BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Chris Bartolucci is a man who feels
blessed.
For the last 29 years, the stocky football
coach has run the high school football program at St. Charles
College.
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Chris Bartolucci has been coaching
football at St. Charles College for 29 years. |
In his time, Bartolucci, the younger brother
of Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci, has created an impressive
legacy. His fingerprints are on no less than 14 city
championships, two at the junior level and 12 at the senior
level. He also won a Northern Ontario Secondary School's
athletics (NOSSA) Junior Championship.
He also won a city championship as a player
for St. Charles. Now at the age of 51, Bartolucci is retiring
from the game he loves so much.
"I only have a year-and-a-half of teaching
left, and I have a good group of coaches who are ready to step
in and take over.
"You probably will not even notice that I am
gone. I have no fears where St. Charles football is going, and
that's up."
The joys and agony of coaching high school
football has enhanced Bartolucci in many ways. He said he feels
the experience made him a better teacher.
"You get to experience a different side of
the kids you don't see in the classroom. There's a closeness
you develop with kids you don't get in the classroom. It
becomes a family. You experience joy and pain, success and
failure together."
His players often taught him a few lessons as
well.
"These kids teach you a lot about yourself,
about life and what's important. Those are real positive
elements you can I can take with me."
Of course, Bartolucci will miss the kids and
the football experience with them the most.
"I am going to miss the fun at practices and
the pressure of games. The kids are what made it great. I will
miss my co-coaches as well. They are a great group of
people."
With his vast and impressive resume,
Bartolucci is most fond of the amount of players he has helped
during their high school years.
"There has been a lot of positives, but the
thing that comes to mind is the number of students who have
come through my hands, especially the ones
who went on to play at a higher level," said
Bartolucci. "Guys like Mike Derks, who played for the Hamilton
Tiger-Cats and Mike Fabilli who was the
Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Rookie
of the Year (in 1982). These guys have come back to the city to
coach football. It's a real feather in my cap and shows just
how good our program is and was."
Bartolucci's efforts are appreciated.
Rob Zanatti, St. Charles athletic director
and program leader of physical health and education, has praise
for Bartolucci.
"In the years that he has been here, he has
built a football program which, traditionally, year in and year
out is a contender.
He calls Bartolucci his mentor.
"I have coached football for nine years, and
everything I know, I learned by playing for him as a student
and then coaching with him."
Bartolucci hasn't made the journey
alone.
"I have to thank my wife, Patti, because she
has been with me all the way," said Bartolucci. "For the last
24 years she has been very supportive of me and the team. She
also gave me two sons, Jimmy and Michael, who also played
football. She's been marvelous. You don't do this in a
vacuum.
There's a lot of people that make it happen,
but Patti was a big part of it for me."
For now, Bartolucci will still play a small
role with the football team. He will also continue his
involvement with the Joe MacDonald Youth Football League.
"Life goes on," said Bartolucci.
