NORTH CANTON — It was not a position Nicole Wells originally wanted.
“Honestly, when it first happened,, my first focus was, ‘OK, can we find someone?’” Wells said of the search to replace Jeff Sabella as North Canton Hoover High School’s varsity bowling head coach.
“Was there someone out there who is already interested that has more knowledge than me? I was first focused on that.”
Wells, head of the Vikings’ bowling boosters, maintained her search throughout July.
“There was kind of a timeline there … that if I couldn’t find anyone, I would have to put my name in,” Wells said.
But her questions always came back to, why not her?
“What I kept getting from people is I don’t have the time. It is a time commitment,” the 41-year-old North Canton resident said. “I just wasn’t getting competent answers from people who were interested or who had the ability or time.
“I started getting parents and other coaches asking, ‘why don’t you do it?’ It was in the back of my head, but I didn’t put that to the forefront.”
So knowing that time was getting short, Wells talked with Hoover athletic director Tom Oakes and applied for the position. She was officially named in mid September to replace Sabella, who had held the position for the past six seasons after two previous seasons as girls coach under J.C. Heighway.
“There were just so many reasons (why she applied),” said Wells, who works at Akron Children’s Hospital and holds associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Akron and Kent State University.
“I’ve grown up in bowling and the last thing I want to see is this team fizzle out because they don’t have leadership. It just felt right.”
She said her work schedule will not be a problem. But, if conflicts arise, she has also planned for it.
“It’s a good thing that my job has flexibility because I start early in the morning,” Wells said. “It’s also a nice thing that everything I do can be done by phone, so if I am on call, I can be reached.”
She also is building a staff, with former player Chad Wensel and Chris Simko already coming on board as assistant coaches. She is hoping to add two more assistants to have one for each team — varsity and junior varsity.
“If I have to step away, there are others there to work with the kids. I have two others that I have contacted, but I have to wait to see if they can make the commitment,” Wells said.
She hopes to operate similar to Sabella’s style.
“Jeff stayed in the background and let the assistants handle the individual teams,” Wells said. “My goal is to be kind of similar to that, but to be a little more involved. If someone else has to miss, I can jump in and fill their shoes. So I can kind of float and help out everywhere. But if the staffing doesn’t work out, I will focus on the one team that needs it and let the others handle their responsibilities.”
The Vikings boys captured the Federal Division title in the Stark County High School Bowling Conference last season, the Federal League crown and earned a trip to the OHSAA Division I state tournament where they finished ninth. Four bowlers return from that group, including Wells’ son, Jack.
The girls team has four returning players after losing three seniors to graduation.
The Coventry High School graduate admittedly “grew up in the bowling alley.” She remains active as a player in the SharpShooters league at Park Centre Lanes, Hoover’s home center.
Her involvement with the Hoover bowling program came when her son decided to give bowling a try after participating during a middle-school open gym program.
“I worked with him on the basics … timing, swing … so he could try out. When he joined the Saturday morning league, it was so last-minute that I really couldn’t get anyone to work with him,” Wells said. “I felt we would just see how it goes.”
It was Sabella who convinced Jack to convert from a one-handed to two-handed delivery — although his mom, admittedly, was not fond of the idea.
“When he told me he was going to try out for varsity as a two-hander, I just wondered if it was the best time to do it,” Nicole Wells said. “But he went from a 140 average as a freshman to 180 to 190 as a sophomore. It definitely gives him more revs and power. I said if he saw the benefits, it was up to him.”
CALLING HER ‘COACH’
Jack has already taken to calling his mother “coach.”
So what is the new coach’s philosophy?
“I think the big thing is fundamentals … making sure the basics — timing, swing, release — are there, but also allowing the kids to have a little fun,” Wells said. “I want them to be relaxed and enjoy it. But bowling is a mental game and we have to find the best way to get that mental game under control.
“You have to take each shot one at a time. You can’t dwell on Frame 1 when you are in Frame 4. For the varsity teams, it’s just cleaning up and focusing on that mental game. For the JV teams, it’s building the program and the fundamentals.”
Wells plans on the Vikings participating in “five to six tournaments” along with their regular season conference schedule.
“We want to have a similar lineup to last year,” Wells added. “Baker tournaments help a lot. It gives us the opportunity to change up the order and have some flexibility. We can put others in the anchor position and see who can handle the pressure and see where their strengths are.
“It also gives us the chance to look at their endurance, knowing when to take people out and knowing when to make proper moves.”
Wells and her husband, Allen, also have two older daughters. Neither is involved in bowling.
Is this a long-term commitment for Wells? That is to be determined.
“My hopes are for a good season and make sure that they learn something and we continue to build the program,” Wells said. “We have a lot more seniors this year (on the boys team) and we want to make sure we prepare for the youth and growth coming up.a
‘I told Tom that I was planning on being respectful to the program for two years at least. If someone we bring in has the bowling knowledge and background and have the time, they can fill the shoes. My focus is two years and building a structure to allow Hoover to grow.”
She has the support of Sabella and former assistants Austin and Erin Crowe.
“Jeff is planning to still help when he can. I also reached out to the Crowes and they are there if I need a resource,” Wells said.
But, for now, it is her program.
“The teams have such a good strength and there are a lot of good kids there,“ Wells said. “I want to make sure they have guidance and the sport continues to grow.”