Keep on Coaching
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few weeks ago, I finally got my first chance this season to watch a friend coach his basketball team. After guiding some others at the lower levels, this is his first time running the varsity – something he wasn't sure he wanted to do with a 1-year-old just learning to walk, but a challenge he ended up taking on to the benefit of all those involved.
Simply put, he’s good. I've seen a lot of teams and a lot of coaches over the past 15 years, and although I wouldn't know much of what to do if I were walking the sideline, I felt pretty qualified in telling him I was impressed – even if he didn't buy that I was offering an unbiased opinion. The best news is he’s gone from not sure about this a few months ago to talking about next season.
We know, at least anecdotally, that coaching continues to get more challenging. The time commitment has grown substantially to make running a program a year-round endeavor in a lot of sports at a lot of schools.
That commitment – especially for coaches with children of their own – was a main reason referred to in a New Haven Post-Chronicle story Saturday that noted 23 football coaching openings in Connecticut at one point this offseason. That state has 146 football teams – meaning roughly 15 percent will have new leaders this fall.
And that got me thinking about my friend, about how glad I am he’s given this a shot, and how I've seen so many others either not do so, or not stick around long despite having some pretty nice success.
A study published last winter in Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine – a product of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association – noted some predictable results of a study that sought to determine the biggest challenges faced by first-year high school coaches.
The toughest according to the study was balancing the demands of coaching and teaching, experienced by nearly half the respondents – 98 percent of which coached high school teams and 81 percent of which are teachers.
The next six reasons all were noted by at least 30 percent of those in the study – personal fatigue, securing community support, securing and caring for facilities and equipment, parental contact, keeping non-starting players motivated, dealing with schedule interruptions and motivating athletes to achieve consistent, peak performance.
Nothing there is earth-shaking, and most if not all of these challenges are faced by high school coaches regardless of how long they've been in the field. But I got a little more perspective from some of the 32 items that ranked as least challenging to the first-year leaders – keeping in compliance with state and league regulations, dealing with substance abuse issues, teaching sport skills and creating a positive team atmosphere – things that seem most important, and yet appear to be easiest to do. I’m not sure what that tells us – but I think it tells us something.
Click to check out the entire three-page breakdown of the study, plus the researchers’ recommendations to remedy some of what first-year coaches face.
Giving back to Saginaw
I love reading about high-level athletes – like a star-studded group of alums from Saginaw – giving back to where they got their starts.
Pittsburgh Steelers star LaMarr Woodley made a big impact before the start of this school year by donating $60,000 to cover all participation fees for athletes in his former school district. The Saginaw News’ Hugh Bernreuter writes today about how Woodley (Saginaw High), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill) and former Oakland Raiders standout Stu Schweigert (Saginaw Heritage) have combined to give more than $865,000 back to their home communities.
Bernreuter also mentions the non-monetary contributions of the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (Saginaw High) and former Indianapolis Colts receiver Blair White (Saginaw Nouvel).
Click to read more about it.
Quote(s) of the Week
While rifling through more papers on my desk, I found an article from the Washington Post from Sept. 2011 titled “How high school sports save our schools.” I was drawn to it in part because I spent more than a decade in a newsroom, and it was a piece by a reporter covering education who instead of reporting on school boards and the like, delved into the importance of interscholastic athletics to education as a whole.
He spoke of how participation continues to grow even as resources dwindle, and of data supporting that extracurriculars like sports are more effective than academic classes in teaching leadership, teamwork, time management and “other skills crucial for success in the workplace.” Later, he mentioned a study noting that those who participate in extracurriculars earned more a decade later.
Click here to read the entre piece. These passages struck me most.
“Coaches might be the only faculty members still allowed by our culture and educational practice to get tough with students not making the proper effort. They have the advantage of teaching what are essentially elective non-credit courses. They can insist on standards of behavior that classroom teachers often cannot enforce because the stakes of dismissing or letting students drop their courses are too high. …
“Students do better in activities they choose. If we provide more of them, led by committed adults … that can make a difference. We know the bad news about education. Dropout rates are high. Achievement scores are stagnant. But sports participation is going up, despite pressure to cut it back. Let’s cheer about that and look for a way to draw in more students.”
Carefelle Twins Bring 'High School Musical' to Life Starring on Field, Stage
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 27, 2025
It’s appropriate that seniors Ezra and Micah Carefelle played two of the lead roles in the Muskegon Mona Shores production of “High School Musical” this spring.
The show, in essence, is the story of their lives.
Ezra, the leading scorer on the red-hot Mona Shores boys lacrosse team and kicker on the football team, played the lead role of Troy Bolton.
Micah, an all-area receiver on the Sailors’ football team and star face-off man in lacrosse, played Chad Danforth, Troy’s best friend and sports teammate.
“Their lives are the actual script of High School Musical,” said Molly Lawton, the longtime director of the Mona Shores spring production. “It’s not often that you get two athletic guys who can sing and dance – and aren’t afraid to do it.”
Fear is not a word in the extensive vocabulary of the Carefelle boys, who are now playing a leading role for the Sailors’ lacrosse team, which is 17-3 and riding a 12-game winning streak heading into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. showdown at Rockford (14-2) for a Division 1 Regional championship. Rockford was seeded first and Mona Shores second in the bracket.
The Sailors actually lost their first two matches of the season, but a big reason for that was because the Carefelles did not play, as those games fell at the same time as “High School Musical” performances.
With the high-energy, highly-skilled Carefelle twins in the lineup, Shores has won 17 of its last 18 games.
“Other coaches often tell me that we out-worked them or out-toughed them, and it all starts with Ezra and Micah,” said first-year Shores boys lacrosse coach Adam Zarotney. “They are very skilled, but what sets them apart is that they always give 100-percent effort, 100 percent of the time.”
Keep your head in the game
Much like the musical, the Carefelles spent a good deal of this spring racing back-and-forth between lacrosse practices and theater rehearsals.
“There were a couple of rehearsals where we literally sprinted from lacrosse and were completely drenched in sweat,” Micah said.
And it worked the other way around, as well.
“I literally did my final audition for the play with my eye black on, because I had to get to lacrosse,” said Ezra with a laugh.
Ezra, who his coach said “has the ability to score from anywhere at any time against anybody,” leads the team with 66 goals and 44 assists for 110 points. Ezra is 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, slightly smaller than his brother.
Micah does not have nearly as many points, with 20 goals and 19 assists for 39, but he makes his biggest contribution on face-offs. He has won 141 of his 237 face-offs (59 percent) on the season.
“When we need a goal, we have an offensive series where we just get out of their way and let them go,” said Zarotney, who is assisted by Curtis Pek and Chad Burton. “They can get to the middle of the field and do things that other kids can’t.”
While Zarotney would love for them to “leave it all on the field” (as coaches often say), Lawton wants her lead performers to save some of their boundless energy for the stage.
Lawton marveled at the way the twins were able to shift gears, immediately and seamlessly, and knock out their performances every time.
The biggest problem she had was that they looked too much alike on the stage. So, Ezra straightened his hair and Micah bleached his, added a little goatee and, voila, the twins became Troy and Chad.
“The word I would use to describe it is magical,” said Lawton, called the Carefelles two of the most polite gentlemen with whom she’s worked. “They are both very smart and memorized their lines long before I required it. The chemistry between them on stage is really something special.”
Beating the odds
Ezra and Micah both love their unique, Biblical names, which are fitting given the importance of faith to the Carefelle family.
Ezra means “helper,” while Micah means “like God,” and their mother, Tracy, insists that it was a miracle that the boys were born healthy.
Tracy and her husband, Adam, visited a specialist shortly after learning they were having twins. After the ultrasound, the doctor gave them sobering news: Because they were mono-amniotic (sharing the same “bag of waters”), he said there was only a 50-percent chance of survival.
Tracy started going for an ultrasound every week and expected to have to give birth very prematurely by C-section, until an amazing, incredible – perhaps miraculous – event was discovered during the 28-week ultrasound.
“That ultrasound showed that each of them was now in their own sac,” said Tracy. “The doctor told us he had never seen a membrane form that late in a pregnancy.”
As a result, Tracy was able to go nearly to full term, delivering Ezra (6 pounds, 8 ounces) and then Micah (6 pounds, 4 ounces) by natural birth. They are considered mirror-image twins, which helps explain why Micah is right-handed and Ezra is left-handed, and why their hair naturally parts on different sides of their heads.
Micah and Ezra also have an older sister, Lydia (a 2024 Mona Shores graduate), and three younger sisters – Chloe (eighth grade), Selah (seventh grade) and Ava (kindergarten).
The Carefelles developed their singing voices and acting abilities growing up in the church choir. Ezra actually sang the national anthem at most of the Sailors’ home lacrosse matches this season, running up to the press box to sing into the headset and then running back down the bleachers to start the game.
Both will attend Hope College next year. Micah will play football and major in exercise science, with a goal of working as a chiropractor or in physical therapy. Ezra will play lacrosse and major in secondary education, with plans to become a high school teacher and coach.
“Our faith really energizes us and gives us confidence in everything we do,” said Ezra, who carries a 3.98 GPA, while Micah is right behind at 3.89. “We have learned to rely on our faith to get us through hard times and struggles.”
Start of something new
Ezra is extremely competitive but admits he’s almost subdued compared to his brother.
Micah’s feistiness and intensity are great things most of the time, but sometimes get the better of him – which was the case during last week’s Regional Semifinal win over Hudsonville, when he was ejected after leaving the sideline to defend a teammate during a tense moment on the field. Because of the ejection, he also must miss Wednesday’s game against the Rams.
Zarotney points to his team’s depth and the fact many attackers have contributed to the team’s success, notably senior Conner Osterhart (a Hope College commit), junior Cullen Conrad and freshmen Jack Carlson and Payton Koziak.
The young defensive group also has improved steadily throughout the season, led by junior George Duggins and freshman Owen Terpstra.
But perhaps the hottest player on the team down the stretch has been senior goalie Ben Warren, who has saved 59 percent of shots on goal with a 79-percent clearing percentage.
“The whole team is playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said Zarotney. “These kids really play for each other. At the end of the day, I really think that separates us from other teams.”
If the Sailors prevail Wednesday, they will advance to Friday’s Division 1 Quarterfinals – which would be a great thing, but also create a big problem.
The Carefelles are scheduled to go on the choir’s season-ending trip to New York City this weekend, leaving Thursday night. While they were able to juggle lacrosse and theater all season, this weekend those two opportunities would be almost 800 miles apart.
“That would be a tough one,” Ezra admitted.
Historically, when you tell Ezra and Micah they can’t do something, they do it. So perhaps they will come up with something (i.e., fly out separately right after their lacrosse match and meet up with the choir group in NYC) to allow them to do both.
Sounds preposterous, but don’t put anything past the Carefelle boys.
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Micah Carefelle, left in his football jersey, and twin brother Ezra, right in his lacrosse jersey, pose for a photo at Sailor Stadium. (2) Ezra Carefelle, left, plays Troy Bolden, and Micah, right with dyed hair, plays Chad Danforth in the Mona Shores production of “High School Musical” in March. (3) Ezra Carefelle attacks during a recent lacrosse match. (4) Micah Carefelle hurdles a defender during a football game against Byron Center last fall. (Top photo by Joe Lane. Theater photo by Neeve Callaghan. Lacrosse/football action photos by Eric Sturr.)