South Suburban Sports Complex

Building Minds and Bodies

Director of Gymnastics Program

BIOGRAPHY OF STEVE LOPACKI

Steve Lopacki comes to SSSC with over 25 years of coaching experience. Steve owned and operated the LaPorte County Gymnastics Center for 15 years. He also worked for Bela and Marta Karolyi at the National Team Training Center in Huntsville, Texas, and most recently coached at the Illinois Gymnastics Institute for the past 3 seasons.  He has also coached numerous state, regional and national champions in both men's and women's artistic gymnastics, has coached in both the Elite and Pre-Elite programs, bringing a wealth of knowledge, drills, structure and direction to SSSC.

Head Dance Instructor

Biography of Valencia Barnes
Valencia Barnes comes from the world of dance with a variety of experiences and expertise.  She began dancing at the age of 11 performing in ballet, jazz and modern dance recitals.  She continued the path as a middle school and high school cheerleader and college dancer.  She has choreographed award winning routines for over 20 years for college dance teams, elementary/middle school and high school squads.  She was head coach at several schools throughout the city of Chicago for almost 20 years which led to numerous championships during her leadership.  She is currently a certified judge for Chicago Public Schools and the Illinois Dance Team Association.  She has been featured in the Chicago Defender several times for her hard work and commitment to the sport of pom-dance and also for being named outstanding coach of the year in Chicago.  She has now taken her passion to another level and is the founder of Exclusive All-star Dance Team, Inc.

BASKETBALL COACH

Biography of Scott Davis

Background

Scott Davis has extensive experience in basketball. After graduating from college majoring in sports management Scott played professional basketball in Europe. His more recent experience was as the Chief of Basketball Operations at Adams Sports Management and a camp director at the Woodgate school. He also was the Sports Director for the Mokena/Washington Park YMCA. In addition to working for us Scott is a Youth Counselor in the Chicago Public school system.

 

Philosophy 

Scott believes in life lessons that are learned from participating in sports. Hard work, discipline, competition, sportsmanship are all attributes that will help kids succeed later in life. These are attitudes he stresses in every practice and in every game. Kids that do not meet those standards are not going to stay in his basketball program.  Scott wants athletes who want to improve their game and are willing to work to make that happen. If you want to improve your game and be with kids and coaches who will support you the Wolf pack program is the place for you. 

 

 

 

BASEBALL/SOFTBALL INSTRUCTOR

Biography of Bryan Milburn 

Background

Bryan is the founder and head instructor for All Aspects Baseball Academy. This is Bryan�s 6th year coaching at the youth level for the Crete Area Youth Baseball Softball Association(CAYBSA). Taking over a team that had not won a game in 2 years to .500 the next year, then winning the 7-8 Pinto Division with a record of 17-3 and 2nd place in the 9-10 year old Mustang division with a 17-3 record. Bryan also has coached the summer 7-10 year old Crete Cyclone part time travel team the past 3 years with many top 3 tournament finishes. With the help of Coach Jim Penney also a CAYBSA coach,  they created a fall Crete Cyclone team the past 2 years for 7-10 year olds. Introducing basbeball past the month of June to the youth of the surrounding communities. At that time there were not many fall leagues in the area for 7-8 year olds, so we took a team of  7-8 year olds and played 9-10 year olds. Did not win a game in the fall league that year, but came back the next year and finished 2nd in 3 tournaments and played full baseball rules with stealing, pick offs and pitching out of the stretch. A great accomplishment for the kids who were still involved from the previous non winning team. 

Graduate of Thornwood High School where he lettered in basketball and varsity baseball. Senior year hitting .418 and leading the team in stolen bases. Prior to coaching, Bryan played 20 years of competitive men�s softball in the south suburbs of Chicago. Competing in ASA & NSA National and Regional sanctioned tournaments. Teams such as Gypsies, Slammers, Lookouts, Chaos and Commission. Traveling to National tournaments in CA, TX, AL, GA(2), SC, IL(20), IN(6), MI(3), WI, KY, FL and KS. Capturing over 60 League Championships, 15 qualifying State Championships, 10 State Championships, 1 Super State Championship, 4 top five NSA World Series and 5 top ten National Championships. 2002 finishing 3rd out of 120 teams in FL and selected to second All Tournament Team. 2004 finishing 4th out of 70 teams in SC.

Having the ability to play all positions on the field inspired Bryan to name the academy All Aspects to cover all aspects of the game.

Philosophy

An instructor is a teacher and trainer. Identifying educational goals, organizing information, develop lesson plans, provide learning stimulus and monitor the progress of each athlete. Especially in young players, I seek to create and maintain an effective learning environment. The rate of retention can be as low as 10% when only one style of instructional approach is used. By using a diverse approach, retention is significantly increased, learning is accelerated, and the player�s preparedness is improved. I consciously tailor drills to suit a player�s age and ability-level because I am committed to helping young players succeed and enjoy this wonderful game of baseball & softball.