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Valuable lessons in coaching
(by Erin Patricia Griffiths - August 26, 2008)
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Staff Photo By Erin Patricia Griffiths
Coaches Jim Whitney, left, and Paul Ramasco have dedicated 20 years of service in coaching the St. Joseph Regional freshman baseball team. Together, they have molded the players into championship teams.
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It isn’t the glory of championship wins or the potential to produce star college athletes that keep Paul Ramasco, 77, and Jim Whitney, 65, coming back to coach St. Joseph Regional’s freshman baseball team each season. It is a passion for the game and a love of children that has driven the dedication behind their 20 years of service to the school.
“The opportunity presented itself for it. I could get my foot in the door at St. Joe’s and that’s what happened. I got the opportunity to start and my first year up there I did JV [junior varsity], because I didn’t have any experience with high school. And my second year they moved me down to freshman, and I’ve been there ever since,” said Whitney. “I enjoy baseball. I enjoy working with kids. We do the freshman because we get to mold them, they aren’t set in their ways yet.”
Ramasco’s history with coaching stretches back over 50 years, starting with little league teams when he first moved to Montvale, and then on to coaching for the Park Ridge American Legion baseball team, where he dedicated his time for 30 years. During his coaching, he continued to serve the community, first working for the borough’s department of public works, then spending 20 years as Montvale’s superintendent.
Whitney first began coaching at SJR in the mid 1980s, while working as an officer with the Montvale Police Department, where he served for nearly 30 years on the force. He would work the midnight shifts with the department so that he would be available for practices and games with the team.
When Ramasco, Whitney’s friend for over 30 years, beat his freshman SJR baseball team in the 1987 county championship while coaching for one season at Pascack Hills, Whitney asked Ramasco to join him at SJR and the two have been together ever since.
It was not difficult for the two to adapt to working together as a team. A strong foundation in friendship and ease in balancing one another’s personalities have made them a successful coaching pair. “He’s the brains of the operation,” laughed Whitney. “That is because I am older,” Ramasco responded.
The two have developed a relationship with one another where they can anticipate the actions of the other. “We know each other,” explained Ramasco. “We know each other’s moves.”
“I used to yell, he would be the calming influence,” said Whitney. The way these two can finish one another’s sentences and work in tandem to instill the values they feel most important, including teamwork and dedication, has transformed incoming freshmen teams into champions. They find common ground on nearly everything, except a few hobbies. “One thing though – he loves fishing. I don’t,” said Ramasco. “He is always fishing or golfing. I don’t like golf. I can’t see myself following a little ball around,” he continued with a chuckle.
But when it comes to coaching, the pair agrees on their expectations of their players and demand they measure up to the high standards for success that they set. “We have fun during practices, but when it comes down to ball games, in between the white lines, it is kind of serious,” said Whitney.
These coaches value fun on the field, but also know the importance of a solid education and strong foundational values. “We emphasize that if you don’t hit the books, you can’t hit the ball,” said Whitney. “That is a must,” added Ramasco.
The team is asked to perform in a way that reflects loyalty and devotion to the sport, the need for teamwork always paramount. If a player does not perform to the level that is expected of him and demonstrate seriousness on the field, Ramasco and Whitney are in agreement on what needs to be done. “We have a big hill at St. Joe’s and if things don’t work right, after practice, there’s that hill,” said Whitney. And they run until we get tired,” he continued. “Looking at them,” laughed Ramasco.
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Photo Courtesy Of Jim Whitney
Coaches Ramasco and Jim Whitney coached the St. Joseph Regional freshman baseball team to victory with a Bergen County Coaches’ Association Freshman Baseball Tournament championship on Saturday, May 10. Pictured left to right, bottom row: Greg Zampini, Nick Delahanty, Mike Mastrobirti, Tyler Fortanascio, Mike Mahoney. Top row: Coach Paul Ramasco, Paul Schulter, Dane McDermott, Coach Mahoney, Tim Tedesco, Juan Anziani, Matteo Fochetta, Ryan Neumann, Steve Calvo, Steve Doyle, Adam Ferlando, Joe Checke, John Connoly, Troy Manheimer, Coach Whitney.
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Both men know that the discipline instilled in the players by the administration and staff of SJR backs their efforts on the field. “I like it because the discipline is here,” said Whitney. “With us, its consistency. I think we stay at St. Joe’s because it’s got that family atmosphere.”
The fondness with which these two men talk about the boys they coach year after year is shown in their enthusiasm and dedication to instilling values that the players can take with them through life. For Ramasco and Whitney, it isn’t about the number of games in the win column for the season, it is about the number of wins in the game of life.
As for how long the pair will continue to coach, they plan to spend a few more seasons with the team. “When it is time to go, you’ll know,” said Whitney. “It isn’t time yet.”
So for now, the dynamic coaching duo plans to prepare for another season when they can mold the incoming freshman in champions, both on the field and in the classroom. “Put your hat on,” Whitney reminded Ramasco as they posed for a photo. “Oh yeah, I got to show the SJ,” said Ramasco, adorning the hat of the team he has coached with pride for 20 years.
Erin Patricia Griffiths' e-mail address is GriffithsE@northjersey.com.
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