By Bobby Narang
By this time of the season, Sue Skelley is usually knee deep into coaching.
For most of her life, Skelley had been a staple in the East Aurora community, coaching several sports and handling various administration jobs. But these days, Skelley is enjoying her view from the sidelines, away from the action that dominated her life for almost five decades.
Two years ago, Skelley retired from coaching at East Aurora following a four-decade plus run that inspired countless girls and athletes. On October 20, 2015, the tennis courts at Phillips Park were named in her honor for her dedication to tennis in Aurora, including 40 years as coach of East Aurora High School tennis teams.
Skelley said she decided to retire after spending 47 years coaching at East Aurora following the 2019-2020 season. She retired from teaching in 2007. Her tenure included 30 years as an assistant athletic director. Her last coaching position was leading the varsity boys tennis team.
“I kind of went year to year, but on year 47 with COVID-19 stopping most sports, I just decided this looks dangerous,” Skelley said. “I’m older and wasn’t really sure if it was safe to keep coaching. It was maybe the right time to say this is not safe enough to continue on.
“After 34 years of coaching and teaching, I wasn’t going to continue coaching, but I had continually done tennis, so I kept coming back. I loved my job and loved the kids.”
Despite a background mainly in girls sports, Skelley said her high school experience was vastly different than the current times. She didn’t play sports at Lincoln Way Central High School because sports were not offered to girls. She changed her major from mathematics to physical education while attending Illinois State University.
“In college, they didn’t really have (women’s) college sports in the early 70s, like today,” she said. “I didn’t really know anything of sports teams. But I eventually became a part of the fencing team in college. I went to the first tournament, and I won the next tournament, too. I made the varsity team soon after. I was still bewildered. I never would’ve gone out if a girl on the team didn’t encourage me to go out and kept telling me I was good enough to be on the team. She made me think about being a counselor to kids, so I knew if taught physical education that I could do more counseling things.
“That’s how I got into being a physical education teacher and coaching. I became part of the women’s collegiate sports program at Illinois State. I had my sights on getting a job in high school. When I came out of college, girls sports was starting to catch on.”
Soon enough, Skelley’s life would be all about sports. She became the girls tennis coach, girls basketball coach, and track and field coach, and the president of the Upstate Eight Conference for Women in less than two years. She led the Tomcats to a 29-1 record in the 1983-84 season, ending with a trip to the Class AA state tournament. In her last three seasons coaching basketball, she led teams to a combined record of 80-8, which included a fourth-place finish in Class AA State Tournament in 1981-82. Led by Skelley, the boys tennis team took a 17-6 record in 2015, the best record for any Tomcat tennis team in 42 years.
“It happened so fast, for my parents weren’t involved in the sports world,” she said. “I didn’t really have any insights into the rules of each sport. It was a great experience.
“There’s so much joy in coaching, fun to have a kid come back and glad to say I did this sport or had a good time in high school. Sometimes you would find a diamond in the rough. I was fortunate, getting a taste of being successful in basketball as a coach early in my career. I never thought I would be coaching. Everything I did in sports, in some degrees, I had some success. I wanted to nurture kids, to make it a positive experience and find new friends that would last a lifetime. Everyone wants to be successful and win, but I really liked to encourage kids to get better grades and have a good experience.”
Skelley said she cherishes the many friends she had throughout her coaching and teaching career, including many former students.
“It seemed to be finished in a blink of an eye,” Skelley said of her career. “I loved teaching my classes, individual sports, and dancing were my specialities. I had to really work with basketball. I was somewhat prepared to do all of these things, but not proficient. But I just encouraged kids to do more than they think they could do. I have a lot of great memories, and my teams were pretty successful.”