TP_020719

46 | February 7, 2019 | The tinley junction sports
tinleyjunction.com
Mattix family dances and hoops into Andrew fans’ hearts
JEFF VORVA, Sports Editor
Julie Mattix said she is “blessed.”
On some Friday nights, when
there are Andrew basketball games
being played, she is a dance mom,
a basketball mom and a coach all
rolled into one.
She has a son, senior Zach Mattix,
who is a starter on the basketball
team. She has another son,
sophomore Nathan Mattix, on the
dance team.
And she has dozens of girls who
are like daughters to her who join
Nathan at halftime to entertain the
crowd. She is the coach of that
squad.
When the dance team isn’t performing
at halftime, it can be found
battling at a state, local or national
level…usually at a high level. The
competitive dance team finished
10th in the state in Class 3A in the
Illinois High School Association finals
on Jan. 26 in Bloomington and
followed it up with a 12th-place
finish in the National Dance Team
Championship in Orlando the following
weekend.
“It’s unusual but it’s also kind
of cool,” she said of her sons’ respective
choices of sports. “It’s a
unique dynamic. I feel blessed.”
Julie grew up in a dance environment
as her mother, Judy Metz,
ran the Miss Judy Dance Studio in
Oak Forest. At one time, Miss Judy
travelled the country dancing. She
passed plenty of wisdom down.
Julie attended Andrew and put
her dancing on hold to become a
cheerleader. She attended Northern
Illinois University, got a job in
the Plainfield district and met her
future husband, Blake Mattix, who
played basketball and football in
high school and was a fullback at
Illinois Wesleyan University.
Julie was able to secure a teaching
job at her alma mater and 20
years ago started coaching the Andrew
dancers.
Meanwhile, her two boys were
interested in sports and tried several
options.
“They are both very athletic but
they have their own wheelhouse,”
Julie said. “Zach played a little bit
of baseball when he was younger
but he was always playing basketball.
That was his passion. Dance
was always Nathan’s passion.”
“I played soccer, basketball and
baseball,” Nathan said. “I would
always come back to dancing. It
was just different. It was more enjoyable.”
Zach can’t watch his brother
during halftime because he is in
the locker room with the rest of his
teammates listening to coach Dave
Wilson’s talks. But he makes sure
he is there when the dance team is
in a competition.
The older brother said he never
tried dancing but has watched
enough of it to admire it.
“I see it every day – I can’t even
fathom how hard they work and
how much they focus,” Zach said.
“It’s awesome – it’s something I
grew up with and watching him is
a really cool experience,”
Nathan is the only male member
of the dance squad and that
could lead some wiseguys to make
cracks. But Nathan said he is having
fun on this team and doesn’t
hear any disparaging remarks.
“People are more appreciative,”
Nathan said. “They recognize what
we do is hard.’’
“In general, Andrew is very
good about that,” Julie said. “The
students are supportive of all the
different interests that other people
do. That’s the good thing about Andrew
students.’’
Nathan said he doesn’t find it
awkward to be the only male on
the squad. The only wrinkle is obviously
when it’s time to put the
costumes on.
“When we’re changing for the
dance, I have to wait outside,” Nathan
said. “Other than that, we all
get along. We’re really close.’’
“He’s like the little brother,” Julie
said. “They all have a brother/
sister relationship.’’
Julie is in a nice position of
teaching her son and many girls the
art of dancing just like Miss Judy
did for her.
“It’s neat to be able to share
those experiences with the kids,”
Julie said.
Zach Mattix is one of the top players on Andrew’s boys basketball team. PHOTOS BY JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY
MEDIA
Sophomore Nathan Mattix is a member of the Andrew dance team, which finished 10th in the state in Class 3A
in January and 12th in a national meet in Orlando on Feb. 3.