doing
it.
