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| Wednesday, July 16 |
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| Coach of the Week By Luke Meredith SchoolSports.com | |||
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Bruno Schwarz -- North Allegheny High, boys' soccer
Persistence, thy name is Bruno Schwarz. Schwarz, the only coach the North Allegheny High (Wexford, Pa.) boys' soccer team has ever known, has spent the past 33 years building one of the state's top programs while competing in western Pennsylvania, an area that once listed its varsity sports as "football, football, football ? and football." The gridiron is still the main source of entertainment for many area high school sports fans, but Schwarz crafted a program that not only made its mark in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), but the state as well. Schwarz led the Tigers to the state title game in 1976, and then again in 1996. The fact that the Tigers didn't win the title either year took nothing away from Schwarz's legacy. As much as anybody, Schwarz is the reason soccer is as big as it is in the WPIAL today. But 1999 was different. The Tigers had what looked like their best-ever chance for a state title, arriving in Hershey for the championship game at 26-0. But after former Downingtown High star and Gatorade Player of the Year Kirk Johnson dropped a hat trick on them, they were relegated to bridesmaid status. And with just three starters returning for the 2000 campaign, Schwarz knew that a golden opportunity to fulfill "a life-long dream" of a PIAA title had fallen by the wayside. But what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, and the Tigers surprised everybody by reaching the WPIAL finals this fall. They took it one step further with a near-miraculous run through the PIAA tournament, which culminated in the first state title in the 33-year history of the North Allegheny boys' soccer program when the Tigers beat Emmaus High, 1-0, on Saturday. For his efforts this season, and the 32 that preceded it, Schwarz is SchoolSports' 2000 Pennsylvania Coach of the Year. "It's his leadership, not that he was trying to be a leader, that really caused the growth of soccer in western Pennsylvania," says Upper St. Clair soccer coach Joe DePalma, who has been with the Panthers since 1970. "His willingness to set a high standard is something we all admire, and we've tried to emulate." The Tigers entered the 2000 WPIAL playoffs as the No. 4 seed and made it to the PIAA's despite a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to Upper St. Clair in the finals. The Panthers scored with just 11 seconds left in regulation, and beat Schwarz's kids in OT. Schwarz says he looks back on the St. Clair game as a blessing. His team had earned a ticket to the state playoffs by making the finals, but Schwarz knew the Tigers weren't going to get anywhere if they weren't able to learn from the loss -- and put it behind them. "That was a real test of our character," says Schwarz. "We had to console the kids and remind them that we still had two weeks to go. We had to regroup. [We said] this is a four-game tourney, and we can beat anybody. It was a question of [the players] believing in themselves and their abilities." Schwarz, who landed in North Allegheny in 1968 after a distinguished playing career at Pitt, says the win over Emmaus was the culmination of more than three decades of hard work by himself, his players and the support of the parents and the community. His answering machine was filled, he says, with the well wishes of former players, parents and colleagues when he got back home Sunday. "This was the ultimate goal of the program," says Schwarz. "This time we finally did it."
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
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