Quarter-century club

There are very few people who embody St. Charles College football more than coach Mike Fabiilli.

The walk - the talk - the look; Fabiilli seems to march every sideline in the footsteps of Father Black and Chris Bartolucci, and countless others who came before him.
The youngest of three football-playing boys in the family, this passionate fan of the gridiron is celebrating his 25th year of coaching with the storied local school this fall, picking up right where he left off as a player.

“I used to watch my brother practise when I was in Grade Six,” said Fabiilli recently. “From then, I knew that I wanted to play football.”

For five years, he would help lead the Cardinals as SCC captured city championships in his final year of junior ball as well as both seasons linebacker Fabiilli played in senior.

While hundreds of young players have come under his watchful eye as a coach, it is likely their parents who remember just how talented Fabiilli was as a player, earning honours as the CIAU (Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Association) Rookie of the Year as an Ottawa Gee Gees freshman.

But even years before concussion awareness became widespread, Fabiilli knew enough to step away before it was too late.

“I can remember getting knocked out. I would just shake it off and say that it’s OK, but it never got any better,” he said.

Heeding the doctor’s advice, he relented to the end of his playing days, giving rise to a wonderful career as a coach. Helping the late Sid Forster for eight years with the Sudbury Spartans, Fabiilli began at St. Charles in 1987, immediately embedding himself in the football program.

The exposure to both Forster and Cardinals’ coach Chris Bartolucci shaped the foundation of the mentor Fabiilli has become.

“I took a lot of things from Sid,” Fabiilli said. “As head coach, he knew all of the positions. I was coaching defence and he would come over and start a conversation with the linebackers.”

But it was Bartolucci with whom he would work most closely, a relationship that instantly brings a smile to the face of the longtime educator.

“Chris was very intense and a lot of that intensity that I have, I think, comes from coaching with him,” Fabiilli said. “During a game, we would walk right past one another on the sidelines and would give each other a look.”

They had a great working relationship, he added.

“I lived just down the street from him, so we travelled to work every day and we would talk football,” Fabiilli explained.

The past quarter-century has seen many changes: in the players, in the game, in general. “I’ve mellowed down and toned it down,” Fabiilli concedes. “There are different ways of getting your message across. You have to be careful, because if you get too intense, you scare the kids more and make them nervous.”

Acknowledging that teenagers today have more things to occupy their time, Fabiilli also notes the large number of high school students who hold down part-time jobs in the retail sector, making it difficult to gain the type of commitment that was much more common back in the day.

Despite his obvious passion for the sport, Fabiilli knows all too well that each new season becomes that much more challenging. Over the past three years, he has worked with the St. Charles junior program in the spring, with the Gladiators in the summer and back with the senior boys come September.

“There’s times that it’s tough,” Fabiilli said. “But then you look at the kids and you see the smiles on their faces and you just keep going and going.”

While enjoying the opportunity to guide his sons (Michael and Christopher) over the past few years, Fabiilli quickly realized what every lifelong coach should know.

“For anyone who has coached this length of time, you have to have an understanding wife. I have to thank my wife (Joanne), because every year that I do this, she never says no,” Fabiilli said.

More than anyone, she knows all too well both sides of the Fabiilli persona that players come to appreciate over time.

“I have that tough exterior, but there’s always a soft side,” he said. “I would hope that my players would say that I’m tough, but tough in a good way. Whenever I coach, I want them to play with passion, to play well, to win, to learn.”

He also wants them to continue the St Charles College tradition.

“I’m big on tradition and the football teams understands that. We talk to the kids about the tradition - it’s good to have that,” he said.

And while the championship banners are not nearly as bountiful for the garnet and grey as they may have been in decades gone by, Fabiilli keeps it all in perspective. “We haven’t won as much in recent years, but that’s not always the most important thing,” said Fabiilli. “We try and teach them life lessons, teamwork, and when you get knocked down, you’ve got to get right back up.”

It’s the way that it’s always been at St Charles College. And few know that better than Mike Fabiilli.

Posted by Arron Pickard