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Only one thing could have made this year's season better for the coach
of Safety Harbor Middle School's championship boy's basketball team --
the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the Super Bowl.
You have to understand that Coach Walter Jablonski, best known as Coach
Jabo, is a lifelong fan of the NFL Champions. Any visitor to Coach
Jabo's office will be reminded of his Pittsburgh heritage. His passion
for the Steelers may be challenged only by the love of his basketball
teams.
Like the Steelers, Coach Jabo has a winning record -- again. The boy's
basketball team he coaches at SHMS has not lost a game in the last two
years. It has won the Northern Division Championship three years in a
row with a record of 33-1 and is undefeated at home in that three-year
span.
Coach Jabo completed his 25th year of coaching basketball at SHMS this
season with a record of 12 championships, 218 wins and 66 losses. In
his 25 years at the school, he has had losing seasons only twice. Not
surprisingly, a number of his players have gone on to outstanding
careers in college and even professional basketball, including
well-known local natives Matt Geiger and Andy DeKlerk.
In his office, along with the mementos of a long and successful career,
are file cabinets with detailed notes on the performance of each of his
players in each of their games.
"We videotape our games," he noted. "The kids come in the next morning and can watch how many rebounds they got."
Players can review and critique their performance and improve their games.
"Some high schools don't have a tape system like this," Coach Jabo
said. " We keep very accurate statistics, we film all of our games, do
film study to correct problems, and help us improve as the season
progresses."
After 25 years, Coach Jabo is turning over some of the responsibility
to his longtime assistant, Matt Maurer. He now will be the quality
control coach while Maurer, who has been coaching for four years, will
take over on the sidelines as game coach.
Coach Jabo also gives credit to volunteer coach Matt Bell, a former
player who holds the school record for most points in a game -- 28.
Bell, who went to high school at Clearwater Central Catholic High
School, has come back to SHMS each of the last four years to help coach
while going to college.
Records such as the one held by Bell are posted in a permanent display
case outside the school's gymnasium. Aspiring basketball players each
day can walk by and be reminded of the goals they have to set to see
their name posted. Records include that of Julian Maskel, the only
middle school student to have dunked a basketball during a game.
"It all comes down to hard work and the fundamentals," Coach Jabo said. "No other middle school has a record like this."
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