With a passion for their sport and a connection with their teams, Kaneland coaches in all areas of athletics, return to their coaching positions. These familiar faces lead Kaneland to many victories and inspire students to do their best on and off the field.
“Being a coach means a lot to me because the people that were here before me. We have a really good tradition here at Kaneland, and I’d hate to see the program take a step down,” Tom Fedderly said.
When Fedderly first started coaching at Kaneland, he coached football, basketball and girl’s softball, but he found that coaching three sports became difficult after he started a family.
“I like being with the kids, and I have really good relationships with the coaches,” Fedderly said.
Coach Parillo has coached boy’s soccer for 13 years. He’s played soccer since he was five, and now at age 45 he is still passionate about the sport.
“When I first started teaching here, they asked me if I could coach anything, and here I am 13 years later,” Parillo said.
Like Fedderly, Parillo also has a strong relationship with his team and enjoys coaching.
“It’s fun, you get to know kids outside of class, and you watch them grow into adults,” Parillo said.
Coaching boy’s basketball for five years is Brian Johnson. He enjoys coaching because of the competition, seeing kids be successful, as well as developing relationships with the kids he coaches.
“Kids come in with the desire to work hard. The relationship works well on the court, but most important is knowing them off the court,” Johnson said.
One of Johnson’s most memorable years was his first, when the team won the regional championship and had one of their biggest crowds. He also remembers winning their first conference championship.
Johnson believes that a successful program is built on and off the court, and a way to accomplish that is through hard work and discipline.
Another veteran coach is Tom Dillivan, he has been coaching girl’s basketball for 9 years, but it is his 21st year as a coach. The director of his local YMCA is the person who convinced Dillivan to be involved in basketball. Dillivan says he continues coaching for the love of the game.
“I love playing basketball and teaching basketball to young players. It’s a beautiful game.” Dillivan said.