FLASHBACK: Exit Stage Left: Storch ready to sail into the sunset
SWAN SONG: Veteran Troy Athens coach Tim Storch watches intently as his team battles with longtime nemesis Rochester Adams. Storch's troops beat Adams 1-0 on this night to clinch his 33rd and final league title as leader of the Red Hawks. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
(Editor’s Note: This is a republish from a story that originally ran on June 5 but was inadvertently removed from the archives.)
TROY — Tim Storch remembers when he was first pushed towards being a goalkeeper.
A student at Birmingham Groves High School in the mid-1970s, the hockey and baseball enthusiast was encouraged by some teammates to give soccer a try.
That was just the beginning.
Soccer was just starting to grab a foothold in Michigan in the mid-1970s when Storch was a high school student, although less than 40 high schools in the state sponsored the sport in the decade, the first being Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingwood in 1970. Storch made his debut with some of the early Groves teams in 1973 and eventually wound up playing at Central Michigan University following his 1975 high school graduation.
“I had some really good friends talk me into it,” smiled the 54-year-old Storch, who will turn 55 later this year. “I remember it was my good friend, Erdal Tekisla, who first talked to me about it. He thought I would make a good goalkeeper.”
Storch eventually earned All-America Honorable Mention honors at CMU. He also found a burning desire to coach a sport he did not play until a teenager.
Storch came to Troy in the summer of 1981, where the sport of soccer was already taking strong root in the youth programs level and the two district high schools were adding boys soccer as a varsity sport.
“It was a time when soccer was really starting to take off,” said Storch. “In Troy, the community already had a strong youth program. I already had some very good players when we started the program at Athens.”
The Red Hawks didn’t waste any time building a legacy under Storch.
“I don’t even recall who are first game was against. I would have to look that up,” admitted Storch. “But I do know that we had only one loss that season. Everything came together perfectly that year.”
Storch guided Athens to the Class A-B state championship in the fall of 1981, in the Red Hawks’ first year as a varsity program. It was a tournament put on by the coaches association at the time, before the Michigan High School Athletic Association adopted the sport. That came in 1982 — and the sport has continued to grow ever since.
“It has changed a lot over the years,” admitted Storch. “I think one of the greatest things (about soccer in Michigan) is just the steady growth. It isn’t just (communities) like Troy, Livonia, Plymouth and Birmingham that are good anymore. Talent is all over the state. It’s great to see.”
BUILDING A LEGACY
Storch-led practice sessions and teams are more like an Army, with grueling double- and triple-sessions in the preseason and strict discipline and organization. The Red Hawks were built around great goalkeeping and solid defense and were masters of restarts, often scoring a collection of goals off cornerkicks, free kicks and other set pieces each season.
The wins and both team and individual accolades started to add up in a hurry.
From 1981 through 1990, the Athens boys team won every Metro Suburban Activities Association league championship, including defeating Rochester in a shootout in the league tournament finale in 1990 to extend the streak to 10 straight league titles. The Athens girls also won 10 straight conference titles at one time (1983-92).
It wasn’t until the following year that Athens failed to win a league title, turning over the reigns to Rochester in 1991. Since then, only three Athens boys teams and one Athens girls team has failed to finish over the .500 mark, and those seasons were marred by a rash of injuries. Rarely has Athens failed to finish in the top half of the league race.
“Our fitness level was always really high,” recalled Todd Heugh, a member of Athens’ 1989 Class A state championship team and a longtime coach at Rochester High School and the Vardar club system. “We could match up with most teams because we were fit. But I thought Storch always had us prepared, too. He was a great motivator.”
Josh Hickey, who was a four-year varsity player for Athens in the mid-2000s and is the head boys coach at Rochester Adams, said he took a lot of he learned from Storch into his own system.
“He was great at getting us motivated,” recalled Hickey. “I know he was hard with his practices and fitness, but it was worth it. Even when we played teams that were better than us, he would have us prepared. We beat some teams.”
Since the inception of the program 30 years ago, Storch has slowly built up a combined 912-240-108 record combining the boys and girls teams (Athens girls launched its program in the spring of 1982).
The Red Hawks have won 33 league titles, including the girls team winning the OAA Red Division this spring at 9-1-0. Athens had a 15-game unbeaten streak snapped during the final week of the regular season by Ann Arbor Skyline, where Storch sat many of the starters in the second half.
Additionally, Athens boys have made nine Final Four appearances. His boys teams won state titles in 1981, 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1997, finished as the state runner up in 1986 and reached the semifinals in 1988, 1995 and 1998. Athens boys have captured 14 league titles, 10 district crowns and seven other times Storch’s team lost in the district finals.
The 1983 team was undefeated at 21-0-2 while the 1984 and 1995 posted 22 wins.
His girls teams won state titles in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 2000, which was his last title, lost in the finals in both 1985 and 1986 and reached the semifinals in 1987 and 1990.
Athens girls have won 20 league titles, 12 district crowns, lost in the district finals eight other times and captured eight regional titles. The Red Hawks also lost in the regional finals in 2005 and have had several teams with more than 20 wins. This year’s team has 19 victories heading into regional week.
“He’s done a lot for high school soccer over the years. He’s kind of a pioneer for the sport, helping take it to a higher level,” said Eric Pogue, the current men’s soccer coach at Oakland University who was an all-state goalkeeper at Athens back in 1995 and later played at Western Michigan University and in Major League Soccer.
Only Livonia Stevenson has a winning record against Athens, while only Rochester Adams has recorded more than 20 wins against the Red Hawks on the boys side over the years.
“It’s hard to say which team was my best,” recalled Storch. “One of the more memorable teams was the ’97 boys team that won the state title. We fell out of the rankings earlier in the season and we were in the state’s toughest district by far. We had eight teams in our district and I think six of them were ranked. We ended up getting on a roll and winning that district. We knocked off a few other ranked teams along the way and we ended up winning the state title. That team wasn’t my most talented, but they worked so hard and put it together at the right time.”
A LASTING IMPRESSION
While Athens has put together a team resume only a few other high school programs in Michigan can even come close to comparing to — Livonia Stevenson and Birmingham Detroit Country Day are two of the other more successful programs in state history — Storch reflected on all of the kids he has coached on the pitch or taught in the classroom at Athens.
“I have gone to a couple of funerals over the years of former players of mine that passed away,” said Storch. ”I’ve had kids killed in accidents, one die of cancer. It’s was more than just players, but students at Athens. That’s always one of the more difficult things to do as a teacher and coach. Go to a funeral of a former player or student.”
Then there are the dozens of kids that are in the program each year.
“The hardest thing was telling them that I was retiring,” said Storch, who sat with his wife, Liz, for nearly two hours for an interview. “That was difficult. I knew it would come one day, but it’s never easy when the time comes.
“I just hope I’ve had a good impression on these kids,” he added. “I hope I have taught them some life lessons through soccer, things that have helped them in life. It’s kind of funny, though, a lot of those kids I coached and taught early in my career aren’t kids anymore. They’re in their 40s with kids of their own.”
Storch has coached over 200 players that have gone on to play in college, he’s coached close to 100 all-staters and dozens of all-league, all-district and all-region honorees over the past three decades. Additionally, he’s coach several players that have become coaches at both the club and high school level — and several which he has coached against at the prep level.
Athens has produced five state players of the year — three girls have won Miss Soccer and two others have won Mr. Soccer, including Tiffany Laskowski (2001), Stephanie Lusiner (1994), Cindy Wass (1986), Mark Noffert (1984) and Marty Hagan (1981). Current senior Olivia Brannon, who is on the U-18 National Team, is the heavy favorite to win the Miss Soccer award this year.
“That’s an honor to have coached so many great kids,” said Storch. “The really good ones trained at a high level, but I really like seeing a kid come up through the program that really starts to blossom as a junior or senior, or even blossom while in college.”
ATHENS IN THE HUNT…AGAIN
Troy Athens has been a steady team in the Division 1 coaches association state rankings this season. Already winning the talent-laden OAA Red Division, this is a senior-deep team with the talent to make a final run to the semifinals or state championship game. It has been 11 seasons since Athens has won a state title in girls soccer and nearly 14 years since the boys’ program’s last title run.
“I think we have the talent to get there, but it’s never easy, especially nowadays,” said Storch. “As I said earlier, there are so many good teams and so many good players all over the state. It changed so much.
“Back in the 80s, you could say that there were five or six legitimate teams that had a shot of winning the state title, at least in Division 1 (Class A back then),” continued Storch. “That has changed, too. This year there are a bunch of great teams. There are teams that are not even ranked that can make runs (to the Final four). Soccer has grown so much over the years.”
Could it be one last memorable run for Storch in his swan song? Or will the Red Hawks come up short in the postseason. His Red Hawks are one of 32 teams still standing in the D-1 tournament.
Longtime neighboring powers Troy and Rochester Adams are in a different regional and neither would not face the Red Hawks until the state finals if a collision course is in the winds.
“We’ll take it one game at a time,” laughed Storch, thinking about the possibility of an all-Troy final if both teams make a run. “We’re in a really tough regional. (Utica) Eisenhower is loaded with talent and Novi has won four of the past five state titles. We would have to beat them both just (to get to the semifinals).”
Utica Eisenhower will tangle with Athens and defending champion Novi will face Fraser in Tuesday’s regional semifinals at Athens. Like in so many years past, Athens is in the picture of making another deep run.
NEW PASTURES
Storch has more than built quite a legacy at Athens over the past three decades, but has helped the sport grow during that span. He was a voting member for many years in the Michigan High School Coaches Association all-state panel and very active in the Olympic Developmental Program in the 1980s.
Although he will calls it quits during the next few weeks, when classes are over, uniforms turned in and the post-season banquet held, plus a few retirement parties, Storch will head north to Alpena and has not ruled out coaching again in the future.
His family has had a home on Grand Lake, a short jaunt north of Alpena, for decades, and Storch has visited the cottage since he was small child. He will have time on his hands.
“I have been going up there my whole life,” offered Storch.
Knowing the area of Alpena well and knowing the game of soccer, Storch said that the Red Hawks gold and red will never be taken away from his soul, but he would consider the possibility of being on the sidelines once again under different color schemes — far away from his Troy roots and Oakland County ties.
“Liz and I have talked about it,” he smiled. “If the right opportunity comes along, then I would consider it.
“It will be hard not being at Athens come August, that much I know,” said Storch, who does not have children of his own. “It’s been such a big part of my life (coaching at Athens). I can see myself coaching again.”
The ship from Troy Athens is set to sail away very soon for Tim Storch. Not before he has left his mark as one of the greatest coaches in Michigan soccer history.
It is time for his exit stage left — a very well-deserved one.
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Category: Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Publishers Viewpoint, Troy Athens
