April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL, TROY
CCHS coach isn't sidelined yet
He's so passionate about the importance of athletics in education that when he and his wife winter in Florida, he attends high-school sporting events there, too.
"It gives the student a chance to see you in a different light, something besides the formal classroom," he said of participating in school sports. "It lets them understand that you're a normal person. It teaches them independence, gives them a chance to work with kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds and teaches them how to work together with others for a common purpose.
"They become more relaxed with you and more prone to open up to you," he continued. "Kids have a tendency to keep it all in and bottle it up."
Catholic education
Mr. Gilligan is a Cohoes native who attended Catholic schools, including the former St. Agnes School, as well as LaSalle Institute in Troy. He earned a history degree in 1968 from Siena College in Loudonville.
He says Catholic schools "instill a lot of values in you that you keep throughout life. There's a real emphasis on social justice, and the schools have maintained that over the years."
His experience at LaSalle made going into education himself a no-brainer: "My teachers had a tremendous influence. They were there well beyond the classroom. They had great relationships with the students. Any time that you had a problem, you were never afraid to sit down with them one-on-one. It was a special thing, and I wanted to do that."
Mr. Gilligan's teaching career started in 1968 at St. Colman's Home in Watervliet, where he had met his wife, Rose, when he was a counselor and she was a resident. He then taught for a few years at public schools and for one year at St. Mary's School in Ballston Spa before landing a position at CCHS, where he stayed for 31 years.
Many of those years included coaching - girls' cross country, basketball, softball, track and field, and soccer, and co-ed golf - or leading the athletic department.
Coaching the coach
Mr. Gilligan had run cross country and played baseball and basketball as a teenager, but there was a learning curve to coaching. When CCHS started a girls' soccer team in the late '80s, for instance, "I got films from another coach and watched them all summer," he said. "It was all in German."
He helped the girls nab a championship and then relinquished soccer when he realized the athletes' skill level had surpassed his coaching abilities. He always enjoyed coaching girls, especially during a decade when girls' sports were growing in popularity and acceptance.
"Girls are always looking to learn," Mr. Gilligan said, adding that, in the beginning, girls' games were officiated with different rules than boys'. "Their skill level has just come so far. They still seem to be so determined to get better."
Being a presence outside of the classroom was important to Mr. Gilligan, who remembers what his hiring principal, Rev. Dominic Ingemie, told him: "He said he wanted to hire somebody who wouldn't just be an 8-to-3 person. I've always tried to live up to that."
He sees teaching and coaching as "having the opportunity to help kids grow up, develop, to become better citizens. You see them years after they graduated and they're being successful. I've had kids say, 'Boy, if it wasn't for you...,' and it really makes you feel good. I don't think we realize as teachers what kind of an impact we have on kids."
Family matters
Mr. and Mrs. Gilligan have six children and six grandchildren. Mr. Gilligan taught five of his children at CCHS.
"I think it was a lot easier for me than it was for them. I'm sure they were getting pressure at times to find out what the test was. There were times they would have me drop them off a couple blocks from school," he said with a laugh.
Mr. Gilligan also coached some of his daughters in soccer and basketball. "You try to be so careful that you're not favoring that you actually end up being tougher on them," he said; but "it was kind of fun to have your daughter on a team."
The Gilligans attend Transfiguration parish in Speigletown/ Schaghticoke when they're not in Florida. He says faith got him through financial anxieties and other stressors associated with raising a family, and that Mrs. Gilligan was a "pillar. She believed so strongly in family that she did whatever to keep my spirits up and keep the kids in line."
In Florida, Mr. Gilligan plays golf, enjoys the beach and watches baseball spring training and exhibition games. He looks back on his career with appreciation.
"My years at Catholic Central were just so special," he said. "It's a family, not just a school."[[In-content Ad]]
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
Events
250 X 250 AD
Comments:
You must login to comment.