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SUMMER SPOTLIGHT      

  

 THIS WEEK – MIKE CARTOLARO

He was ten years old when his

best friend beat him in a one on one basketball game. 

He wanted to return the favor so he started playing basketball a lot,

after starting out playing football and baseball, two sports he loved. 

This summer’s final spotlight is on AHS head basketball coach Mike

Cartolaro. 

“I started playing basketball

a lot when I was ten,” Cartolaro would say about his basketball beginnings. 

“That’s when I got serious about it and then wanted to play,” he

would add about his start in basketball.  “I

played at Parry McCluer HS, which is a Group A school like AHS. 

I’d like to think I was a hustler who played hard. 

I had a disciplined oriented coach (Coach Crawford) who demanded you

listened to everything he said.  I

played both the point guard and shooting guard positions. 

We had a good team my junior year in high school in which we went to the

final four and lost to J.J. Kelly in

Charlottesville

in 5 overtimes in 1977.  Coach

Crawford molded me through defense with a defense first approach, and my two

college coaches, coach Ed Green at

Roanoke

College

and coach Johnson at Emory and Henry emphasized defense. 

We needed and must have it,” Cartolaro would say about his playing

ability and how that has shaped his coaching philosophy. 

Cartolaro’s coaching career

actually started while he was a student in college. 

“Coach Johnson asked me to be an assistant and felt like I’d be a

good coach.  So I stopped playing at

Emory and Henry and began as an assistant in 1981-82 as a student assistant

coach.  After college I started as a

JV assistant with Ervinton HS in ’83-84.  I

then was at Orange County from 1984 to 1990, as a JV coach the first two years,

a varsity assistant from ’86-87, and got my first varsity head coaching job

their in the ’87-88 campaign.  After

three years, I was head coach at Monacan HS in

Richmond

from ’90-91, then coached at

Bristol

,

VA

high from ’91-94.  I was also the

athletic director along with being the basketball coach there, and have coached

at AHS from ’94 to the present day,” Cartolaro would say about his coaching

start and experience. 

Game experience is what

Cartolaro says you learn from.  “There

is no replacement for game experience.  Being

involved in a number of games and wisdom gained from experience is important. 

There is nothing like experience, from my first year to the present,”

Cartolaro would say when asked what he’s learned from coaching over the years. 

He also brings a business like

approach to coaching and in his relationship with his players. 

“My relationship with my players is businesslike, but they also know I

will do anything to help them.  We

try to do well in both school and basketball, and we attempt to better them in

those regards.  My approach is to

strive and do things the right way, both in practice and at school, giving them

guidance.  The discipline is there,

but so is the pat on the back or a handshake when they do something right. 

It’s a firm but fair approach,” Cartolaro described as his

relationship with his players. 

Defense is obviously his

prevailing philosophy that was instilled in him as a player. 

“Defense and taking care of the ball. 

A heavy emphasis on defense.  Defense

and more defense.  Offensively,

we’re a free wheeling group.  We

work hard on shooting, and if we have a shot, we put it up. 

Fundamentals and defense will win, and that’s the bottom line,” he

said when describing his coaching philosophy. 

When asked what he thought the most important quality a head coach should

have, he said, “Consistency.  Especially

with your practices.  You can’t do

one thing one day and something else the next. 

Be consistent with what you’re doing in practice, and pay attention to

details, and let it be known to the kids.”

When asked about differences

between assistant and head coaches, he said, “Another set of eyes. 

You can’t see everything.  Assistants

know the philosophy of what’s going on.  Staffs

need to work together and with one another. 

The philosophy may have differences, but assistant coaches should not be

opposed to saying something.  I’ve

got a great staff with Jerry Rice, Brian Freeland, and Terry Brown, and I feel

blessed with the guys I have to work with.  The

direction of the program lies with the head coach.” 

His only coaching goals are to

get his players to achieve at least to their potential. 

“You want to get them to play at the level they are capable of, and

even beyond that, or overachieving.  When

you can win games that others think you can’t, that’s a very gratifying

feeling,” Cartolaro would add about his coaching goals. 

Cartolaro acknowledged his

parents and coaches Crawford, Green, and Johnson for his success. 

My father Tony and my late mother Polly were a stabilizing and positive

influence on my upbringing, and I’d like to thank them. 

Coach Crawford was my high school coach who has actually watched us play

two years ago against

Franklin

and last year against Luray and has spoken to both teams. 

Coach Green had me my first year in college at Roanoke College and is now

coaching again at East Montgomery HS, and coach Johnson was my coach at Emory

& Henry and gave me my start in coaching.” 

In closing, it was an honor to

do this interview with a man I have a tremendous amount of respect and

admiration for and hope he’s at AHS for many more years to come.   

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