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player ready...After winning three straight state football titles, Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp has been rewarded with a six-year contract, the longest the school has ever given out.
“We did this because Dan will also be athletic director and work closely with school development and student recruitment,” said school president Faith Szambelanczyk. “It’s good for the stability of Joliet Catholic. Yes, he won three state titles, but I would have done this anyway because Dan is so good at working with the students.”
— Bob Sakamoto
Honored: Fenwick’s Erin Lawless and Bolingbrook’s Chloe Kerr, both junior girls basketball players, have been asked to participate in the 2002 USA Youth Developmental Festival for June in Colorado Springs. . . . Naperville Central sophomore Candace Parker was the only Illinois player–and the only underclassman–selected for USA Today’s national girls basketball teams. Parker was picked for the third team. The first team included Mistie Bass of Janesville, Wis. She will attend Duke. . . . Jim Connelly, the St. Ignatius teacher and cross-country coach who with his wife, Susan, has opened his home to 25 foster children since the 1960s, recently received the Family Exemplar Award from the Notre Dame Alumni Association. The award is presented each year to an individual, couple or family–at least one person of which is a University of Notre Dame graduate–who has made an impact on society, the Catholic Church, politics, athletics or personal lifestyle as related to family values. Connelly is a 1956 Notre Dame graduate. . . . Recent inductees into the Illinois Athletic Directors Association’s Hall of Fame included these retired ADs: Paul Bergeson (St. Charles), Ron Helberg (Hoffman Estates, Glenbrook South) and Bill Neibch (Wheaton North).
Future stars: The Real Deal All-Star Classic, a tripleheader featuring 8th-grade boys basketball players from throughout the Chicago area, is at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mt. Carmel, 6410 S. Dante Ave. Admission is $3. For information, call Lewis Thorpe at 773-350-2254.
Retiring: Bolingbrook will “roast and toast” outgoing football coach Phil Acton, retiring after 24 years as Raiders head coach and 42 years of teaching, with a “Tailgreat” retirement party and touch-football game Saturday at the Bolingbrook Village Hall, 375 W. Briarcliff Rd. Players past and present, plus parents, coaches and fans are invited. Cost is $20 per person, which includes food, beverage and a gift for Acton. Call athletic director Larry Bernard at 630-759- 6400. . . . Friends, colleagues, alumni, former players and students will honor retiring St. Francis de Sales baseball coach and science department chairman Al Lodl–who recently earned coaching victory No. 600–at a dinner June 21 at Mr. D’s Villa, 10468 S. Indianapolis Blvd., Chicago. For tickets, call 773-731-7272 ext. 22.
Remembering: The 15th annual Pat Cronin Memorial Golf Outing, held each year in the memory of the former St. Rita football coach, is set for June 3 at Ridge Country Club (103rd Street and California Avenue) and Beverly Country Club (87th Street and Western Avenue), both in Chicago. Brunch is at 10 a.m., shotgun start at 1 p.m. and dinner and auctions at 6 p.m. For tickets, call 773-925-5029.