Evaluation Paper on C.J. Morgante by Emily Chiappini

In my life, I have been privileged to participate in multiple sports, and I have been lucky enough to have good coaches. C.J. Morgante is one of those good coaches. He is not nationally acclaimed the way some good coaches for training professional athletes in high profile sports are, but he is a coach of high caliber. C.J. Morgante is a high school pole vault coach with a passion for the sport. A coach, by definition, is “one who trains others for an athletic contest” (Coach). C.J. Morgante trains athletes to prepare for athletic competitions; however, he is more than just a coach. He is a good coach. A good coach is more than just one who trains others. A good coach cares about the well-being of his athlete, and he knows his athlete individually. It is through these means that a good coach produces champions. C.J. Morgante does all of these things, which qualify him as a good coach.

A good coach is more than just a trainer for an athletic competition; he is someone who genuinely cares about his athlete’s well-being. He acts as a friend and a mentor to his athlete. A friend is someone who can delight in others’ achievements and can be encouraging through times of difficulty and frustration. C.J. does just that. When five of his pole vaulters qualified for the WPIAL finals, a final step in qualifying for the Pennsylvania state meet, C.J. celebrated by cooking dinner for his athletes to congratulate them, and a tradition was born for the years to come. A good coach is also a mentor, meaning “a wise and trusted teacher, guide, and friend” (Mentor). A good coach teaches more than just the skills needed to perform; he teaches valuable lessons. He teaches about commitment, dedication, and drive. C.J. once told the story of how involvement and commitment is like an egg and ham breakfast. The chicken is involved in the breakfast, but the pig is committed to it. The moral of the story is that athletes need to do more than just show up to practice. Athletes need to be committed to what they are doing. They need to not only show up to practice everyday but also put forth a full effort. As a friend, a good coach comforts an athlete through the tears that come with any sport, and he smiles with his athlete during successes, because to a good coach, when his athlete falls, he feels the pain, and when his athlete wins, a part of that medal belongs to him.

A good coach knows his athlete individually. He knows what means of training are most beneficial and efficient. An athlete is of no value if he is injured, so C.J. does what he can to prevent injuries while in training. I know this from experience. When I was a junior in high school, I had shin splints so bad that every step I took felt as though my leg was going to just split in half. Insightfully, C.J. did not push me because he knew the result would be a stress fracture, ultimately leading to the end of my season. Knowing that the only cure for shin splints was rest, C.J. modified my entire work out. He took me off the track and gave me work outs on the exercise bike, and on soft mats. This alleviated the stress on my legs and allowed me to recover. However, C.J. knew that shin splints do not just go away for good, so the following year he continued to train me in this fashion. Thanks to healthy and strong legs from my modified work outs, I jumped higher than I ever had before. Similarly, consider the stand out strong safety Troy Polamalu of the Super Bowl XL Champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. When it comes to training, he is diversely separated from his teammates. As opposed to weight training, Polamalu uses heavy shoes, medicine balls, wobble boards, “and other nontraditional football workouts” to train in and out of football season (Bouchette). Polamalu credits Marv Marinovich, his trainer, for turning him into a player in the Pro Bowl (Bouchette). Polamalu does yoga and has not lifted a weight over twenty-five pounds; his diet is also unique from that of other NFL players (Prisco). Since he has been trained and coached according to what works best for him, Polamalu has grown into a very successful athlete. A good coach also knows what his athlete will respond negatively to and what he will respond positively to. This being the case, he implements coaching styles appropriately. C.J. does not submit every athlete to the same regimen. He analyzes his athlete’s learning style, and then he trains and coaches him accordingly.

A good coach, however, does not just do his best to improve athletes at practice. A good coach produces results; he produces champions. I’m sure a lot of people would agree with the statement “Joe Paterno is a good coach.” Since 1966 Joe Paterno has had over 350 wins, and he has won twenty-one bowl games (Joe). He has produced numerous football players qualified to compete at the professional level, and he has had multiple awards bestowed upon him. C.J. Morgante has also coached high caliber athletes. He coached a four-time national champion and automatic qualifier for the Olympic Trials in 2000 in the long jump. In 2003, C.J. coached a vaulter from a height of 9’6” to a height of 12’6”, giving her the best height in the state of Pennsylvania, as well as numerous records and a national ranking. This same vaulter is now competing at the collegiate level; she is still breaking records and has held a world ranking. In 2005, C.J. produced two medal winners at the indoor and outdoor state championships in Pennsylvania in the pole vault. One of his athletes broke the indoor state record (only to have it broken again a few minutes later by another fierce competitor) and was also nationally ranked. Also in 2005 he took two high school pole vaulters to a national competition. C.J. has coached a state titlist, numerous collegiate conference champions, all Americans, and national qualifiers (Morgante). Obviously C.J. has what it takes to produce top notch athletes.

C.J. Morgante is a good coach. If there is any disagreement, it is likely to come from the athlete who is defiant and therefore unsuccessful in his endeavors. C.J. is a coach who is always trying to learn more by taking advice from other respected coaches and by enhancing his knowledge of the sport. He produces athletes who can compete in the spotlight and perform under pressure. But what goes unnoticed in the spotlight is that C.J. is more than just someone who trains athletes for competition. He is a friend and a mentor who cares about his athlete, and in doing so, produces accomplished athletes and champions.

Works Cited

Bouchette, Ed. “Polamalu in middle of training revolution.” Post-gazette.com. 8 Aug. 2005. 26 Feb. 2006 <http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05220/550403.stm>.

“Coach.” Oxford English Dictionary. 2005. Oxford University Press. 26 Feb. 2006
<http://www.oed.com/>.

“Joe Paterno’s career coaching record – all at Penn St.” NCAA Football. 2006. Yahoo! Inc. 26 Feb. 2006 <http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=paterno&prov=st&type=lgns>.

“Mentor.” The New International Webster’s Pocket Dictionary of the English
Language. New Revised Edition. 1997.

Morgante, C.J. Personal Interview. 21 Feb. 2006.

Prisco, Pete. “Steelers’ Polamalu whispers off field, roars on it.” CBS SportsLine.com. 2 Feb. 2006. 26 Feb. 2006 < http://cbs.sportsline.com/print/nfl/story/9204205>.

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