Swick

CLARION — Joe Swick wasn't looking for a challenge. The challenge found him.

The 1974 East Brady High graduate and former Karns City softball coach recently was named head softball coach at Clarion University.

Swick, 53, hasn't been a head coach since he became Karns City's first softball coach nearly 10 years ago. He guided the Gremlins to an overall record of 18-2 and was voted conference coach of the year in 1999.

"I know the athletic director (Dave Katis) at Clarion pretty well," Swick said. "I was up in their gym playing basketball one day and bumped into him.

"Their previous coach (Nancy Smoose) stepped down during the summer and he asked me if I'd be interested in taking over.

"I guess (coaching) never does get out of your system," Swick added.

Swick began his coaching career in 1978 at East Brady. He coached girls basketball there for three years and was an assistant coach on the boys basketball team that won the 1980 Class A state championship.

After moving to Florida in 1986, Swick served as assistant softball and girls basketball coach at Boca Raton High School until 1989. He also coached softball at Florida Atlantic University and Rollins College while in Florida.

"I helped start the program, at Florida Atlantic," Swick said. "I was the first recruiting coordinator there."

Now, he has the challenge of recruiting players to a Clarion program that hasn't won at least 10 games in a season since 2004.

The Golden Eagles have lost 64 of 73 games over the past two years.

"I am excited to name Joe Swick as our new softball coach," Katis said in a prepared statement. "Joe has extensive coaching experience, has coached winning softball programs and shares our ideals of the student-athlete experience.

"Joe also knows the Western Pennsylvania area and I believe he will be a strong advocate and recruiter for the softball program."

The recruiting part will have to wait. Swick wasn't hired until late August, when the recruiting period had concluded.

"I got here and had eight practices with the team before our first game on the fall schedule," Swick said. "I'm trying to get a few more games scheduled this fall.

"There's a junior center fielder here from Brookville, Carlie Cook, who was all-conference last year. Half the girls on this roster are freshmen. We have a lot of work to do."

The Clarion softball post is a part-time job, allowing Swick to continue working as a substitute teacher, something he's been doing for 20 years.

"I feel like a dinosaur," he said of coaching. "One thing's for sure: Parents are much more on top of things in terms of their kids' sports than they used to be.

"I know softball fundamentals. The players here need discipline on the field. Missing the cutoff on throws, swinging at 2-0 pitches — that stuff will stop.

"Our immediate goal is to be competitive. We'll be better than last year, I know that much," Swick added.