By Dan Cleary
Fred Geffken had a big decision to make. A very big one.
The then-Sparta police officer and Sparta Police Athletic League basketball coach applied to be the girls varsity basketball coach at Pope John and his hometown high school, Sparta, where he would have the chance to coach his daughter, Barbara, and build the Sparta program which was middle of the road at best.
Pope John’s Athletic Director at the time was the late, legendary football coach Vic Paternostro who offered Geffken the job, a very good one at that. Pope John was a Sussex County Interscholastic power in the league’s infancy in the mid to late 1970s and was built to win right away.
Right down Route 517 off West Mountain Road there was another legend sitting in the AD chair at Sparta High School, Dick Cassels. The burly football mentor had helped put Sparta athletics on the map since the day it opened its doors in 1959.
Geffken was hoping to get one of the jobs and lo and behold he got both, hence the decision. Pope John called first and Geffken accepted the position and was set to meet Paternostro to finalize the details. Then the phone rang again and it was Cassels. Cassels, a Marine and Korean War veteran, asked his fellow Marine, and proud one at that, to take the Sparta job. If you know any Marines, you know what Geffken’s answer was–Yes.
According to Geffken, saying, “Yes” was easy. He grew up in Sparta but went to Newton High School before Sparta was opened and played sports. He was a legacy in the Sparta Police Department and he would be able to coach his daughter and players from a youth team that did very well with Geffken as its coach.
Now the tough part. Telling Paternostro, “No,” a word that the imposing former Notre Dame football player did not hear too often.
‘“That was a tough one,” I remember Geffken telling me. “But he understood and we still had a great relationship after that.”
Talk about a Butterfly Effect. What would have been if he took the PJ job? Sparta is surely happy he did. In 33 magnificent seasons, Geffken posted 693 wins, 19 SCIL titles, 12 section crowns, including an amazing run in the 1990s when Sparta won five in a row in the meatgrinder known as North 1, Group 3 which featured state-powers Pascack Valley, River Dell and Ramapo. He won three state championships (1985, 1990, 2001), 14 SCIL Tournament titles and a record 27 straight trips to the championship game.
He also sent numerous players onto the college level, including an incredible 27 who played Division I ball. He coached 17, 1,000-point scorers and three who collected 1,000 boards before he hung up his whistle in 2012.
But the most impressive stat is one that can’t be measured by numbers-the love and affection his players had for him and the respect the other coaches had for him. Those numbers were off the charts. And the wonderful effect he had on a certain member of the media over the years-me.
Geffken, who had been ill the last few years, sadly passed away this week, leaving a legion of people sad yet thankful they had the opportunity to know Fred, as I will refer to him from here on it out.
Fred was one of a kind. He was demanding and understanding with his players. And always the constant gentleman with the media, win or lose. He was a competitor to the core but he did it with class. Some coaches, not many, felt that he “ran up the score” against them. Not true. His starters hardly ever played four quarters during the Spartans’ heyday. In fact, the great Lisa Olsen Nocentini, who scored 1,952 points and was recently inducted into the Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame, could have easily eclipsed 2,000 points, if not for Fred calling off the dogs.
“Coach Geffken guided us, challenged us, and motivated us to reach our full potential, both individually and as a team,” said Olsen. “Some of my most defining moments in high school, as an athlete and as a person, came under his leadership. He pushed us, believed in us, and united us in ways that made us better on and off the court.
“He was a brilliant strategist in the biggest moments, yet always empathetic and respectful, especially when we found ourselves far ahead on the scoreboard. He understood the game, but more importantly, he understood people. Coach Geffken was a remarkable motivator who knew how to bring out the best in each of us. I’m proud to have been one of his players, and I will carry his lessons with me for the rest of my life.”
Beautiful.
Sparta was so good that its third-stringers were better than most squads top starting fives. My sister, Liz, who was on the losing end of some of those lopsided scores when she coached at Vernon said as much. She would say it is not Fred’s job to stop his team, it’s mine. And he always emptied his bench at the right time, she said. “He was a good man,” she said.
One thing some people might not know about Fred was whenever a player in the county scored their 1,000th point he was sure to send them a heartfelt, hand-written congratulations note. Pure class.
And Fred was always one to give his assistant coaches a ton of credit over the years starting with Mary McCarthy, who was an outstanding field hockey coach at Newton, Sussex County legend and former Newton girls hoops coach the late, great John Zamos, Brian Smith, John Morales and Tony Rossi, as well as the great Cathy Wille who we will get to to in a moment.
My memories of Fred are abundant and all positive. He was always great to me even when I was a young 22-year old sports reporter when I officially met him in December of 1988 when I covered my first Sparta game. Of course I knew who he was, and like the legendary Ron Earl, who was coaching Sparta football at the time, treated this youngster with kindness and respect as I started to learn the ropes.
I saw his incredible 1985 state title team play as a fan as it won its first state crown at the old Meadowlands Arena with seven, yes, seven eventual D-I players. They were paced by the Reigstad sisters, Laura and Helene, and a talented junior point guard Cathy Wille, who went on to play at Wake Forest.
She also brought the Spartans back to their glory days recently as the head coach with a state title, a section crown and three Hunterdon Warren Sussex Championships before she hung up her whistle after 11 seasons as Fred’s successor a few years ago. She too did it the classy way and is one of the best coaches and people you ever want to meet.. And Pat McCarney has the program trending again after Sparta won another HWS crown last winter.
“Fred Geffken played such an incredible role in my life. He was my high school coach and took our 1985 team to an undefeated State championship title. After college I came back to
Sparta and coached alongside him for many years and worked the Sparta Girls Summer camps every year,” Wille recalled.
“As time moved on and Fred stepped down from Sparta basketball he passed the torch onto me. It was an honor to take over the program that he poured so much into! Fred was a father figure to me. He was my coach, my colleague, my mentor, and my friend. He will be missed but never forgotten”
Again, beautiful.
It was always a pleasure covering his teams. They were tough, fundamentally sound and extremely gifted basketball players. It always seemed like Sparta always had an abundance of 6-foot players who could play the post but also step out and shoot.
The 1990 team featured the great Liz Hanson, who missed her senior year in 1992 due to injury. She went on to play at Rutgers and was an Olympic team hopeful. Rochelle Drandakis was a sharpshooter and the Chaplins were great too.
Which reminds of all the great sister combinations that came though the program under Fred starting with the Reigstads, the Chaplins, the Dilworths, the Keils, and the Jents just to name a few. All amazing players for Fred.
The 2001 team was loaded with Melissa Yeagley, the MVP of the state final, Meghan Jent, Oliva and Kelly Keil, and Diana Dilworth. But it was soccer player extraordinaire Jessica Trainor, who keyed the team with her ballanding and suffocating defense. Trainor, who scored less than 5 points per game, was a game-changer. Her performance on 2,000-point scorer Kelley Suminski of Mendham was one for the ages in the state semifinals. Despite giving up six inches or more she kept the Standord commit in check. Just incredible.
In the mid 1990s it was Olsen, Melanie Prol, Claire Morrison, Tara Dillworth, Jen Dillow, and Adrienne Warner who dominated. In fact, the 1995 team made the state final but had to play without Prol who sat out due to her religious beliefs as the game was on a Sunday.
I remember Fred fighting to get the game moved to Saturday as he always had his players backs. But was very understanding and proud of Prol sticking to her principles. I have so many memories of great games and players, too many to count. Besides the state titles Fred’s wins over then No. 1 ranked teams West Milford, Hoffman and River Dell come to mind and the buzzer-beater to beat Shabazz in the state semifinals at Ridgewood HS jump out to me.
Fred’s battles against Bob Wheeler of Hopatcong, Gretta Sensiviecky of Franklin/Wallkill Valley, Bonnie Lewis of Pope John, Jeff Jasper of Pascack Valley, who Fred proudly had a winning record against the living legend, the late Lou Wejnert of River Dell, Fred Corona of Mendham, Paul Stanziale of Hopatcong, and of course, another legend, Jim O’Connor at
Jefferson, were all memorable.
Fred was passionate about basketball but also his hometown where he worked his way up to Chief of Police. JP Beebe, who played football at Pope John and grew up in Sparta said that Fred was always supportive of all the kids in town and coached several sports on the youth level. Beebe went on to work with the Chief before his retirement.
“I worked 20 years for him at the Sparta Police Department. I only had a year-and- a -a-half on when I was made a Detective due to a manpower shortage at the time. To say I was a little inexperienced would be an understatement. The Chief had been a long-time detective and there was not anybody or any place in Sparta he did not know.
“He assured me I would be fine and he was available 24/7 for me. In this line of work it was 24/7 that I needed to talk to him. Whatever the time, he always picked up on the second ring. You see, that was Chief Fred Geffken. It was not just me trying to figure out my job at the time, it was really a description of the man. He was always available to the community of Sparta. His girl’s basketball teams, his cherished family. Everyone knew him, trusted him, counted on him. It’s very rare in this day and age that you come across a leader who is 100% dedicated to ensuring that the people he leads are successful and happy.
“He did it with me and the other Sparta Police Officers and of course his Sparta High School Girl’s Basketball teams along with some of his players are legendary. Chief Fred Geffken, Coach Geffken…”Mr. Sparta.” Thank you for all you have done for me and my family. I will miss you a lot. Rest in Peace.”
I could not agree more. He was a dedicated family man with his amazing wife Dot his biggest supporter. He was a dedicated, law enforcement official and basketball coach, too. He, along with Dennis Tobin, the boys hoops coach, made Sparta, Basketball Town, USA, in Sussex County.
I will miss him dearly and think about him often. Fred loved calling everyone buddy because he was your buddy. So until we meet again, buddy, Rest Easy and Semper Fi.
