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High School Football

School districts have long sought financial support for scholastic programs, and high school football teams have long relied on this type of outside help to fund the equipment and travel inherent in the program. But Bryan Stortz, now in his third year as head coach of the Lake Zurich Bears, is proudest of all of the support the community offers the teams, and not just financial, saying, “I think Lake Zurich football is one of the finest programs in the state because of all the support from the community, the parents, the students and the administration.”

Of course, the financial aspect is important. As with many other school activities, the Lake Zurich High School (LZHS) football program receives a set amount of funding from the district. The school has an athletic booster club, but the football program also boasts a separate parent group, the Quarterback Club, which holds two major fund-raisers each year—a golf outing and a silent auction. Through their efforts, the program is able to provide things outside of the school budget, such as the recent acquisition of video editing equipment that would have consumed the entire district allotment for the year.

Stortz takes the idea of teamwork to another level as well, reaching out to other members of the school’s faculty, enlisting their efforts and creating a program that gives a sense of ownership to the entire high school family.

Dave Antczak, current president of the Quarterback Club, credits Coach Stortz with doing a monumental job of creating the current program in an amazingly short time. Three years ago, the school’s athletic director, head coach, and two team coaches left to join other school districts. Stortz, a long-time member of the coaching staff, was promoted to head coach and given the task of rebuilding a seemingly decimated program.

Since Stortz took over as head coach, the Lake Zurich program has gone to State twice, in 2007 winning the Division 7A State Championship—the school’s first such award. Antczak says “He basically had to start over, and to turn it around in that short of a time is tremendous.”

Stortz credits his coaching staff of 16, including several volunteers, with the success of the program, which includes Freshmen, Sophomore and Junior Varsity teams as well as Varsity teams. Last season, 216 students participated, about 10 percent of the LZHS student body.

Community support for the Lake Zurich football extends beyond the financial. A separate youth development league called “Flames” operates in the town, working with younger students from several area schools. The organization works to provide those children with football experience, and Stortz sees this as having a powerful, positive impact on the players when they reach high school.

That impact can be seen all over the community. Football Friday evenings in Lake Zurich carry an almost palpable excitement, with banners and painted store windows, and a standing-room-only crowd at the football field. Stortz remembers, “Last season the students attending the games decided to dress all in white.” He laughs, “Each game had more and more students dressed in white as the season went on. It was a powerful statement of pride.”

And pride is what it’s all about for Stortz. He is justifiably proud of the program, but his greatest pride is in the students. “Our players are obviously a talented group, but they work hard, and they live up to the high expectations that we put on them,” he says. “We’re doing more than just producing successful football games, we’re producing successful people.”