Steve Messina gives the signs from the third-base coaching box in this file photo. Messina and three other Mount Greylock coaches will be recipients of the Frank A. Zoltek Award.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Western Massachusetts final, a state final and a state championship — those were the accomplishments in the 2014-15 school year alone for a quartet of Mount Greylock Regional School coaches to be honored this coming Sunday.
But a recent graduate who played for two of the four said those achievements only tell part of he story.
"The win-loss records speak for themselves, but it is so much more than that," 2015 graduate Eric Hirsch said. "I know from my own experience and that of teammates older than me and younger than me that once your careers are finished in those sports, you wish you could go back."
Hirsch was a standout on the field for the Mounties under boys soccer coach Blair Dils and baseball coach Steve Messina. Those two, along with boys and girls cross country ski coaches Hiram and Hilary Greene, will be recognized on Sunday as recipients of the ninth annual Frank A. Zoltek Passion for Coaching Award.
The award will be presented during a dinner at Waubeeka Golf Links after a day that begins with the Frank Zoltek Memorial Tournament at 11:30 a.m. The entry free, which includes lunch and dinner, is $80 ($60 for Waubeeka members).
Zoltek was a coaching legend in Berkshire County, leading the boys basketball teams at St. Joseph, Drury and the former North Adams State College (now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) and serving as an assistant men's basketball coach at Williams College.
Past recipients of the award named for Zoltek include a trio of Mount Greylock varsity coaches: wrestling's Ray Miro (2008), girls basketball's Paul Barrett (2010) and football's Shawn Flaherty (2013).
This year marks the first time four coaches have received the award in one year, let alone four from the same school.
Each is among the longest tenured and most successful coaches in their respective sport in Northern Berkshire County.
Dils is entering his 17th year on the soccer pitch and took the Mounties to a state title in 2008. Messina has coached baseball at Mount Greylock since 1991. The father-daughter tandem of Hiram and Hilary Greene have made contending for state championships an annual occurrence at Mount Greylock, where his boys have won five straight state crowns and the girls have five titles to their credit.
Hirsch went to the last two Western Mass finals in soccer with Dils and the state final last spring with Messina. But it is not just those achievements that come to mind when the Williams College freshman talks about his former coaches.
"They turned those programs into winning programs but programs that allowed us to have a ton of fun at the same time," Hirsch said. "There's not going to be a coach out there that some player here or there won't have a problem with. But with those two, you're going to find a high percentage of kids absolutely love them.
"They're both these super intense coaches, but at the same time they're very approachable and easy to talk to."
And when the talk turns to Xs and Os, both Dils and Messina have a lot to say.
"Obviously they have a ton of experience," Hirsch said. "Both were college players in their respective sports.
"In practice, coach Messina taught our team small baseball things that really gave us an advantage over other teams. On the bases, our team is smart when it comes to taking extra bases. The same thing gos with Coach Dils as far as soccer technical knowledge. I always felt on those teams that we were a step ahead technically.
"In baseball last spring, our record in close games was something like 8-2. Little things decide those games. A ton of credit goes to Coach Messina for that."
To register for Sunday's golf tournament or attend the awards dinner ($25 for the dinner only), contact Ed Noel at 664-6013 or enoel43@verizon.net.
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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
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