Multi-Sport Experience 'Special' for Bronson
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
February 2, 2016
An increasing number of high-profile athletes and coaches are becoming more vocal about the importance of a well-rounded adolescent athletic experience. More and more parents and athletes, so it seems, are heeding that advice.
That’s the case in Bronson, a town of fewer than 2,500 residents that manages to keep rolling out successful varsity sports programs. Or perhaps it’s that athletes in Bronson never bought into sports specialization as much as other communities in the first place.
Bronson athletic director and Vikings varsity volleyball coach Jean LaClair, who received the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s 2015 Women in Sports Leadership Award, said it’s critical at a smaller school such as Bronson to emphasize participation in more than one sport.
But, through decades of coaching, she’s seen the effects of athletes choosing a narrow focus.
“I think for most schools and most sports, we’re seeing our numbers dwindle,” she said. “I believe that a lot of parents take their kids to travel ball, and it’s taking them out of high school sports. I think club sports are kind of hindering our high school athletics.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association reports that six percent of high school athletes go on to play in NCAA programs, and as of 2012 fewer than two percent of high school athletes earned an NCAA Division I scholarship (of any amount), according to a CBS MoneyWatch report. Fewer than eight percent ever play a varsity sport at any collegiate level, according to a study by ScholarshipStats.com.
It’s an admirable dream, but an unlikely one. And along with that gamble comes the great possibility of burnout. Some studies have also suggested that young athletes competing in only one sport year-round are at a higher risk of injury. On top of that, specialization doesn’t seem to improve those odds.
“If you want a (college) coach to know about you, just do some work and they’ll know about you,” LaClair said. “That’s how I look at it. If you’re good enough, a coach is going to see you. You don’t have to go to a club tournament to be seen.”
Though participation in multiple sports is commonplace amongst both genders at Bronson, girls sports in particular have reaped the rewards of such commitment.
Look no further than the Vikings’ Division 3 runner-up performance in softball last spring (they lost to Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the Final), which seemed to fire up the volleyball squad this past fall.
Bronson’s netters tore through the postseason en route to a Class C volleyball championship, earning some revenge by beating Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in three games.
It was the Vikings second MHSAA title since 2009.
Four athletes who competed on both teams are currently playing basketball: senior Kelsey Robinson, sophomore Adyson Lasky, sophomore Kiana Mayer, and sophomore Payton Robinson. Senior Alexa Ratkowski, an all-state selection in volleyball, also is on the basketball team.
Of the 13 volleyball players who hoisted a trophy at Kellogg Arena in November, six are two-sport athletes and seven are three-sport athletes.
And of the 11 varsity basketball players currently on the Vikings’ girls roster, eight played volleyball and a total of 10 participated in a fall sport.
As Kelsey Robinson’s prep career winds down, she believes playing several sports has made her better at each one. Not to mention she and her classmates find joy in the memories created through a variety of competitive situations.
“It’s just really fun to do different things,” said Robinson, a defensive specialist in volleyball, a former cross country runner, a guard in basketball and a third baseman and centerfielder in softball. “We don’t have a lot of the numbers, but we have the people who are willing to put in the hard work, even if it’s not their best sport. Each season is only three to four months at the most. So it keeps things exciting.”
Some do take part in the club scene on a smaller, more local level. Most take advantage of the coaches at Bronson who are generous with their time.
“I’ll get into the gym with any kid any time they want to,” LaClair said.
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bronson volleyball players celebrate clinching the Class C championship at Kellogg Arena in the fall. (Middle) Then-freshman catcher Payton Robinson prepares to catch a pop fly during last season's Softball Finals weekend at Secchia Stadium.
Forest Area's Stremlow Never Far from Serving School Sports Community
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
February 4, 2022
He hasn’t met a sport he can’t coach. And, he probably hasn’t turned down a team he’s met – yet.
Many of the coaching jobs he’s taken were actually offered to him by him.
Whenever he’s started a new sport, he’s sought mentors in the form of successful veteran coaches. But make no mistake, if they made a movie in Northern Michigan called “The Mentor” – this Hall of Fame coach would be the star of the show.
He’s technically retired today. The teams he coaches don’t get TV cameras and other media present. He’s a middle school track and volleyball coach for Fife Lake Forest Area Community Schools.
He’s perhaps most well-known as the past volleyball coach at Forest Area. Don’t be surprised if you hear of graduated athletes – and current student-athletes – from Glen Lake, Manton, Kingsley and even McBain Northern Michigan Christian happily call him “Coach.”
Name the coach? Ron Stremlow. He’s a retired physical education teacher, athletic director and coach. He came out of retirement to return as the part-time athletic director for Forest Area, a district he served 32 years as a teacher.
He’s also coaching a couple of middle school sports, just like he did when he was working full-time. Athletic directors often need to put themselves in tough-to-fill coaching slots.
“Ron Stremlow has been a tremendous ambassador of high school sports in Northern Michigan,” said Dave Jackson, athletic director of Frankfort-Alberta Schools. “The number of coaches, parents and athletes Ron has encouraged during his years of service are too many to count.
“He is an athletic administrator that has always been about service and what (he) can do to help.”
Help is exactly what he did once upon a time for then-new volleyball coach at McBain Northern Michigan Christian, Diane Eisenga. The call for help came from Eisenga’s players.
Today, Eisenga is an athletic assistant for the Comets and mother of five boys, her youngest still attending NMC. Like Stremlow, she has built a very successful program. Back then, she was just getting started, pregnant and a mother of two children, and unable to coach her team during a Ferris State University tournament that Stremlow had planned to scout with longtime friend and Kingsley 1,000-win volleyball coach Dave Hall.
Stremlow actually was planning to watch NMC at the tournament, anticipating the Comets would be a potential roadblock to a District title that upcoming season. (He was right: Forest Area would end up losing to NMC in a District Final as the Comets reached the Class D Quarterfinals.)
What Stremlow did not anticipate was being asked by the Comets players to step in and coach them at the Ferris tourney. Stremlow was told Eisenga was not feeling well enough to guide the team at that moment.
Stremlow did not hesitate to help. He had previously leant his wisdom to the former Dordt University (Iowa) athlete with tryouts, cutting decisions and NMC’s summer camp.
“I had played in high school and college, but I was green,” Eisenga acknowledged. “He was a good mentor.”
She recalls her players asking for Stremlow’s help.
“I got real light-headed and wasn’t feeling well,” she said. “Because the girls had known him, he took over for me that day.”
It wasn’t a surprise for Eisenga to witness Stremlow’s contribution to her team’s success that year.
“I always saw him as more of a mentor and more of a friend (than an opposing coach),” Eisenga said. “He was happy with anyone’s success.
“He was always happy for any team that played well,” she continued. “Of course, he always wanted his own to win. … He was always respectful, and you never saw him cross the line.”
Stremlow, who jokes about maybe not having the most wins among hall of fame volleyball coaches while claiming the most losses amongst the elite group (he still ranks 17th in MHSAA history with 944 volleyball wins despite retiring from the Forest Area varsity after the 2018 season), spends his days taking care of Forest Area boys and girls basketball, completive cheer and the Warriors co-ed wresting teams. Many a night he does whatever it takes to run an event, including running the scoreboard for basketball.
In the fall, Forest Area offers 8-player football, cross country and volleyball. He’s in the midst of finalizing spring softball, track and baseball.
Basketball is perhaps his favorite sport, but he loves the change of seasons.
“Once that season’s up, I am ready to rock and roll and get into another,” Stremlow noted.
Giving back is what keeps the 62-year-old Stremlow going. He sees at least three years of involvement ahead.
“A lot of kids do not get good role models or good coaches. And I thought if I can help kids out, I am going to,” Stremlow said.
Today Stremlow wears many school colors, especially the Warriors’ forest green. You also often can find him in Kingsley orange, or perhaps it is actually the Manton orange.
You will definitely find him in his favorite, maize and blue. His forest green should never be confused with the Michigan State green. The Wolverines became the favorite of the Central Michigan grad when he got into the Big House as a high school student with a $2 ticket to watch Michigan take on Navy.
“I have green, but it is not the Michigan State green,” Stremlow said he often jokes with fans of the Spartans and Warriors.
Stremlow uses all his team colors as he follows another passion, photography. He got a camera for college graduation, and student-athletes all over Northern Michigan have benefited.
“There are thousands of former players from Forest Area and Kingsley that can point to pictures in their homes that Ron has taken of them playing sports,” Jackson said. “These pictures are not just cute shots, but pictures that were used to teach form and techniques.”
Stremlow takes satisfaction from capturing sports on film, rather digitally, as he does today.
“I take a lot of pictures – I‘ve always liked it,” he said. “That’s the best gift you can give any kid and parents – just getting pictures.
“It really helps, plus I like doing it.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Fife Lake Forest Area athletic director Ron Stremlow talks with official Chuck Bott (right) before a basketball game against Indian River Inland Lakes this season. (Middle) Stremlow shows support for his favorite college team while prepping before a game against Johannesburg-Lewiston. (Top photo by Tom Spencer; middle photo by Andrew Fish/Gaylord Herald-Times.)