Recently, Sullivan West had three longtime local coaches retire from their district. Athletic Director Dave Franskevicz, and teachers Ricky Ellison and Mike Ellmauer, collectively had over a hundred years of combined experience coaching and in the classroom. While we've touched on Franskevicz's retirement earlier this summer, here's Ellmauer's story. Our feature on Ricky Ellison will run in Friday's Democrat.

LAKE HUNTINGTON -- Sports was never something Mike Ellmauer really saw a future in. While he was on a few teams at Jeff-Youngsville, in between helping his parents on the family farm, he never saw much playing time.

However, his time on the bench allowed him to learn from local greats like Jerry Davitt, Paul Zintel, Bob Lynch and Jeff Clewell.

His college experience with athletics was strictly intramural, with his main focus being science. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Scranton University in Biochemistry. While there he did a little volunteer coaching at a school for children with disabilities.

He then immediately went for his Master's Degree, graduating from the University of Vermont with a focus in Animal Science and Ag Biochemistry. Ellmauer did assist the training staff for the school's athletic teams while pursuing his Master's.

Ellmauer then returned home in 1982 and was asked to fill in as a science teacher at his alma mater (Jeff-Youngsville) for the remainder of the school year (April-June).

Teaching, like sports, was also something Ellmauer did not see in his future.

But while filling in, he found that he enjoyed it, and afterwards, applied to teach full-time. And the rest is history.

“I never gave up,” he joked. “I kept on teaching and coaching.”

Ellmauer remained at Jeff-Youngsville until the Sullivan West merger. He taught a myriad of science classes from biology to chemistry, as well as electives like environmental science, and advanced biology and chemistry at the collegiate level through a program at Syracuse University.

He noted that during the early 80s, districts were looking for teachers who'd also be willing to coach. Ellmauer agreed to do so and soon became synonomus with Girls Soccer and Softball, two sports he coached for the entirety of his tenture at JYCS.

He also spent a couple years coaching modified boys soccer.

One fond memory at JYCS was the 1988-89 school year. In girls soccer, they lost to S.S. Seward in a triple shootout in the Section 9 Class D final, and that spring their softball team lost to Bridgehampton in the state finals (following a Section 9 title victory) in extra innings. Ellmauer noted that those were great teams even though they fell just short.

However he joked that not all things went wrong that year. In the summer of 1989 he married the love of his life, Trish, and they've raised three kids -- Mitchell (29), Jacqueline (27) and Allie (25). So you might say he knocked that one out of the park.

At Sullivan West

After the Sullivan West merger in the early 2000s, Ellmauer stuck with coaching varsity girls soccer and softball. Academically he taught courses like forensic chemistry and an anatomy/physiology first aid class.

While coaching the Lady Bulldogs girls' soccer team, they made the sectional final three straight years (2016-18). While Millbrook got the better of them in ‘17 and ‘18, Sullivan West captured the ‘16 Class C championship with a win over Webutuck. It was the program's first Section 9 title since the merger.

For a coach that had no real background in sports, to have had teams consistently qualify for sectionals and to have won titles in the two sports you've coached the longest is not bad.

“It was pretty special,” Ellmauer said. “In order to do that you have to work together. I have had great people and kids to work with. I did my job, they did their's and that's why we were successful.”

Ellmauer praised assistant coaches Diana Hahn, Kurt Scheibe and Anthony Durkin.

Ellmauer was also highly complimentary of Dave Franskevicz, his athletic director at both JYCS and Sullivan West. Going back to his time at JYCS, Ellmauer mentioned that in 1989 he learned of a program through Irish airline Aer Lingus. They were looking for teams to fly over and play against kids in Ireland. When Ellmauer approached Franskevicz with the idea, he was all for it. They raised funds for a year and for eight days, the Lady Trojans' varsity girls soccer team played soccer in Ireland.

“Dave was a hell of an athletic director,” Ellmauer said.

He also mentioned fellow retiree and coach Rick Ellison. They talked for years about coaching together and finally got the chance this fall when Ellmauer was Ellison's assistant girls soccer coach. The team went 10-2.

“It made fall go by so fast,” he said. “We had a really good time. It was a dream because I always wanted to work with him.”

Ellison also called the experience tremendous and had this to say about Ellmauer: “For all the things Mike did at our school, you'll need four people to do the jobs and wear the hats he did through his career. He's so student oriented and cares so much about the kids and making their experience a good one. He was a master at it. He always put the kids first."

What's next?

In retirement, Ellmauer hopes to continue assisting with varsity girls soccer and be a volunteer for softball.

And every winter since the 1982-83 season, he has been a high school basketball referee.

As for future plans, a lot is up in the air with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Ellmauer said he and his wife hope to eventually travel and spend more time visiting their kids. And he plans to help coach and substitute if needed.

Reflecting on his time coaching, Ellmauer said, “It got me to see kids and parents in a different light from in the classroom. I tried to show all the kids respect, and I think coaching made it easier for me in the classroom.”

He has also enjoyed the great people and coaches he's met at other schools.

“I really did not have an athletic background, but I did a lot of reading and talked to other coaches,” Ellmauer said. “Coaching gave me a really good hobby to enjoy and I learned a lot.”