Gary Stanglewicz has called it a career at St. Louis.
And what a career it’s been.
He has retired after 30 years as volleyball coach, only the second one in the history of the program. His predecessor and first St. Louis volleyball coach was Kathy Hutfilz.
“It was my second year in teaching and I had wanted to get into coaching,” he said. “I applied at other places. Kathy asked me if I wanted to coach JVs here. I said I’d give it a shot. I had played some volleyball in high school and college. I enjoyed it and thought maybe I could learn the game.” So Stanglewicz became the junior varsity coach, a position he held for two seasons.
Prior to that, Stanglewicz attended high school at Warren Cousino, then graduated from Central Michigan University in 1989. After graduation, both he and his wife were hired at St. Louis, he as a special education teacher. He had not coached prior to arriving at St. Louis.
His win total is 1,254. Included in that total are two state titles, (Division 3 in 2001 and Class C in 1999) and a Division 3 state runner-up honor (2010).
When he took over the program, Stanglewicz said he had a “solid, steady” program, although he was able to take it to higher levels, which included winning conference and postseason titles.
“Three out of my first four seasons were losing seasons,” he said. “Then we won our first league and our first district. In my fourth season we were last in the league. The next season we were first and won a district. Then we had a string of 19 straight districts.”
St. Louis won 21 league championships in the CSAA and TVC and 23 district titles. The Sharks also claimed 10 regional titles and made it to the state semifinal 10 times.
This season, St. Louis had 54 wins and won the conference.
“We had some younger players that were in the system for a couple of years,” Stanglewicz said. “Then they turned it around in the senior year. The key was the next year when we graduated five players and still came back and won a district. We won a district and championship the following year.
“That was the big key, that it wasn’t just a group of athletes but our program was finally on the right footing.”
Players today seem to be more athletic than when he first started coaching, Stanglewicz indicated. “When I started, the first time they started volleyball was when they’re in the ninth grade. Now, a lot of them start in the fourth grade. They’re so much more experienced, and the game comes easier to them.”
Even after 30 years, “I feel there’s a lot more I can learn,” Stanglewicz said. “The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know that much about it and how many quality coaches there are out there.”
He had seven college players from his 2003 team, including two in Division 1, two in Division 2, and three in Division 3. “For a Class C school, that’s pretty good,” Stanglewicz said.
Monyka Paul, a 1996 St. Louis graduate, was a captain at Western Michigan University when it won the Mid American Conference her senior year.
Brishia Stroben, who graduated in 2005, was third in Miss Volleyball voting as a senior. She came the closest of Stanglewicz’s players to winning the title of Miss Volleyball. She had a record for kills in her career at one time and played at Lake Superior State University.
As a coach, “we spent a lot of time with technique,” Stanglewicz said. “We play discipline style. Our kids learn about respect for their opponents and officials. Sportsmanship is important to us. I’m a teacher by trade. It’s more than just about volleyball.”
Stanglewicz said he and his wife, an elementary school teacher, both retired last year, but St. Louis hired him back to continue teaching for this year.
“We sold our house in St. Louis and moved to Gladwin County,” he said. “In order to run the program, I need to be at the school quite a bit. We’re going through a lot of changes at home with remodeling and rebuilding. Being an hour away, we’ll do it for this year, but it’s not something I can continue. This group of seniors I’ve been with four years. It was a group I spent a lot of time with. I figured this would be a group I’d be out with.”
A replacement volleyball coach has yet to be named.
“We have lot of good talent at the younger levels,” Stanglewicz said. “This is a good time for a new coach to come in and set their expectations.
“There’s so many challenges involved. Every part of it is a challenge you face every day. I’d like to continue coaching at some point if there’s something closer to me. I feel I still have something I can give and be successful.”