Schools

Q and A: Berlin High School Athletic Director Jim Day

What really drove one of the most driven men you will ever meet?

Editor's Note: I sat today with retiring BHS Athletic Director Jim Day and talked for quite a while on such a wide variety of topics that this is the easiest way to share all of his memories, good and bad. Check out his candid and sometimes surprising answers. 

Q: How have students and athletes changed in the time you've been here at Berlin High School (since 1976.)

A: There definitely wasn't the push to specialize in one sport like there is now. You could be a show-up athlete. You could just show up for your season and you'd be in decent shape. Now if you're not putting in the time to train, you're behind the other kids. That's not to say there can't be two-sport or three-sport athletes, it is just much harder now. Kids are more competitive in wanting to put in the work in one sport now. 

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Q: How about academically? Are students put under too much pressure and how is it different?

A: When Tom Galvin became the principal here, he raised the bar and the academics went up quickly. He made this a much stronger high school academically. He increased the number of academic offerings and increased the requirements for graduation. Academics in general are more competitive so the kids have to rise to the challenge.

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Q: You have had so many accomplishments in your career, can you pinpoint a few that you are really proud of?

A: Moving our teams into the CCC was a big deal for us. Not too many people agreed with (Principal) George Synnott and I but I thought it would be a great move for us and it has been. We have cut transportation costs and we are playing a pretty diverse group of schools. I'm also proud that we were able to get the turf field built at Sage. It has helped immensely at all levels for the community. We were one of the first to put the IMPACT concussion program in place. We have been able to increase our number of hours from 20 to 30 a week for our athletic trainer. And all of that is with a shrinking budget."

Q: Speaking of the budget, you had to preside over a year with no or few junior varsity and freshmen games and no assistant coaches when they were taken away by the passed budget.

A: Rich Paskiewicz was the Superintendent of Schools and he allowed me to work through the process. We had losses across the entire program. It was a difficult time. I get paid for this job but my family felt the brunt of some of my decisions and that's not fair. They don't get paid and personally it was tough to be in this town for me and my family. The kids stepped up and the coaches hung in there and most of them came back. I remember in wrestling, it was Michael Robinson and Eric McCurdy, they were my captains and they were essentially my assistant coaches. It was an artificially created financial crisis as opposed to the financial situation we are in now. We are in much worse straights now all over the country than we were then.

Q: You won nine state titles so it would be unfair to ask you to tick off the highlights but are there things along the way that you will not forget about coaching?

A: I will remember most of the matches and tournaments but what means more is I think back and think of a wrestler or football player and think 'what a good kid.' I have been fortunate to work with so many wonderful kids and families. I always enjoyed the competition but it's being invited to a kids's birthday party or getting an e-mail from a former athlete. Those relationships you form are what you remember.

Q: I know you took a lot of pride in the creation of the Hall of Fame, why was it so important to you?

A: When you see on the day of the event the pride of the community just explode and to be able to share that with the athletes and coaches and their families is incredible. The reason it took so long is because I knew I was going to need people I could count on to help get this going and keep it going. I identified a number of people and when they came on board I knew it would be a success. 

Q: Anyone who has been around Berlin knows that Coach (Al) Pelligrinelli was a huge influence on so many. How did he influence your coaching?

A: It gets a bit testy around here that BHS history starts from wherever you are. For me, it starts when Al came over to Berlin High School from St. Paul. He was the first role model I had as a coach-educator. All of my coaching philosophies and approaches were either taken from him or modeled after him. From the time he came, athletics across the board has been consistently excellent. The teams had gone through a very down time for quite a while before he got to the school. Then baseball started to rebound and two years after he got here, he had the football team in the state championship game at Hand. I will never forget all of the Berlin fans wearing red at Southington High School. 

Q: Who else shaped your coaching philosophy?

A: George Hall did so much for women's sports here, he can never be repaid. With Title IX, he increased the number of teams and the number of opportunities that female athletes had here. I can't help but think about him when I drive around town and see fields full of little girls playing soccer and other sports. Not only is it great for the girls but for the fathers too. It provides the dads an opportunity to coach and interact with their daughters, which is something that was never thought about before Title IX. I also remember Don Bates, who hadn't said much to me, come up to me when I was trying to get the wrestling program and tell me he thought I was doing the right thing. To have a coach of his stature say something like that to me made me feel pretty good about the direction we were going. We have had great coaches and I took something from all of them. Kenny Parciak in softball and basketball and Leo Veleas in baseball. We have had great coaches here. 

Q: When did you know the program was elite? Was there one moment hen you thought, wow, this is a pretty high-level program?

A: It will surprise you but it was when the men's basketball team won the state championship in 2006. Listen, people in town always say 'this is a baseball town' or 'this is a football town.' Have you ever heard anyone say 'Berlin is a basketball town?' Never. So when we won that, in Class L, I thought we could really compete for a state championship in any sport.


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