Monken leaving SC East for Metea
Guided Saints football to four playoff berths
A drive down Eola Road in Aurora will show the progress that Metea Valley High School has made in anticipation of opening its doors in August.
The building and grounds are starting to come together. Now the coaching staffs for athletics are starting to take shape. Many of the coaches, called "lead" coaches for now until varsity play begins in 2010, have been announced by the school.
One external hire, St. Charles East football coach Ted Monken, is pending District 204 board approval Jan. 12. But most of the other sports have announced their leaders.
Among the higher-profile hires are longtime Neuqua Valley boys basketball assistant Bob Vozza, current Waubonsie Valley girls basketball coach Kris Kalivas, former St. Charles East girls soccer coach Pat Feulner and Neuqua girls water polo coach Len DePasquale, who will also coach girls swimming at Metea.
"They went through a long process of interviews, and we were trying to find the right fit of people that are great teachers that fit our needs as a school and also had the ability to coach," said Metea athletic director Tom Schweer, who also started the programs at St. Charles North as the AD in 2000.
"This process started a few months ago. I'm sure a lot of the candidates were on pins and needles. Even though they don't really become official coaches until school opens in August, they're already hard at work."
Monken stays in the Upstate Eight Conference, making the transition to Metea after leading St. Charles East to a 36-17 record in five years in his first stint as a head coach. His teams reached the playoffs four straight seasons.
He comes from a coaching family, as his father, Bob, was a legendary coach at Lake Park and is a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame; his brother, Tony, started the program at Vernon Hills in 2000; and his other brother, Todd, is the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"I didn't think I'd get it," Monken said. "There were so many quality candidates. I put it out there on a whim. It's a great opportunity. Fun thing to start a program from scratch like my brother Tony did. It made it attractive and exciting."
Vozza gets his shot to run a program since helping Todd Sutton start Neuqua's program in the 1990s.
"He's very well thought of in the community," Schweer said. "He's had a great mentor in Todd, and he's a great fit for our program. He was very excited."
Kalivas, who was a star basketball player at North Central College in the late 1990s, has won three regional titles since taking over the Warriors program in 2003. Waubonsie is off to a 12-2 start this season.
"You take a look at her track record and there aren't very many women's basketball coaches that have had that level of success consistently," Schweer said. "When you have the good fortune to have someone who has already been a head coach, that's good for the school."
