There are TWO reasons the Journalism staff chose to do an article on one of sixth grade’s most beloved teachers here at NMS, and that is the one and only Mr. Havrilla. The first suggestion came from our website where we ask for story ideas to be posted on a Google form. One of our students, JD Holloway, posted an idea and asked if we could do a story on Mr. Havrilla. So, we took that into consideration and put it on the “back burner,” so-to-speak for a while. Then a few weeks later, Mrs. Ciminero said we should do an article on Mr. Havrilla because she was watching the Canfield Cardinals play Chaney in football on television, and one of the announcers mentioned Mr. Havrilla being a Chaney Cowboy superstar. “I was just sitting on my recliner watching the game, eating my dinner, and low and behold, I heard the announcers mention Richard Havrilla (often referred to as Rick) and how good of a player he was at Chaney, and I said, ‘Hey, I know him.’” So, that following Monday, Mrs. Ciminero gave us the task to investigate Mr. Rick Havrilla further because if she wanted to know why those announcers would pay him such a great compliment; well, then everyone here would want to know as well.
So, without further ado … Let’s meet Mr. Rick Havrilla and find out why he is such a superstar! As Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music, “Let’s start from the very beginning.”
In his youth, Mr. Havrilla attended Byzantine Catholic in Youngstown, Ohio. At the age of five, he started playing baseball for the little league team, Mill Creek Junior Baseball. While playing in grade school, his love for the sport began to grow. He then attended Chaney High school where his talent and love for baseball really took off. And let’s talk about the fact that Mr. Havrilla was an all-around student athlete. He participated in three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. Of course, baseball was and currently is his favorite sport. He mainly played shortstop and pitcher and when you are good at something and you know it, well, you stick with it. And he did just that.
During his senior year, he and his baseball team went to the playoffs. Anyone in sports knows that is an honor and indicative of a really productive season. Call it a goal for every athlete on the planet! Chaney though unfortunately lost, and everyone who plays sports knows how devastating it feels to not succeed. But that didn’t discourage him. He still progressed with even more passion. He was awarded ten letters in those sports: Two in football, four in basketball, and four in baseball. Talk about the All American young man! Although his team lost during the playoffs, he was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to the White House and meet the president of 1990—George W. Bush. He was also alongside the all-star World Series Champions, the Cincinnati Reds! He then graduated from Chaney High School in 1993 with an outstanding achievement of having a 3.4 GPA, and received a partial scholarship to Youngstown State University (YSU). Because of his grit and dedication, Mr. Havrilla is in Chaney High School’s Hall of Fame. And that in and of itself, is an accomplishment that will last forever when his name is looked upon by all.
Mr. Havrilla still played baseball during college and fantasized occasionally about playing professionally. But, he mentioned that he didn’t meet the “pro baseball” standards. He stated, “I wanted to play pro ball but I realized I wasn’t good enough. I was an excellent player, just not good enough to make it big.” He played baseball for the Penguins for four years while also working on his major–elementary education. He graduated in 1998 with his Bachelor’s degree in one hand and a baseball in the other.
Ready to coach, Mr. Havrilla? Oh ya, you are! He reflected, “I wanted to share my passion for baseball with other kids—and I wanted to stay around the game longer.” He first started coaching in 1998 at his alma mater, Chaney High School. A few years later, he decided to coach in the school district he was teaching in; Niles McKinley, and most recently retiring from coaching in Canfield. While he coached, he taught his team the skills that he learned during his time playing. Along with coaching his team, he learned new skills from the boys as well. That’s the true sign of a great teacher coach. Not only do they impart their wisdom of the game, but they are open to learning new ideas and concepts from their students and players too. While playing baseball, Mr. Havrilla’s favorite part was traveling. He was able to play everywhere around the country and not just other local schools.
Although Mr. Havrilla loved coaching, there were some obstacles within the coaching part of the game. He struggled with trying to find what works best for each individual player. He claims, “Kids have summer coaches, private instructors, and are told so many different concepts of hitting, pitching, and fielding that it is difficult to find what works best.” Even though there were challenges, he still worked his hardest to be the best coach possible. With his great coaching tactics, his team was led to many victories. In fact, while he was in Canfield, his boys won 24 games that season.
As for teaching and his education career, Mr. Havrilla has been here at Niles Middle School for 27 years. He is really one of the best Language Arts/History teachers we have and so many of his students just love him. But he is not the only teacher with a baseball background. Interestingly enough, Mr. Havrilla played against Mr. Mike and T.C. Guarneri while they attended Niles McKinley. Who would have known that they would all become not just great friends, but colleagues as well!
Mr. Havrilla has passed his passion for the game and athletics down to his family. He has two sons who are involved with baseball as well. His oldest son, Ricky is a baseball coach at Tiffin University. His youngest son, AJ attends Marshall University where he too continues his love of the game and plays for them as well. He also has a daughter, Nina, who is a Varsity cheerleader for the Canfield Cardinals.
Currently, Mr. Havrilla lives in Canfield, Ohio with his family and his loving wife, Stephanie. They have been married for 25 years. He claims he is on a “pause” from teaching high school baseball, but he is currently coaching a summer baseball team, the Astro Falcons, an amateur, Class B baseball team. Additionally, in 2023, Coach Harvilla took his Youngstown All Star team to Texas to compete in a game, and they won the Palomino World Series, beating Mexico!
In his spare time, Mr. Havrilla likes to take his dogs Benny and Gready on long walks around his neighborhood and he even found a new sport other than baseball–golf. He says, “I certainly don’t play enough of it, but I think I’m pretty average.” He also likes to binge on the Netflix show, “Peaky Blinders”; a story of a gangster family set in the 1900s. By far though, he loves that he has the time to now watch his children live their lives and take and relive his sports’ great memories through the eyes of his kids. All we can say is they certainly have such a great role model cheering them on in the stands and knowing their father is always there for them in both sports and life and love. Your whole family and your family here at NMS is lucky to have you, Mr. Havrilla!