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Article published January 27, 2010
Sylvester equals success Soccer, basketball mentor named Eagle Coach of the Decade
Dave Sylvester's coaching numbers are staggering. During his time as head coach of the Seneca Valley girls soccer team (2001-present) and the Mars girls basketball team (2005-07), Sylvester has totaled six section titles, two WPIAL championships and a combined record of 176-50-19. Not once has one of his teams at SV or Mars missed the WPIAL playoffs. All of those accomplishments made Sylvester the unanimous choice as the Cranberry Eagle's Coach of the Decade from 2000-09. "It's always been about the kids," said Sylvester, 52, who coached SV to its second WPIAL girls soccer title in three seasons last fall. "I told the players at our banquet that medals and trophies will tarnish and collect dust, but they'll always remember the time they spent with their teammates and how they improved as a player." Greg Caprara has been Seneca Valley's athletic director since 2004 and has seen first hand Sylvester's ability to take players with different attitudes and personalities, and mold them into winners. "He has the ability to offer constructive criticism, encouragement and support all at the same time," Caprara said. "That's very unique. It's easy to see why he's been so successful." "I never had a mentor in sports growing up, but I've always been so competitive," said Sylvester. "I love kids and we need people to put them on the right path. "Hopefully, I've done that." Sylvester's passion for sports began at an early age and he took it with him on the many moves of his youth. "My dad passed away when I was a year old and my mother had a tough time dealing with that," said Sylvester. "I ended up living with several different family members in Ohio and I actually attended five different high schools." Sylvester played baseball, basketball and soccer. "Going to so many schools, it seemed I was always having to prove myself," he said. "Now that I'm a coach, that's the approach I take with high school athletes." Sylvester graduated from Howland High School near Warren, Ohio, in 1976. After living in California for a couple of years, during which time he kept in shape and attended a basketball open gym at UCLA, Sylvester returned to Ohio in 1978, after receiving an offer to play at Youngstown State. But an automobile accident that summer derailed his plans. "I ended up spending a year in the Cleveland Clinic and had 14 or 15 surgeries," said Sylvester. "In my younger days, I was a bit bitter about what happened to me. But it all worked out for the best." Though unable to play basketball at YSU, Sylvester went on to attend the school. While there he met his future wife, Barb, who was a student at Slippery Rock University. After marriage, the couple settled in Zelienople, where they still live, and had three sons: Todd, Brett and Matt, all of whom went on to play baseball and soccer. Sylvester coached in the Zelie-Harmony Athletic Association throughout the 1980s and '90s, but his current job came about a bit unexpectedly. He was an assistant coach for SV's girls soccer team for two seasons under Bill Pfeifer (1999-2000), before the job became available. "A couple of days before the 2001 season started, Bill took the Moon job and I took over at Seneca," said Sylvester. "I was just hoping not to embarrass myself," he added with a laugh. "I had been around the girls for a couple of years and it was a good transition." That's putting it lightly. The Raiders, who had one section title to their credit before 2001, won one in Sylvester's first year of leading the team. Three more section crowns have followed (2004, 2008, 2009), along with an overall record of 130-39-19. The team won its first of two WPIAL titles in 2007. "Winning that first one, it's always special," said Sylvester. Sylvester has found a unique way to build team unity, as well as increasing his players' endurance. "For the last few years, I've taken the kids to a camp outside of Slippery Rock for four days," he said. "We do things like build camp fires, go on canoe trips. It helps us jell as a team and gets the girls some training and conditioning at the same time." As for basketball, Sylvester began his coaching career as an assistant with the Ambridge High girls team in 2002 before taking over the girls program at Ellwood City for two seasons (2003-05). Then the same position opened at Mars after veteran coach Dana Petruska was let go before the 2005-06 season. Sylvester guided the Planets to a pair of section titles, including a 26-2 section record, a 46-11 overall mark in his two seasons and two trips to the PIAA Class AAA playoffs. "When I took over at Mars, there was a lot of uncertainty as to what kind of team we'd have," Sylvester said. "But for those players to lose a longtime coach in Dana and still be able to accomplish what they did, that was great," said Sylvester. But he was not brought back for a third year. "I thought I would be coaching at Mars for more than two years," said Sylvester. "But they decided to go in a different direction." Sylvester hasn't coached varsity basketball since, but not for lack of trying. Over the last few years, he has applied for varsity girls basketball jobs at Beaver, Neshannock, Keystone Oaks and Oakland Catholic high schools. "I had second and third interviews with some of them. I was really close to getting the job," Sylvester said. "But I'll keep trying. I just want to coach basketball again." Other than varsity sports, Sylvester is currently coach of a under-16 girls club soccer team and a seventh-grade boys basketball team at Seneca Valley. "If I can't get a varsity job, I'm at least going to get in the gym," he said. Like the well-conditioned soccer players he coaches, there seems to be no quit in Sylvester. "When I lose the passion for sports and for coaching kids, I'll know it's time to get out," he said. "But I don't see that happening."
