New Shrine AD Tim Dobrzeniecki Sets Vision and Goals

will have a familiar face in a new position this fall.

Tim Dobrzeniecki is the new athletic director for the private Catholic high school. Taking over for the retiring Pete Donaldson, Dobrzeniecki "unofficially" started tackling projects this past spring in hiring new coaches, getting the entire Shrine educational system working together with athletics and developing a vision for the program.

The graduate of Brother Rice high school and Grand Valley State University who also has a Masters from Michigan State Univeristy has been working at Shrine as a teacher, so he already knows many of the students and coaches he'll be overseeing.

Background and vision were key in the hiring process

"I was Catholic schooled and raised K through 12 and I've been teaching here," he said. "So I got 'it.' And I really like the atmosphere."

For the past three years, Dobrzeniecki has been an assistant varsity football coach and has been head golf coach for the past two years. Some of his first decisions in moving from the sidelines have been filling coaching vacancies for boys basketball and baseball. Dan Noble, a Shrine alum, took over the baseball team this past season.

"He played football, basketball and baseball at Shrine, then went on to pitch at MSU for four years," Dobrzeniecki said. "He has been an assistant on the football team for four years and this is his first year as a baseball coach. He has included some other Shrine grads on his staff."

Joe Jolet is choice to lead boys basketball

"He had been coaching at the varsity level for four years, and came over from Lamphere," the new AD said. "He was raised in Catholic schools and was very eager to get back into the Catholic league. He brings an assistant with him and will be keeping an assistant from last year's varsity staff."

Dobrzeniecki said he knows Jolet has talent to work with on the hardwood.

"We have a young and talented team coming back, and he looks forward to spending some time this summer working with the athletes towards a Catholic League Championship," Dobrzeniecki said.

The integration philosophy

Amongst his many tasks, the new AD is working to get each Shrine school athletic program "on the same page" to get everyone working together. Dobrzeniecki refers to the effort as "athletic integration."

"Athletic integration is a movement to organize all of our sports, boys and girls, from the grade school to the academy and the high school as one combined parish-wide program," he said.

"The three athletic directors (grade school, academy and high school) all work together for the same goals. The head varsity coach in each sport is the 'chairperson' of that sport for the school and helps the other coaches create a cohesive plan for achievement at each level for the athlete, while following the mission of our school."

Dobrzeniecki said teaching fundamentals and offenses are integral in building a stronger program.

"A fifth and sixth grader will learn a bounce pass and a chest pass and how to dribble so when they are a seventh and eighth grader they can shoot a layup with both hands and they are ready to compete," he said.

Goals are part of the vision

Dobrzeniecki has outlined several short- and long-term goals. Among them:

• Handbooks: "The first is to finish our athletic integration and publish the new athletes' handbook," he said. "I am also working to complete a coaches' handbook, something we have not used in the past. This will help me, the coaches and the staff understand expectations each year."
• Connecting with alumni: "We have never had a program that reaches out to our recent grad, other than the homecoming game," he said. "This year I am sending out an alumni card to this year's class and the last three classes. This will provide them free admission to any of our home games. I really hope to bridge the 'school spirit' gap between the current high school students and the working professional graduates who give back to the school. We always love to have our graduates come back to the school, and now the college students can see a game for free."
• Using social media: Working with new technology will be key for Dobrzeniecki as he envisions using social media, including posting a brief synopsis of games on the school's Facebook page.

Community reaction

Track and cross country coach Wright Wilson said he knows the school's athletic program leadership is in good hands.

"Although Pete Donaldson is hard to replace, Tim brings a fresh approach to our athletic department," Wilson said. "He truly sees the opportunity to move our program forward, just like he's done while coaching the Shrine golf team. He will do just fine leading the Knight athletics."

Parents of current Shrine athletes are happy with the selection as well. Michele Baltrusaitis said she believes the new AD will continue Shrine sporting excellence.

"The kids all know him because he's a current teacher," she said. "I don't know much about his leadership, but I know he does relate to the kids and that is positive."