Difference-makers abound in Southland

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The Washington Lady Spartans eighth-grade girls basketball team in Chicago Heights, coached by Ron Newquist (top row, right), took second place in the Illinois Elementary School Association state finals in downstate Rochester. | SUPPLIED PHOTO

Updated: January 23, 2012 12:19AM

When you’re a little kid you don’t understand everything your parents are trying to do for you.

They love you and want nothing but the best for you. They are happy when you can make new friends. One way to do that is to get you involved in youth sports.

They want you to build character and confidence, whether your teams are winning or losing.

Most important, your experiences are creating friendships and, hopefully, good memories.

Like most kids, I played Little League baseball. The team I was on wasn’t very good. In the summer of 1963, I think we won just two of 20 games. It wasn’t pretty and clearly forgettable.

But thanks to the adults running the league I do have fond memories of an event that happened before the season even started.

It was baseball registration day in the Palos East school gymnasium and the featured guest was Cubs coach James “Ripper” Collins.

The kids who were there got their picture taken with Mr. Collins, whom I learned years later was a member of the famous 1934 World Series champion “Gashouse Gang” team. In fact, Mr. Collins batted .333 that season, tying for the league lead in home runs with 35.

The picture of all of us appeared in our local newspaper, and my mom put it in a scrapbook for safe-keeping.

Nearly a half-century later, I want to thank the adults who brought Mr. Collins to that gym.

This past Saturday at a basketball clinic at Crete-Monee High School, University Park Parks and Recreation supervisor Greg Murray made it possible for 47 kids to meet local legend Phil Henderson.

No college basketball player from the Southland has ever played on three NCAA Final Four teams as has Henderson, a McDonald’s All-American player at Crete-Monee, did at Duke University in the late 1980s.

“Phil used funds from his ‘Hoops 4 Hope’ charity to give each kid a basketball and gave the kids pointers on the right way to play the game,” said Murray, who also works as an assistant varsity football coach at Crete-Monee.

None of the kids knew of Henderson’s place in basketball history. That fact will matter more to them in the future.

Right now, the free basketball ranks highest on their priority list.

Ron Newquist wasn’t a basketball star during his high school days at Marian Catholic. But he has been teaching the game to kids for more than two decades. In addition to running his high-powered Lady Wolverines AAU program, Newquist is in his second season as a junior high coach at Chicago Heights Washington in School District 170.

A year ago, Washington’s seventh-grade girls team qualified for the IESA state finals.

Last week, most of the same kids returned to state in the eighth-grade division and brought home the second-place trophy, which sits proudly near the school gymnasium that’s named after Chicago Heights legend Jerry Colangelo, who owned the Arizona Diamondbacks when the baseball franchise won the World Series in 2001 and also directed USA Basketball to the men’s gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Newquist’s Lady Spartans finished with a 23-3 record.

“These girls are so proud of what they’ve accomplished,” said Newquist, who was convinced by District 170 Supt. and longtime friend Tom Amadio to take on this challenge.

“The kids learned how to believe in themselves and feel good about themselves. They have brought so much pride to their school. Besides teaching them the right way to play the game, we instilled discipline, which has helped them in the classroom.”

Colangelo also must be proud.

Another proud youth leader is Jim Calderone, president of the H-F Jr. Vikings football program.

The Jr. Vikings qualified two teams to the American Youth Football Championships in Orlando, Fla., and brought back silver medals in the Jr. Pee Wee and Pee Wee divisions. A total of 66 players and cheerleaders got to experience this national event.

“It was a great experience on and off the football field,” said Calderone, whose love of the game dates to his playing days at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

“It has been so fun to see our communities come together. The kids and the parents have worked hard to make it all happen. Todd Hall, Cheryl Correll, Mark Carter, Cory Kohn and Mimi Bristol are just some of the parents who have helped create these great opportunities for the kids.”

Calderone points to the success of his alma mater, which reached the Class 8A state semifinals earlier this year.

“We’re H-F’s feeder program,” a proud Calderone said.

These people, like so many others across the Southland, are making a difference.