Former coach at St. Jude Joliet honored at final home basketball game

A very special guest sat in the crowd at the final home basketball game of a school in the Diocese of Joliet.

Bob Long, 98, of Joliet, coached at the start of the athletic program of St. Jude Catholic School in Joliet and was coach of the class of 1970 boys team at the school.

And Long, also a long-time parishioner of St. Jude Catholic Church in Joliet, was sitting in the school gym on Feb. 15 for St. Jude’s final home basketball game, so all the eighth grade basketball players could shake his hand that night.

“Our kids shook Mr. Long’s hand and thanked him for all the groundwork he had laid before Saint Jude even had a gym,” Bob Tyrell, principal at S, Jude Catholic School, said. “He was instrumental in coaching for close to 30 years. We were very thankful for all he had done for St. Jude. He was a great coach and a very hardworking man.”

Long was overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised with the recognition.

“I didn’t know they had a party,” Long said. “I didn’t know they had a game. It was just a total shock. But I was very honored and humbled by the people from long ago that I ran into and, maybe, I coached somewhere along the line.”

Approximately 500 people came out for the last game. This included alumni, parents of alumni and former teachers, Tyrell said.

Shawn Giffin, St. Jude Catholic School athletic director, and his wife Alicia Giffin, a member of the athletic board, coordinated the event, which included a hallway filled with 70 years of photos and newspaper clippings.

“We thought it was important for the kids to see where it all started,” Tyrell said. “It was a really nice night.”

Shawn Giffin said St. Jude Catholic School has a rich, multi-sport tradition: basketball, football, baseball, volleyball and flag football. He said it was fun to share how the St. Jude flyers were born.

In 1954, St. Jude Catholic Church pastor Rev. Peter Seidl asked Bob Long to coach a basketball team at St. Jude Catholic School, Shawn Giffin said.

Long, in turn, reached out to then Lewis University coach Gordie Gillespie (deceased) to see if the Romeoville university had uniforms the St. Jude team could use during its first season, Shawn Giffin said.

The athletic teams at Lewis University are also known as the Flyers.

“And that’s how the flyers mascot came out,” Shawn Giffin said.

With St. Jude Catholic School closing at the end of the school year, one might think the mood was grim and somber at the final home basketball game. But that wasn’t the case at all.

“We thought it was important for the kids to see where it all started.”

—  Bob Tyrell, principal, St. Jude Catholic School, Joliet

“I think the biggest takeaway, for us was what a celebration it was,” Alicia Giffin said. “We all thought we would see lot of tears that night.”

She said she saw plenty of smiles as people shared their memories.

“I really can’t convey in words what a wonderful night it was for us,” Alicia Giffin said.