‘It’s got to be over 40’: Hall of Fame coach Dom Silvaggio still can’t stay off the bench
Dom Silvaggio’s résumé speaks for itself. His passion for the game hasn’t faded either.
The 2018 Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame builder spent 34 years coaching high school basketball, almost all of it at General Amherst. His Bulldogs teams, mostly on the girls’ side, piled up:
26 WECSSAA/ECSSAA titles
13 SWOSSAA championships
10 OFSAA medals, five of them gold, including four straight from 2004 to 2007
More than 600 wins
A 152-4 record over his final 10 seasons
He also founded the Amherstburg Basketball Club and ran it for 22 years.
After retiring, Silvaggio never really left. He helped out as an assistant and filled in for a season. A couple of years ago, a former player who now teaches asked him to come back as head coach at North Star High School.
Asked how many years he’s been coaching in total, he isn’t sure. “It’s got to be over 40,” Said Silvaggio, now 70-years old.
The game has changed a lot in that time. Back in the day, he says, high school basketball was everything. School pride took precedent over all including travel/club ball, and the talent was so deep that he still uses it to motivate his players.
“I show the girls, like, from the past, our Olympic team that was in Brazil that was ranked fifth in the world,” he said. “Nine out of the 12 players on that team we played against and beat, you know, when we were in high school. That’s the caliber of ball back then, right?”
His old teams played tournaments almost every weekend. When a tournament wrapped up on a Saturday, the players wanted more.
“Those girls had asked me to take a practice on Sunday,” he said. Silvaggio would force them to take a breather. "You guys need a day off ok. It was that type of thing."
Today, it’s a different story. Some students are multi-sport athletes. There are other interests after school. Some practices draw only a handful of players, and with injuries and a short bench, his team has had to finish games short-handed.
“We’ve had we’ve had a couple games where we finished with five players,” Silvaggio said.
He knows today’s kids juggle jobs, other sports and everything else. Being old school, it frustrates him a little. “These kids that I have now don’t know how good they can be if they would just commit,” he said. “I’m the type of guy that likes total commitment.”
Having said that, he still enjoys teaching the game and appreciate the players he has the privilidge of coaching. He calls this group “just great kids” who thank him after every practice and every game.
He has won a lot but he understands winning has never been the only measure.
“As long as they’re giving the effort and come to practice and just try to improve every day, that’s what we’re looking for.” Silvaggio told PowerplayWindsor.com. "
The Wolves are in first place after Tuesday night's 40-26 win at Brennan. They've won five in a row and are 5-1 on the season.