By Ed Muniz-Photos by Kathy Jones
Throughout the country, football fever has begun, its building up to its annual fanatic hysteria that peaks just as the fall season begins.
From the NFL down to thousands of youth organizations and programs, the infectious cheers and thunderous clash of pads and helmets announces that America’s favorite fan sport is just about here.
Nestle among the many preparing for their upcoming season are the Orland Park Pioneers.
Entering their 47th year of competition, the Pioneers underwent a change not only with their coaches but also with their board.
After several years of impressive successes under previous President Jenny Czerwonka which included 6 Championships in four years (3-RVYFL, 3-WNFL), the Pioneers will now be headed by first year President Al Krokos.
Krokos brings with him years of experience within the Pioneers program. He previously had coached at the Super Lightweight division. He recognizes it will be a challenge to keep the high-quality standards of the previous Pioneer leader (Jenny Czerwonka), but he welcomes it.
“Our line organizationally is stronger together, we kinda divide and conquer,” said Krokos. “Previously we had folks doing things on their own, now we are spreading the responsibilities a little bit.”
Krokos added that the Pioneer Board is in really good shape with several members having been part of the program for many years and some new faces added over the last few years. “The Pioneer board is really strong right now.”
There were some head coaching changes. Heading up the Super Lightweights will be Pat Richardson. He takes over with Krokos and company moving up to Lightweights.
At the Junior Varsity level, Andy Rybak will head the reigns and Varsity will be headed by long over-due Vince Annel.
Each Pioneers level will have a new head coach for 2023.
The Cheer portion of the Pioneers will be under the tutelage of third year Cheer Director Betsy Sejud.
“Our expectation for the whole program is to be competitive at every level and that we all will be playing in November,” said Krokos. “We have a lot of coaching experience at every level so I’m happy with that.”
The RVYFL expanded this year, bringing in three new programs so each organization will have two byes this year. Another plus for the Pioneers, families with multiple players on different teams will now enjoy seeing them play at the same location each game. No more splitting locations for the Pioneers.
When asked if the Pioneers are ready, Krokos response, “We’re Always Ready!”
The success of the youngest Pioneers over the years has once again been looked at as the norm this season. Coach Pat Richardson is aware of the several titles won at the Super Lightweight level. No other level within the Pioneers program has had the success that it has recently. Winning several league Championships along with the WNFL titles.
After last years’ Dual Championships, a first for the Pioneers, Coach Richardson will be expected to carry on. The good thing is he has a dynamo of a player heading his team. The return of Michael O’Connor will bring big success both offensively and defensively and spell TROUBLE for opponents. O’Connor wrestles in the offseason and it shows how he converts his talent in that sport to help his skills on the football field.
Throw in several other talented Pioneers like Ellis Hubbard, Jason Erwin, Gavin Garrity, Chris Medina Jr. and others, this team could easily be stacking up win after win.
“There certainly are big expectations for us,” said Coach Richardson. “We lost 29 players off last year’s team, but we got a really good crop of kids that I feel will give us great production on the field from both sides.”
“Our core is solid; we have a core of third year players that are dynamite. Our biggest challenge this year is putting a solid line together. We are looking forward to it and I think these little guys are too.”
Coach Richardson stated he doesn’t feel pressure to succeed but he acknowledges it’s a different feeling having to make the final decision but is excited to handle that.
With a solid cast of assistant coaches which include Mark Garrity, Ray Morandi, Mike Erwin, Mike O’Connor, Brian McCarthy and Frank Slabenak, the Super Lightweights will get the quality coaching it needs to be vying for another title.
Win or lose, Coach Richardson hopes at the end of the year that his players learned a lot and are excited about coming back.
At Lightweight, Al Krokos moves up after three years at Super Lightweight.
“I expect to build off the successes of last year and 2021,” said Head Coach Al Krokos of his 2023 team.
“This group will be back together, so we expect them to build, be efficient and prepared, it’s where we as coaches have to get them.”
Coach Krokos mentioned that early on during their practices the timing is a work in progress both offensively and defensively, but he was confident that they will be ready once the season begins.
“The Chemistry with this team is a positive. They’ve played together, they know each other, they play other sports together, so they have a lot of chemistry together and that’s a big plus for us.”
The Lightweights won’t be short on talent. This 44-man team has enough talent to vie for a championship. Players Max Streets-Pruitt will undoubtedly be the feature back offensively while Nicholas Peisker brings his talent every game.
Add in Owen Garrity, Jase Enstrom, Yousef Yasin, John Sutter, Vinnie Spizzarri, Zachary Salah and others, this team will contend.
The Lightweight Pioneers will have plenty of help too. Krokos has eight additional coaches assisting him. Adam Sutter was the defense guru of last year and will again run that side of the ball. Coaches Chuck Kakos, Jonah Doftert, Joe Pruitt, Ray Peisker, Steve Baniewicz, and Bob Mase will all help this season.
This unit of lightweight Pioneers will look to continue the success of last season, a season that saw them capture two titles at Super Lightweight, a first for the Pioneers at any level. Winning both the River Valley Youth Football league and the Wednesday Night Football League Championships.
To say expectations are high is an understatement, they certainly have the talent to repeat.
Andy Rybak will head the Junior Varsity Pioneers. Stepping up into what could be the most competitive level of the RVYFL, Rybak and crew will need to bring their best week in and week out. There is no shortage of talent at this level throughout the RVYFL.
The good thing for this Pioneer team is the amount of experience and talent that greeted the new JV coach.
Last years’ Junior varsity was an enigma. They entered the playoffs but never found their comradery or ability to work out the kinks and were one and done.
At times, the JV looked unbeatable but for the most part, they never were able to piece victories together and sustain a win streak considering they were heavily talented.
The 2023 JV Pioneers on paper appear to be more talented. It will be up to Rybak and his slew of coaches to bring out the best in each player.
“This is a very exciting group, it’s new to me with the maturity level I’ve already noticed,” said Coach Rybak. “We got a lot of good, young, skilled athletes, and just like every other year, going into it, I’m very positive.”
“I have great coaches, Tim O’Reilly, he’s been coaching for over ten years, great on both sides of the ball. he will be our offensive coordinator; Andy Brennan is back, he knows how to get the kids motivated; John Votteler another guy that has tons of experience; John Duckhorn brings a lot of experience which includes at the high school level, he’ll be the defensive coordinator along with coaches Helman, Baran and Snider also providing a lot of help.”
Rybak knows it’s a little more tense at this level as some of his players will experience punts being rushed along with PAT’s. The team is loaded with returning experience with just four first time players of the 44-man roster.
Rybak also felt his team has plenty of depth which can be a huge deal when the next man is called on to step up.
“It’s going to be exciting, and I think we’re going to have a great year.”
Rybak may indeed have a memorable year with the talent laden team he has. Players like Dylan Butler, Cade Votteler, Ben Snider, Luke Rybak, Luke O’Reilly, Enzo Angone, Colin McElligott, Aidan Rios, Luke Duckhorn, Drake Ulaszek and several others, this team could very well put several victories together.
Last year, the Varsity Pioneers ran roughshod over the league capturing an undefeated season and a RVYFL title. Many of those championship players are now beginning their high school careers.
The 2023 Varsity Pioneers will be a team made up of of good mix of seventh and eighth graders
This is a young varsity team but don’t be fooled, Coach Vince Annel has plenty of skilled players with a lot of desire to win.
“We are coming in very young. We’re gonna take it one week at a time and see what we got,” said Coach Annel. “We are going to get these kids out here every single day working on fundamentals to make sure they’re ready to go for week one.”
“What we have this year that we didn’t have last year is the strength of our line. We have a lot more physical kids that were on varsity last year, we take the skilled players we had last year and bring them together with these bigger kids, so we should be ok.”
The Varsity Pioneers should be quite physical on defense with Adam Danko leading the line pressure. Last year he displayed a tough physical style that produced great results until he went don’t with an injury. Coach Annel already recognizes his talents.
A sleeper for the Pioneers could be lineman Stephen Caxton-Idowu. The 13-year-old, 253-pound titan is an impressive football specimen and if he can play opposite Danko, the Pioneers could feature some impressive defensive pressure on opposing offenses.
Kyree Gills also returns and will be an asset wherever he lines up defensively. Also returning is lineman Keegan Kirk who played nose tackle and was impressive when he wanted to be. Coach Annel felt Blake Wagner is starting to shine and could be a big contributor to the team’s success.
“It’s nice to have both (Adam) Danko and Stephen (Caxton-Idowu). Danko could absolutely spearhead our defense and Stephen, who is maturing quite a bit, we expect a lot out of him.”
Offensively, the Pioneers have the potential to be quite a force. Quarterback Jack Bullington will go under center and lead the offense. Runningbacks’ Mason Marable and Vinnie Annel will be a good tandem the Pioneers should get a lot of production from.
Ayden Toth also can be a weapon leading the Pioneers’ receiving core. He has a knack for getting open and if the Pioneers target him, he tends to come down with the ball.
“We have a great vibe coming in. The coaches we put together are a great group of guys. Todd Shelton, Jimmy Rodriguez, Brian Bullington, Terrance Marable and Chris Basiorka are all going to help us a lot both offensively and defensively.”
Pioneers will also have plenty of entertainment along the sidelines with the Pioneers Cheerleaders keeping the fans in the game.
Betsy Sejud continues as Cheer Director for the third year and will also be coaching the Varsity level girls.
Brittany Ulaszek will head the Junior Varsity; Jill Lenzen (Asst. Cheer Director) will lead the Lightweight squad and new coach Rhea Sternberg will take the lead of the Super Lightweight squad.
“Last year we finished in the upper 90’s of girls participating in our Cheer program, this year we exceeded that and are quite happy with our numbers,” said Betsy. “The JV squad is our largest so Coach Brittany will have her hands full, but she has some good coaches helping out.”
The Pioneers are looking to duplicate if not exceed last year’s triumphs. The Pioneers qualified all their squad to the Illinois Cheer Association State Championships held at Northern Illinois University and came away with three first place finishes in the Rec Division at Lightweight, JV and Varsity. A first for the Pioneers.
Betsy feels the Pioneers excel because they focus on the basics, making sure their foundations are good, solid and clean so when they advance their stunts and introduce harder routines, they know what they’re doing, keeping their routines really clean.
“We also have a great support system with the Sandburg Cheerleaders and the Cheer coaches. Having those junior coaches and their coaches supporting our program is a huge help.”
Betsy also complimented the Cheer parents.
“Our parents are super important, they support our cheerleaders, getting them to practice, to competitions and games, and paying for tumbling lessons when needed. Without a strong parent base, we wouldn’t be successful at all, so definitely, having the Parent base is key. Our parents are amazing!”
With the season on the cusp of starting, get ready to see quite a lot of talent not only on the field but also along the sidelines. For the Orland Park Pioneers, Championships are earned because of their hard work and talent!