Teacher of Football

English teacher Parker Salowich made the decision to leave his head coaching position at Salem High School and will be back at North Farmington next season. For three years Salowich was the head football coach at Salem. Year in and year out he worked for the school to make the football program the best it could be, until this year that is. Current head coach, Todd Schultz will still remain at his position, along with all the other coordinators and staff.

It all began in a meeting Salowich had with his Defensive Coordinator at Salem. They were looking at the roster for next season, and Salowich realized that he could no longer coach there. "There were 120 names on the board and I didn’t know 85 of them," he said. "As a head coach that shouldn’t happen, and that was one of the main reasons I decided to leave."

There were many reasons for why Salowich decided to leave. He coached at a school he did not teach at and spent hours away from his family working on the depth chart, watching tape of his team, all while still grading English papers for his job at North.

Salowich has a strong presence on the football field. In 2005, he served as NF’s Varsity football offensive coordinator and assistant head coach to Todd Schultz. Salowich had a high-powered offense led by stand out running back Mark Moundros, who now plays football at the University of Michigan.

"We’ve been friends for a very long time, [Salowich and I]" Schultz said. "I was on his interview committee when he was hired by the district, and before I was the head coach, we served on Rich Burrell’s, a former head coach, staff together."

When Schultz became the Varsity head coach, he brought Salowich up to the top level with him.
The 2005 Raiders, who went 7-3 in the regular season, made it to the State Playoffs only to lose to Walled Lake Central in the first round. When the season was over, Salowich announced he would not be back as a coach next season.

In 2006, although he was still an English teacher at NF, Salowich became the Varsity football head coach at Salem High School in Canton.

"I had always wanted to be a head coach," Salowich said. "The opportunity presented itself, and I took it."

"Coaching there and working here put so much stress on my teaching," Salowich said. "Most coaches look at coaching as a full time job, and during the season it was common for me to spend about 40 hours a week on football."

Over the past three years, while Salowich was coaching at Salem, the NF football program has had three straight loosing seasons. Now, Salowich will bring his intensity and love of the game to the NF sideline, once again and instill it in his players.

"I love North Farmington," said Salowich. "There is a great heritage here and you are part of the fabric for the community. In Salem, they try to have that sense of family, but it’s fake. Here, everyone has a sense of tradition."

Salowich has a plethora of experience under his belt. It is what makes up his personality and style. He played football in high school, coached at NF for four years, and was the head coach at Salem for three.

"It’s his unorthodox personality that makes him so well-known," fellow English teacher and friend Kevin Ozar said. "He possesses a method of teaching and communication with the students that is rarely seen, especially at NF."

"It’s good to be consistent as a coach," he said. "I have great expectations and I put a lot of effort into coaching. I expect the same effort to be returned by the kids on the field."

Coaching has also really influenced Salowich’s teaching style. He once had a parent tell him that he coaches English. His style of teaching football and teaching English are very similar.

"He brings the same intensity to the classroom that he does to the playing field," said Schultz.
Salowich really wants kids to excel, not just in the classroom but also on the football field."

"Salowich is a very honest guy," Ozar said. "It’s his ability to truly dedicate himself to the task at hand that makes him such a good teacher and coach."

Schultz is very glad to have Salowich back on the NF sideline. They have coached together and been friends for a very long time.

"Salowich and I share everything, so I knew of the challenges he was having at Salem," Schultz said. "Salem’s loss is our gain."

"He understands what we are about," Schultz said. "We want to provide our players with a learning experience and Salowich can bring that to the table. It will be great having him aboard again."
Salowich’s new coaching position is still up in the air. Many meetings between he and Schultz’s coaching staff are taking place to define his position.

"I’ve had the opportunity to coach with a lot of people," Schultz said. "Some good, some not so good, but it was because they couldn’t teach the game. Salowich is a man who can do that, and it is what makes him one of the best coaches around."

All Juiced Up

Over the past few weeks, steroids have been printed on newspapers across the country and shown on television stations daily. Covers of the New York Post have read "Cheater," and changed the name "A-Rod" to "A-Roid."

Since the turn of the century, steroids have infected our national past-time. Athletic trainers and vitamin distributors such as Victor Conte of BALCO, have become "drug dealers," and the athletes have become the "junkies" doing anything they can to enhance their game and not get caught.
In 2007, since the Mitchell Report, drawn up by Senator George Mitchell, was released, many players have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs. Players such as Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Roger Clemens, and many more. Bonds and Clemens are also both being charged with perjury for lying to congress under oath.
Even before the report, players were accused. As a child playing Little League in NFWB, many of these players I once looked up to. They were my heroes and I wanted to be just like them. However, after the Mitchell Report was released, I could no longer look up to these players.

Today, I find it hard to even find a player who is innocent of not using the drugs. When A-Rod confessed to using the drugs, it was so shocking to many people across the country. Everyone is guilty now. Many players have come out and said that steroids are ruining baseball. These players need to step up and tell the idiots doing it to stop. The players who use performance enhancing drugs have no respect for the game and they don’t deserve to be recognized as the great players of the game.
Records have been re-written by players who have cheated the game. They don’t deserve to have the credit for doing so. For someone like Bonds, who broke Hank Aaron’s homerun record two summers ago, there will always be an asterisk next to him name.

These athletes, who have cheated the game ,have not only ruined their own careers, but also the game of baseball and the careers of high school students who have looked up to them.
Many high school students across the country have experimented with performance enhancing drugs because their favorite athletes have. Kids have died due to overdose and ruined their chances of every playing again due to injury.

In Texas, they now require mandatory random drug testing for all high school athletes. Although, after the last test, they only found two in the whole state using performance enhancing drugs, it was completely worth the money.

Because this era will forever be known as the steroid era, it is worth it to protect student athletes from making the same mistakes professional athletes have. Random drug testing should take place in high school sports.

The game of baseball has changed. Our national past-time is full of lies and cheaters, all juiced up.

On A Roll

The Mens’ Swim team is 24-0 since 2006.

"We all know what we have to do to continue the streak," said senior captain Michael Tetrick. "No one wants to lose it, and it motivates us to do better."

This year, the team is the largest it has ever been, with more than 20 swimmers.

"It’s a good group of guys," Tetrick said. "It’s the first time in a while that we have all worked together as a team, instead of going for the individual accomplishment."

Newcomers to the team, seniors Max Corman and Nate Valade, said the team chemistry is great.
"There are no bad influences on the team," Corman said. "Everyone looks out for each other."

So far this season, the NF swim team has won all their meets. They have competed against the likes of Farmington, Rochester, and Avondale. They also participated in the West Bloomfield Invitational, where they placed first for the first time in four years, after facing Novi, West Bloomfield, Troy Athens, and Livonia Churchill.

"The size of the team has really surprised me this season," said head coach Michael Harfoot. "I don’t know if it was the Olympics that made kids want to join, but it has really helped us out a lot."

Last season, the team had trouble filling all the lanes. This year, it was only the second time in Harfoot’s 11 years coaching here that he had to cut swimmers.

The team is led by captains Michael Tetrick, Phil Robinson, and Michael Sapick.

Junior Mickey McNeece made state cuts after the first meet of the season for the 100 Butterfly.

"I’ve made state cuts before, but doing it in the first meet of the season doesn’t happen often," McNeece said. "It’s really good to know and now I can set my goals higher."

McNecee wants to break the pool record for the 100 Butterfly before he leaves North Farmington.

According to Harfoot, Junior Garrick Givens is also swimming very well.

"It’s amazing to see Givens back in the pool swimming so well," Harfoot said.

Last season, Givens was out with a back injury and had to have major surgery done. He was out for six months.

"All my muscles were weakened, so it has slowed me down a bit," Givens said. "However, at the West Bloomfield meet, I dropped four seconds off my 200 freestyle time."

It was the best time Givens has had since the surgery.

Every other day, the team is practicing in the pool at 5:30 in the morning, and they continue to practice after school each day.

The team does almost everything together. They even hang out outside of the pool.
"After every meet, we go to Wendy’s," Valade said. "And after Saturday practice we go out to Royal Buffet."

The swim team still has more than half a season left to play. Right now, they are 8-0 this season.

"Expectations have been set," Corman said. "We know what we have to do to keep the streak going, and we hope to continue it throughout the rest of the season."

Change You Should Believe In

Did you know that, just last year, the Womens’ Basketball team made it to the state semi-finals? They were District Champions.

Did you know that the Mens’ Swim team is 21-0 over the past three years, with state qualifying swimmers?

It’s time to catch you up. Did you know that the Farmingtion United Gymnastics team won back to back State Championships in 2005 and 2006, along with Regional Championships in 2007 and 2008?

Today, as a senior, I can walk into the gym and see the banners and plaques; but, it is appalling to see that the most recent one says 2006, when, since then, there have been championship teams.
There was no banner raised or ceremony for them. All that transpired was an announcement in the morning; that’s it.

And there are more. All these teams have taken North’s athletics to new heights. Football, soccer, and basketball plaques hang with pride to let the world know that we are the Raiders.

In professional and college athletics, when a team wins a national championship, a bowl game, or a conference championship, there is normally some type of ceremony recognizing the accomplishments of the teams where a banner is raised. Why don’t we do this at North Farmington? We are supposed to be a school where accomplishments are of the highest recognition.

Also, the banners are in a spot where you can’t even see them. At some high schools, the banners are hanging directly above the gym floor, where they are at least noticeable.
Even individual accomplishments should be acknowledged by updating the records in the gym and pool.

Something needs to happen. The pep rally, which involves the athletes, is a good place for these announcements to take place. We could still have all the fun with them, as the teams are introduced. However, if a team for that season won a championship, the banners could be updated, or the plaques could be hung in front of the whole school.