HP_111518

30 | November 15, 2018 | The highland park landmark sports
hplandmark.com
‘Love of the game’ Schramm’s drive to coach
Erin Redmond
Freelance Reporter
It’s not uncommon for
Chuck Schramm to be
out and about in Highland
Park and be recognized.
When he’s been coaching
as long as he has, it’s
bound to happen.
Schramm recently hung
up his coaching hat after
52 years at Highland Park
High School. During his
tenure, he coached a wide
variety of sports, including
basketball, baseball,
softball, track and golf. He
spent 30 of his 52 years
with the latter.
Over all that time, Schramm
has seen many of his
former players grow, send
their children to HPHS and
even some of their kids,
too.
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“You walk down the
streets of Highland Park
and everyone says ‘hi,
coach,” Schramm said.
“You feel like you’re Santa
Claus. It’s a great feeling.”
Like his Christmas-time
counterpart, Schramm
gave his athletes gifts —
priceless ones. His gifts,
however, were intangible:
the gifts of sportsmanship,
winning and losing with
grace and developing a
love for their game.
“I was one of those
coaches who was very
much about enjoying [the
game], having fun with it,
wanting to win — there’s
no doubt about that — but
we had music in the gym,
we had the guys doing
crazy, fun things,” Schramm
said. “I think that’s
what sports are supposed
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to be: they’re supposed to
be fun. You can still reach
your goals, I had all those
Division-I players, and I
know it worked because of
a love of the game instead
of fear.”
It’s a love that has been
a part of Schramm for as
long as he can remember.
He played basketball
for Highland Park High
School, graduating in 1951
before continuing his career
in college. The Boston
Celtics drafted him, but he
accepted a contract from
Vickers Petroleum Company
in Wichita, Kansas,
instead because in those
days, that’s where the
money was.
“A beer was a dime in
those days, you could go to
the movies for 12 cents —
there was a big difference
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in what a dollar meant,” he
said. “…[With the contract
from Vickers] I thought
I was a millionaire. I was
very successful there and
very happy. I did come
back to Highland Park
because I wanted to give
back and help the kids.”
In addition to working
for HPHS, Schramm
also spent more than 60
years with the Park District
of Highland Park
and ran a basketball prep
league in Deerfield to give
those who were cut from
the high school teams a
chance to develop their
skills. He also coached
basketball at the College
of Lake County. In fact,
he simultaneously coached
three basketball teams one
season: two at the college
and the girls team at Highland
Park, leading the latter
to the sectional finals
that year.
With more than half a
century of coaching under
his belt, Schramm said it
was hard to pinpoint a favorite
memory, but there is
one that stood out.
During his playing days
at HPHS, he developed
a friendly grudge for the
Waukegan team, having
lost to them 80-40 in his
final game as a Giant. So
when one of his teams got
a shot at revenge, he took
it.
That particular year,
Waukegan was ranked
No. 5 in the state with an
almost guaranteed shot to
make it to state — but they
had to get through Highland
Park in the regionals
first.
“I’m a great believer in
revenge,” he said with a
laugh. “It sounds a little
mean, but that’s the way
sports are: you want to get
even. They were supposed
Chuck Schramm outlines a defensive play to Highland
Park basketball players in the early 1970s, as published
in the school’s “Shoreline” newspaper. Photo Submitted
Photo Submitted
to go downstate and we
bumped them off.”
Schramm said there
was no better feeling then
coaching his team in front
of packed crowds or in
nail-biting games. He has
seen many of his players
go on to play in college,
go pro in Europe and even
make the NBA. But for
him, it was never about
riding on the accomplishments
of his athletes. He
was simply doing his job.
“When I first started
coaching, they didn’t pay
— it was an honor,” Schramm
said. “The way I feel
about coaching, and why I
lasted so long, was that I
always thought it was an
honor to coach Highland
Park kids. They’re great
kids.”
Last December, those
“great kids” became even
greater in the Giants’
coach’s eyes. After being
diagnosed with cancer, he
went to see his oncology
doctor, only to learn it was
a former player. And when
it was time to start chemotherapy
at Whitehall of
Deerfield, he was stunned
to see his chemotherapy
doctor was a former athlete
of his, too. And it ended up
being former players who
helped him achieve his
biggest victory of all.
“I won the battle. I
fought the battle and I
won. That was big,” Schramm
said.
It wasn’t cancer that led
to his decision to retire,
however; it was just time.
With a bad knee and an
85th birthday coming up
in November, Schramm
said he simply wanted to
have more time to spend
with his wife Marsha,
his four children and 12
grandchildren — including
his grandson who is in
his senior season playing
basketball at Deerfield.
Schramm said he wanted
to go out on top and
with this year’s varsity
golf squad, he truly felt
like he did.
Schramm will be honored
at the Deerfield-Highland
Park basketball game
Jan. 10, 2019 for his years
of coaching.
“All I wanted was a little
thanks and that’s what
they’re going to say,” he
said. “It’s been fun.”