New Lacrosse Coach/Principal Glad to be Closer to Home

Chris Raichle remembers a lot of hectic days.

"I'd go to work in Tinton Falls, then rush home to Toms River to get the kids, then have to get back to Shore (Regional) for practice," said Raichle, the newly hired girls lacrosse coach at Central Regional High School and principal of Seaside Heights Elementary School.

It was a schedule that was rough on him, but more importantly, tough on his family.

And when he was approached about leaving Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch to bring his coaching talents to Berkeley Township, Raichle didn't hesitate.

The opportunity to be closer to his family was the prime reason for leaving behind a program that he had coached to national recognition.

Especially daughter Payton, 7, who had four brain surgeries last year in an effort to eliminate the epileptic seizures she'd been suffering since she was very young.

"I spent three months at the hospital last year," Raichle said.

Raichle had been the principal at the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission's BEST Academy in Tinton Falls, which serves classified students in grades 6 through 12.

He will have his challenges in Seaside Heights. He takes over at a school that has a significant transient population. 

It also has some excellent programs in place, he noted, including a summer enrichment program that aims to help students improve their language arts and math skills.

Just days after taking over as principal, Raichle stood on the beach in Seaside Heights, talking about the change he's made in his life.

Hewatched students from his new school learning to surf and playing in the ocean, some of them for the first time in their lives, on a field trip that was a reward for the hard work they've been doing.

"They've got great teachers," he said.

He praised the staff at Seaside Heights for their effort that makes the program run each weekday, 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The summer program, now in its fifth year, has 32 students this year, said Susan Nolan and Kathy Gottshall, two of the program's teachers.

"They look forward to it every year," Nolan said. "Our sixth-graders (who graduate) want to come back."

"They've got great teachers," Raichle said, who is still getting to know the school and its staff. "I'm just getting my feet wet." 

Soon he was getting his entire body wet. The 1988 Toms River East graduate and longtime surfer jumped into the water with a board to tow one of his new charges out into the water, where they waited for a wave to ride.

The surfing program was part of X Camp, run by Raichle's friend, Joe Chiarella, who's been operating the camp for 15 years, and who donated three hours of his time to teach the youngsters who were able to swim. Students who were unable to swim played in the surf as the waves rolled up the sand, shrieking in delight as the water lapped their feet.

"This is an opportunity for these kids to do something they've never done before," Raichle said. "These kids live just a couple of blocks from here, and some have never been to the beach."

As Raichle continues to settle in at his new school, he will also begin building the girls lacrosse program at Central Regional.

It's not an unfamiliar task.

When he began coaching at Shore Regional in 2000, he had to build the program there, a process that took two or three years, he said.

But ultimately that led to his teams winning five straight NJSIAA sectional titles from 2005 through 2009 and eight Shore Conference Tournament titles within 10 years. 

"We were privileged to have many great athletes come through that school," he said.

He hopes the same will occur at Central.

"It's a great opportunity, one where I can start a feeder program," Raichle said. Berkeley Township currently does not have a youth lacrosse program, so in that regard it will be starting from scratch. "I'm looking forward to it."

He also plans to begin a foundation to help children with life-threatening illnesses, sparked by his experiences with Payton's treatment.

Payton was a baby when she first began having seizures, said Raichle, who also has a son, Evan, 12. Both children are from his first marriage.

Payton was seen by doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, at Hackensack University Medical Center, and then at New York University Medical Center.

A new surgical treatment became available, where the area of the brain where the seizures originate is removed. Not every person with epilepsy is eligible for the surgery, Raichle said, but Payton was a perfect match for it.

It took four surgeries and three months in the hospital, but she has now been seizure-free for seven months.

While she was undergoing treatment -- sitting in the hospital hooked up to  equipment to monitor her brain activity while she recovered from the surgery -- there was little Payton could do, Raichle said.

Playing on an iPad was her main form of entertainment, and it got her through many long days, he said.

Raichle's goal for the foundation - which he plans to name "Play for Payton," - is to provide iPads to other children who are stuck in the hospital, unable to do much except sit in bed.

"After what I sat through, and the kids I saw at NYU, I want to do something to help them," he said.

Just one more reason for being closer to home.