The

Ronald J.

Pavlechko Coaching Excellence Fund


The Ronald J. Pavlechko

Coaching Excellence Fund

The Ronald J. Pavlechko Coaching Excellence Fund was established by former student-athletes who played on teams coached by Ron Pavlechko. The Pavlechko fund supports annual grants made at the discretion of the State High Athletic Director for professional education of coaches within the Junior or Senior High School coaching staffs within the State College Area School District (SCASD).

These awards are intended to recognize the contributions made to the State College community by Coach Pavlechko and to encourage our current generation of coaches to pursue excellence in coaching. Coach Pavlechko was a special man who dedicated his life to educating youth in the State College community. He exhibited class and dignity in all he did. Pavlechko Fund award receipts are encouraged to emulate Coach Pavlechko’s most enduring traits.

  • Caring: Demonstrate genuine interest in building strong interpersonal relationships with players.

  • Character: Success in demanding players demonstrate high character and sportsmanship.

  • Competitiveness: Continuous progress in improving the quality of the program for a given sport as evidenced by

improved competitive success.

  • Commitment: Unwavering dedication to the coaching profession and commitment to continuous improvement.

  • Teaching: Relentless focus on teaching players core fundamentals.


Purpose

This fund is being established in March of 2021 to honor the memory of Coach Ronald Pavlechko and to promote coaching excellence within the State College Area School District by funding professional education for District coaches each year.


    1. Said professional development is for expenses related to coaching courses, clinics or travel to coach at a college camp or to attend virtual education sessions on a given sport.

    2. Alternatively, the Athletic Director may choose to use the funding to allow several coaches to host a guest speaker/educator on leadership or coaching excellence in a given sport.

It is expected that the SCASD Athletics Director will award funds annually. He or she can do so by themselves or with a selection committee. And, he or she may seek applications or proactively choose worthy award recipients.


    1. It is expected that distributions sum total a minimum of $1,500 each year for the first five years, regardless of the total amount in the fund. Founders of this fund will ensure adequate funds exist for this initial five-year period.

    2. The Athletics Director may choose any number of recipients. For example, he/she may wish to award the given years allotment to two $750 recipients. Or, he/she may wish to award $150 grants to 10 worthy recipients.

    3. After the Athletics Director decides on award recipients, he/she will work with the Centre Foundation to direct funds to recipients.

Distributions & Awards

Caring


Character


Competitiveness


Commitment


Teaching



About Ronald J. Pavlechko:

Ron grew up in the Youngstown, Ohio area. He was a student athlete and played football at Penn State where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Secondary English Education and earned three varsity football letters. Ron later earned his master’s degree in Secondary Education in 1973 at Penn State.

Coach Pavlechko began work for the State College Area School District as an English teacher and assistant football coach in 1971. In 1977, he was named head football coach while he continued to teach. In 1996 he assumed the position of the school district's full-time Director of Athletics. Ron retired in 2011 after forty years of service to the district, including 25 years as an assistant or Head coach.

Coach Pav achieved impressive success during his coaching career. He served as an assistant under Coach Jim Williams during a time of great program success including a “mythical” state championship in 1973. As head coach, Coach Pavlechko’s 1981 team was undefeated and his 1992 team finished 3rd in the state. Many of Ron’s players advanced to play college at notable division 1, 2, and 3 programs including Penn State, Bucknell, the U.S. Naval Academy, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Harvard, to name a few.

During Ron’s leadership as athletic director the district’s sports programs grew and blossomed as the State College area’s population expanded. Ron was admired for his disciplined planning, the strong support and counsel he offered his coaches, and the class, integrity, and character with which he always represented the district.

This award was created by the SCASD along with former players and members of the Pavlechko family who all are interested in honoring Coach Pavlechko’s memory while encouraging and recognizing excellence amongst the dozens of dedicated coaches in the district who dedicate themselves to coaching young adults.

State College Head Football Coaches/ADs

Jim Williams, Ron Pavlechko, Matt Lintal, Dave Lintal, Al Wolski, Chris Weakland

Tributes to Ron Pavlechko

“Coach Pav challenged and encouraged me to get better and rewarded that effort with opportunity. Without his encouragement and support, I would not have had the opportunity to play football at Virginia Tech and achieve academic success. I am grateful for the life lessons that he imparted on me that I still use 40 years later as a Principal of a regional CPA firm. He was a great coach and an even better person”. - Tom Taricani


"Coach Pavlechko was an outstanding coach, teacher, mentor, friend and leader! I thoroughly enjoyed playing for him and am so grateful for all he did for me and so many others!" -Tim Scannell, ‘82

"I look forward to participating in honoring Coach Pav in some way, as fellow classmate John Hornyak said when I informed him of his passing 'e was truly a great man.'" - Kurt Bernier

"I am eternally grateful for having had the privilege to play for and learn from Coach Pav during my formative years. He was the epitome of what athletes call a “player’s coach.” And while he was a great coach, he was an even better person. Coach Pav’s passion for positively impacting the lives of his student-athletes off the field overshadowed his brilliance teaching football. Respect. Poise. Discipline. Integrity. Work Ethic. Compassion. Heart. Friendship. For me, those teachings from Coach Pav will forever be his legacy. For 3 years, I was fortunate to call him “Coach Pav.” But for 40+ years, I was blessed, privileged and honored to call him MY FRIEND." - Darryl Washington