Off the field II: The families behind the coach
Nick Tabor
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: Sports
For a few weeks during the volleyball season's peak, head coach Chris Gravel and his wife and assistant coach Stephanie Gravel are slaves to the team.
Chris usually works 50-60 hours each week during this period, he said, and Stephanie works at least 40.
With six-year-old daughter Brooklynn at home, this means plenty of babysitting slots to fill.
Other coaches, like head football coach Keith Otterbein, already have kids in college; other coaches' children, like Brooklynn, still look forward to gym class and recess.
Whatever their children's age, coaches manage to put family first while still keeping up with demanding practice and game schedules.
Football everywhere
Otterbein's oldest son, Steve, graduated from Hillsdale College in May. His other two are current students: Alyssa, a junior, and Brad, a sophomore.
Otterbein's schedule hardly affects his kids these days, but they felt the strain while growing up, he said. Brad said he usually saw his father only on weekends during football season.
"The majority of our raising kids was done by my wife," Otterbein said.
Otterbein said there were a "couple fun little incidents" where he forgot to pick them up after school or sports practices.
He said the chance to have his sons on his own team made up for the games he missed while they were in high school.
"There's a certain camaraderie we share on the field that you can't find anywhere else," he said. "The fact that my family gets to experience it with me is really cool."
Alyssa helps with the team and travels to most games with her mother.
"We've always been a football family," Brad said. "Football in the backyard, football everywhere."
In transit
Head men's basketball coach John Tharp finds himself in the same position Otterbein was in 13 years ago.
Tharp moved to Hillsdale in March, leaving his wife and three children in Wisconsin until June 9, the day after his children's school year ended.
"[The kids] were just so excited to kind of be with their dad again and be a family," Tharp's wife Jennifer said.
His daughter is 11-years-old, and his two sons are 9 and 6.
"The two boys, being the ages they're at, kind of go with the flow," Tharp said.
All three are involved in the same activities in which they participated in Wisconsin, he said. For the boys it is basketball, baseball, soccer. His daughter plays softball and dances. Each is attending Hillsdale Preparatory School.
He said most of their vacations take place on long weekends.
"We are more of a 'let's-go-visit-family' type on vacation," he said.
Jennifer said the family still eats dinner together as many evenings as possible.
"When the kids have games, dances, events, I do everything I can to be there," Tharp said. "You have to make time for your family."
High fivin'
Brooklynn Gravel has a rare opportunity: she's growing up in Hillsdale with a volleyball team full of babysitters.
Brooklynn attended Mary Randall Preschool for three years and entered Hillsdale Academy for kindergarten. She's now in first grade.
"She's a campus kid," Chris said.
Her homework load is tremendous for a first-grader, Chris said, but the babysitters help her finish most of it before he and Stephanie come home.
"I don't want to be shoving homework down her throat when I come home from practice," Stephanie said. "This way I can spend more quality time with her."
Chris said most of Brooklynn's babysitters are either members of his volleyball team or high school students from the Academy.
He said Brooklynn loves interacting with the older girls.
"Sometimes the babysitter will drop her off early and she'll do sprints with the team," he said. He added that the players always giver Brooklynn high-fives afterward, which is her favorite part.
Chris usually works 50-60 hours each week during this period, he said, and Stephanie works at least 40.
With six-year-old daughter Brooklynn at home, this means plenty of babysitting slots to fill.
Other coaches, like head football coach Keith Otterbein, already have kids in college; other coaches' children, like Brooklynn, still look forward to gym class and recess.
Whatever their children's age, coaches manage to put family first while still keeping up with demanding practice and game schedules.
Football everywhere
Otterbein's oldest son, Steve, graduated from Hillsdale College in May. His other two are current students: Alyssa, a junior, and Brad, a sophomore.
Otterbein's schedule hardly affects his kids these days, but they felt the strain while growing up, he said. Brad said he usually saw his father only on weekends during football season.
"The majority of our raising kids was done by my wife," Otterbein said.
Otterbein said there were a "couple fun little incidents" where he forgot to pick them up after school or sports practices.
He said the chance to have his sons on his own team made up for the games he missed while they were in high school.
"There's a certain camaraderie we share on the field that you can't find anywhere else," he said. "The fact that my family gets to experience it with me is really cool."
Alyssa helps with the team and travels to most games with her mother.
"We've always been a football family," Brad said. "Football in the backyard, football everywhere."
In transit
Head men's basketball coach John Tharp finds himself in the same position Otterbein was in 13 years ago.
Tharp moved to Hillsdale in March, leaving his wife and three children in Wisconsin until June 9, the day after his children's school year ended.
"[The kids] were just so excited to kind of be with their dad again and be a family," Tharp's wife Jennifer said.
His daughter is 11-years-old, and his two sons are 9 and 6.
"The two boys, being the ages they're at, kind of go with the flow," Tharp said.
All three are involved in the same activities in which they participated in Wisconsin, he said. For the boys it is basketball, baseball, soccer. His daughter plays softball and dances. Each is attending Hillsdale Preparatory School.
He said most of their vacations take place on long weekends.
"We are more of a 'let's-go-visit-family' type on vacation," he said.
Jennifer said the family still eats dinner together as many evenings as possible.
"When the kids have games, dances, events, I do everything I can to be there," Tharp said. "You have to make time for your family."
High fivin'
Brooklynn Gravel has a rare opportunity: she's growing up in Hillsdale with a volleyball team full of babysitters.
Brooklynn attended Mary Randall Preschool for three years and entered Hillsdale Academy for kindergarten. She's now in first grade.
"She's a campus kid," Chris said.
Her homework load is tremendous for a first-grader, Chris said, but the babysitters help her finish most of it before he and Stephanie come home.
"I don't want to be shoving homework down her throat when I come home from practice," Stephanie said. "This way I can spend more quality time with her."
Chris said most of Brooklynn's babysitters are either members of his volleyball team or high school students from the Academy.
He said Brooklynn loves interacting with the older girls.
"Sometimes the babysitter will drop her off early and she'll do sprints with the team," he said. He added that the players always giver Brooklynn high-fives afterward, which is her favorite part.
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