Thirty in a Row

It’s hard to win anything 30 times in a row, let alone a specific game on a specific night. But for 30 straight years - his entire Lely coaching career - Lely High soccer coach Robbie Schank has emerged victorious on Senior Night. Schank wasn’t so sure he was going to keep the streak alive this year against a strong Riverdale team, Wednesday, January 17, at Trojan Stadium. At halftime, Lely held a tenuous 1-0 lead. But Schank’s team - featuring 12 seniors - put it together for their venerable coach, finishing with a convincing 5-0 win.

"This is not an easy game today for a senior night,” Schank said. "This is not the typical game. But you get what you get. You can't throw a fit. You've gotta win.”

Schank’s teams have done a lot of winning over his 30-year coaching career that started when he was just 19 years old. Schank played at Lely, graduating in 1993.

"I did,” he said proudly. “My senior year my social studies teacher approached me to coach Optimist Soccer.”

That’s all it took. Schank was hooked.

"That's where it all started,” he said. “The year after I graduated, my old club coach in high school, John Freshwater, recommended me for the Lely job.”

Freshwater was on hand Wednesday night to honor his protege. Schank’s Lely coach, Tommy Briscoe, would have been there, too, but he passed two years ago.

“He was here to see those regional championships,” Schank recalled wistfully. Schank led his Trojans to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2020 and 2021.

“I started coaching here in 1994,” Schank said. "A year after I graduated. So I really never left. Somehow, it's already been 30 years.”

Freshwater has vivid memories of a young Robbie Schank.

“We go back 32 years,” Freshwater said. "I was in charge of the Optimist program here in Naples. And Robbie was playing as a young kid. I nicknamed him the Greyhound because he was the fastest thing on two legs when he was a teenager. The principal at the time, Michelle Lugo, asked me to recommend somebody to take over. I said, “Oh, without a doubt, Robbie." And she said, 'But Robbie is only 19. He's the same age as the students.' And I said, ‘Well, trust me, he will be around for a long time.' And sure enough, 30 years later, he's still here."

Freshwater saw something in Schank as a teenager.

“Everybody liked him,” Freshwater said. “He just had that warm personality. And although he was only the same age as most of the students here, or just maybe a year older, I mean, everybody respected him. He was liked, and he was respected. And I knew that he could do the job. And it's proven to be so 30 years later."

It took Schank a while to build Lely into the solid program that it is today.

"I think they changed the mercy rule from ten goals to eight goals because of us,” Schank jokes. "It took a while to build the program, and that's what I wanted to do when I was in high school. There were only a couple of us that had played club soccer. I wanted to come back and build the program and make it a winning program because back then, it was just Naples and Barron Collier, and they were very dominant. We were the team that everybody wrote in as a W when I played. It's just a blessing that now the program is running full steam ahead and it's a very competitive program. We have a winning tradition now.”

It took Schank 10 years to win his first district championship.

“My first championship was in 2003,” he said, “And we went furthest in school history that year. Looking up in the stands, we had the stands full from all the way to the left and all the way to the right. And I looked up and I was like, ‘Wow, I've made it.’ Football coach Merv Ward and basketball coach Don Stewart and all the big-time names that I grew up respecting and loving and appreciating were in that crowd. They took the time to teach me at Lely High School. That's one memory I'll never forget. That was pretty special. Let alone my high school coaches, Tommy Briscoe and John Freshwater, all those guys. And principal Roy Terry."

Schank has also served as a firefighter for the past 30 years. In 2019, he received the Distinguished Public Service Award for firefighters in Collier County. 

"I won the award under the Naples City Chamber of Commerce,” Schank said. "That award was for mentoring. It was pretty special because I’ve sent over 30 guys to the fire service now that I've coached. They trust me, and I give them recommendations on who I see coming up through who could be a valuable asset to our fire service. And they hire them. I got a firefighter award for mentoring over 2,000 kids now. So, I don't just coach soccer. I coach about life.”

Schank sees a lot in his role as a firefighter.

“Unfortunately, I see a lot of bad calls in the emergency services,” he said. "And I teach them. You've got to treat every day as your last day and appreciate what you have and hold on to it. I teach mostly about life. These kids can play soccer. I give a lot of credit to all the youth soccer coaches. They're the ones that get these kids ready. I just come up here and manage them.”

Schank has won a bundle of district championships to go along with his two Final Four appearances, but he doesn’t hesitate when asked to name his top accomplishment as a soccer coach.

"I would say coaching my little brother and sister. I coached my brother from first grade through high school. I coached Mikey, and he got to be my captain. We got to work hand in hand together. We’ve really kept that bond and that strength of family together. My little sister was also my manager when we won the championship in 2003. Another special thing was having my brother and my little sister with me on the sidelines.”

“He has over 500 wins,” said Madison Squeglia, Lely’s new athletic director. "The boys truly buy into how much he cares. It's one thing that he's so knowledgeable about the game, but he truly cares about each one of these boys. He's a coach on and off the field in every sense of the word. If there's an issue that they're going through as they're growing up as teenagers, he makes sure that he is supporting them in every way possible. And it's a true testament when you see the alumni come back and interact with him. It’s truly amazing to see everyone come back and rally around someone who’s had such an influence on them. I think a lot of that comes from his work in the firehouse and his ability to lead the men there, but also just the caring side of it, the empathy you have to have as a firefighter and the strength and emotion and everything. He presents that into the boys in such a great way that they are truly successful, on and off the field, in every aspect."

"I've been in 12 different championships,” Schank said. “My greatest accomplishment is making it to the state semifinals in 2020 and 2021. That really put us on the map statewide. We lost both of those games in overtime, and we were the only public school left, the others were all private.”

Schank said it’s hard to beat the big private schools, which have built-in advantages.

“They can recruit and we can’t,” he said. “Not just the local area, they can recruit around the state and out of the country. We get what we get."

Schank is proud that Lely has earned everything they’ve gotten.

"I would never want to buy my trophy,” he said. "I like to earn it. I'll continue to do it. And if I don't get it, I've got thousands and thousands of trophies. My over 2,000 players are my trophies."

Schank is justifiably proud of his program at Lely.

“You know,” he said, “we’ve won many district championships and district runner ups. We're always competitive. You can't just come in here and think you're gonna get a win. You're gonna come beat us. You're gonna have to earn it. So that's where we're at now. That's where the program's at. It's self-run. It's a well-oiled machine.”

Schank would like to coach Lely for another 30 years, but growing responsibilities as a parent make it tougher and tougher.

"I pray about it all the time,” Schank said. "And, God willing, he gives me another opportunity to continue to mentor and to continue to coach at Lely. The administration here has been absolutely amazing. They speak about family, too. I grew up with current principal Jen Bledsoe. We watched each other grow up and we watch each other excel in our professions, and it's really special. I'm very grateful for her. Our athletic director is right behind me. She knows every kid's name. She is involved with every student here. All her communication is just amazing. She's always keeping me up to date, good or bad. And she's not there to complain. She's there to help fix the problem. And again, it’s team and family.

Schank also wants to remember former Lely AD Bill Blakemore.

"He took a chance on me,” Schank said. "He was my athletic director. He was stern. And he had to be in the beginning because I was a young kid. He helped pave the way for me and taught me all the rights and wrongs from the very get go. And he's another one that helped build this foundation for me to make this a successful program."

Schank said Lely plays in the toughest classification in the state.

“5A is always the most difficult,” he said, "because the 5A classification has all the main private schools in it. There's really no soccer schools in 6A,7A, 8A. You're getting into some quality, quality soccer programs there. They're just soccer factories."

But Schank doesn’t dwell on the goal of winning a state championship.

"I make sure these kids are successful in the classroom,” Schank said, “out of the classroom, on the field and making sure that they become good husbands, good fathers, successful businessmen, giving back to the community. If you strive for a championship, you're in it for the wrong reasons. If that comes, that's an extra blessing. Yeah, I'll take it. But I'll earn it. Tonight's our senior night, and I'm here to represent them and to hear their stories and lead them into their next chapter in life. And this is just a bonus tonight, celebrating my 30 years. So I'm halfway there, I'm trying to go 60."