“Pain, Fear, and Persistence-A Magical Combination.

Coach Bob Staskiewicz had a plan, I just wasn’t aware I was his target. At a high
school coaching clinic in the winter of 1995 as beer was flowing freely, he
unveiled his plan. “Ron, the head girls’ volleyball position is open, and we need a
person that can turn that program around. I think you are that person.” My
response was straight forward, “your nuts Bob, I have never played volleyball, let
alone coached volleyball.”

His motivation was twofold, one he truly thought I could do a good job as we had
worked together for almost 10 years with Mariner football, secondly, he had three
daughters that were coming up through the program. He shared that coaching is an
extension of teaching, and he thought I was one of the better teachers he had ever
worked with. His next thought was the one that made me take the dive into
volleyball, “Think about this Ron, you have never played Biology but you learned
the subject and now you are a fucking great Biology teacher. I know you can do
this if you’re willing to challenge yourself.”

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was entering into a dimension in my career that
would layout a formula that repeated itself several times in my journey. The
formula simply states, “Fear may be the first emotion you feel, when a growth
opportunity presents itself. Then, your persistence in a specific direction and with
urgency in mind can allow success to occur. Finally, along the way pain will be
experienced, but that occurrence is necessary to adjust your path and keep it on
target.”

I went on to coach volleyball at Marine City High School for 6 years and truly
loved the time spent. I worked with some amazing student athletes like Kristen
Staskiewicz, Kim Brockway, Megan Phelan, Jenny Donaldson, Rachael and Sara
Staskiewicz, Julie Reichle, and Koryn Shew. They taught me to look at coaching
with a new mind set, one that moved me away from the reactive negative banter, to
one of goal setting, motivational team building, and positive feedback and
celebration. I found these girls to be as tough as any boy I had coached, and
willing to put in the long hours just like our football kids. My career in volleyball
ended when the state of Michigan chose to move the sport into the fall season and
that was obviously a direct conflict with football.

In my six years coaching volleyball at Marine City the girls won the league championship 4 times, and we
celebrated each championship by throwing my fat ass into the pool. (One time the
girls bounced me off the deck before I ricocheted into the pool)
So, time and time again in my career when an opportunity presented itself, it
initially was met in my mind with fear and apprehension. I learned that the fear
was a good thing, as that meant I had some growth to do to be successful in that
new opportunity. I also learned that without the character trait of persistence, end
goals may fall short and never be accomplished.

People forget that our football program lost to Marysville High School 10 straight
years in the late 80’s into the mid 90’s. Coach Bob’s continued drive to make
changes each year that could lead us to victory, was a great template for me to
learn from. His drive and persistence were something I had never witnessed
before, and it was flat out inspiring to me and every other coach in that program.

I was also inspired watching my son’s journey at Adrian College as he played
baseball for legendary coach Craig Rainey. He entered the program as just one of
15 recruited freshman and saw very little playing time in his first two seasons. His
work ethic and discipline spilled over and allowed him to have an outstanding
senior year as he hit .350 and helped his team to the 4th straight league
championship in his time spent. He was one of 5 seniors that remained from the
original 15 freshman.

Fast forward to the summer of 2022 as we eagerly await the release of the book,
“A Run to the River.” Delays in the process have been thrown from many
different angles to not just me, but also my publishing team including, covid,
family health issues, funerals, and shoot scheduling complications. As the
frustration mounts, I simply recall lessons learned and know that our persistence to
get this book released will win out and the joy experienced will be worth the wait.

It has been an amazing experience for me and is one I hope opens new doors and
new challenges from a variety of venues. I have plenty of room for growth and
that in turn leads to flashes of fear racing through my mind. When my mind settles
I remember past experiences and say to myself, “Fear has led to your growth and
produced some of your greatest accomplishments, let the fear work to your
advantage..bring it!”