"My goal as a coach is to prepare players for a higher level in their sports," says Frosh-Soph Royal Head Coach Shaun Falzone, who over the course of the past 14 years seemingly has coached every sport imaginable, from basketball to football to soccer to baseball to hockey.
 It was hockey that started Coach Falzone on his path toward youth coaching. He began playing hockey at age five and by the time he reached St. Charles East High School and the St Charles Hockey Club in the mid-1990s, he was selected to attend a hockey academy in Banff in Alberta, Canada.
"I stepped into Canada and learned fast that I was one of the worst players on the ice," says Coach Falzone. "But with hard training and extra attention from a coach, my skills improved. I went from being one of the worst players on the ice to being one of the top five players."
Returning to St Charles, Coach Falzone discovered that he enjoyed sharing the knowledge he'd gained in Canada. He became an assistant coach in the local Flames youth hockey association, working with squirt- and peewee-level players.
Following a tour of duty with the US Army, Coach Falzone returned to St Charles, where he was hired as JV Head Coach for the Geneva Hockey Club. He was only home for a few |
months when his unit was reactivated following September 11th, and he again served a tour of duty.
In September 2003, Coach Falzone returned to coach the Geneva JV. He moved on to Fremd High School the next season, coaching its JV team to a strong showing, including a State Sweet Sixteen berth. In 2005, he became Head Varsity Coach of the Elgin-based ELS combined hockey team, building a JV team into a competitive varsity program. And in August 2008 he returned to the Flames organization, taking the position of Assistant Coach for the Midget Major NIHL team.
"The [Flames] players are working hard at big dreams and goals, and I am a helping hand along the way," he says. In the past year, Coach Falzone also began working with Allstar Sports, which runs sports programs through park districts.
Coach Falzone is a big believer in hard work and discipline, and has developed off-season and pre- and post-practice conditioning training for the Flames, aa well as for St Charles East's Hockey Club.
"I want a strong, physical and skilled team that plays as one," he says. "With help from the Cub and the parents, I know we will have a program that future players will look forward to joining." |
