Novak is Boys Soccer Player of the Year

Lockport's Bob Novak is The Herald News Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

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At age 5, Bob Novak was given a plastic, dimestore variety soccer ball.

He remembers wearing the paint off the cover kicking it around the backyard with his father, Richard, and his older sister, Maribeth.

A year later, he was sent off by his mother, Mary Fran, to his first soccer camp and put on a path that would lead him to a four-year varsity career at Lockport High School that culminated this season with Novak rewriting all the Porters' scoring records.

While it is true Novak was blessed from the start with unique feel for the game, his climb to all-conference, all-sectional and all-state honors was a slow and tedious one at times nonetheless. He almost always was the smallest player on the field. To compensate, he learned to rely on his sharp mind and his competitive nature.

Novak, featured today as The Herald News Player of the Year, ranks No. 1 in a class of 982. He is a member of the National Honor Society and boasts a 4.6 grade point. His rare combination of athletic skill and academic prowess led to him signing a national letter of intent recently to play college soccer next season at Notre Dame.

He took the ACT three times. He scored 31, 34 and 32.

"Yeah, definitely, my parents were a big influence on me," Novak said. "They always told me how grades were important. They instilled my winning attitude in me ever since I was a little kid. I've always been very competitive and I've always sought to be the best I can in whatever I do, even in gym class when I was young. I used to always try and win.

"People would say, 'Winning is not as important as having fun.' Well, I didn't see it. I thought having fun was winning. And, so, if I'm going to be the best in soccer -- you score goals, you win games. Well, how do you win in the classroom? You get good grades. That translates into being able to get into a good school."

Notre Dame was lucky to scoop up Novak.

His resume is of the Write-Your-Own-Ticket variety. He scored 10 goals and dished out 11 assists in leading Lockport to a 15-4-1 record and 7-2 mark in the Southwest Suburban Blue, good for a tie for the conference championship. At one point, the Porters won a school-record 13 straight games.

Novak was in the middle of all the fun. He boosted his career totals to 40 goals, 43 assists and 123 points. He exits the Porters' program sitting on top of the Lockport all-time list in all three scoring categories.

"Bob Novak is one of the most intense, competitive and talented soccer players I ever have met and had the opportunity to work with," Lockport's first-year coach Dan Baumhardt said. "He plays every game like it is his last -- or it's for the state championship, leaving nothing on the field. He works hard to bring others up to his skill level."

Baumhardt allowed Novak the freedom to be his own person and player on the field, the two striking up a relationship from the get-go. Novak played under ex-Lockport coach Jeff Brown during his first three years with the Porters.

"Coach Baumhardt was a real good change, I think, for the team," Novak said. "I think Coach Brown -- he did a good job while he had the program. But, Coach Baumhardt coming in, he had more of a friendly relationship with the players than just a student-teacher relationship. You were able to talk to him and give him suggestions and he took them.

"But what he had to say about coaching was also very good. He kept the team in line. He kept us organized. He also let a few of us do what we needed to do on the field. He gave some us our own responsibilities to take care of and let us go."

The only thing brighter than Novak's play is the color of his red hair. His mother passed down to him her flaming locks.

"I get some jokes every now and then," he said. "But I'm able to take them and dish them right back out. They always refer to me as 'redhead' or 'Red'-- especially on the soccer field. I just let my game do the talking. Then, they know what the 'redhead' can do and they know not to mess with me anymore."

Novak isn't one to back down from a challenge, no matter if the odds are stacked against him. He likes to play David vs. Goliath.

After all, he is 5-6 and weighs 140 pounds. He routinely gives away 5 or 6 inches and as much as 20-30 pounds to his opponents on the soccer field.

"I've always been a small guy compared to the other kids," he said. "They grew earlier than I did. I just learned how to deal with it. I'm a tough kid. I used to wrestle -- from the age of 10 to about 13, until it just became too tough to do both, soccer and wrestling. I like to go in hard and get stuck on occasion. Soccer, it's a contact sport, let's put it that way."

Novak often shuttled between two positions during his four-year career at Lockport -- forward and midfield. On occasion, he was asked to sacrifice personal glory for the good of the team. He was OK with that.

Likewise, he was humbled to learn he was the recipient of area Player of the Year honors.

"I wasn't expecting it," Novak said. "My coach called me one day and said, 'You've been nominated and selected as Joliet Herald Player of the Year' and I was like, 'Wow, that's awesome.' I didn't have the best season through my eyes. But I didn't play badly. The stats I wanted weren't there for myself. But, although they weren't there for myself, the team, we did a lot of good things that the program's never done before."

Novak's lasting memory will be of the game-winning goal he scored in a 6-5 double-overtime victory over Stagg last season -- if it's accurate to call the goal embedded in his memory.

"I thought to myself, 'Oh, we've got to do something about this game,' " Novak said. " 'We can't go into PKs. I don't think we're going to win.' So, we had a long throw-in. I remember going up, jumping for it, heading it and waking up and looking at the sky and we won. I was knocked out on the play by the defender. But my header actually went in the back post and we won in double-overtime in the stadium on Senior Night.

"My head was pounding. Everyone was jumping on me. I moved the pile with all my strength in my legs. I was just trying to get them off me. I didn't even know I had scored. I heard the celebration. But I didn't process that it was me that had scored. I thought it might have been someone else who scored. It was just a good way to end the regular season that year."

He'll take with him to the collegiate ranks an explosive first step and an ability to get back and play defense. Both traits figure to serve him well at Notre Dame.

Novak is projected as a right-side midfielder. In time, he pictures himself winning a spot in the Irish lineup.

He has been a fan of Notre Dame football since he was little. One of his older cousins attended Notre Dame. He'd have to dye his hair to become a true Golden Domer.

Of course, with Novak, anything is possible.

"Bob has been moved back-and-forth between midfield and forward depending on our area of greatest need and game situation," Baumhardt said. "He has used his skills and abilities to motivate and lead other players. He has incredible control with the ball and is very good at winning the space and the ball. And he's a relentless defensive player."

He learned to be that way in the backyard.