Brad Schifko
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/4/18
Brad Schifko has resigned as Parkland boys’ lacrosse coach after compiling a 10-year record of 147-52 and leading the Trojans to the East Penn Conference and District 11 Class AAA titles this year.
Schifko informed his players he would be resigning after Saturday night’s 6-3 loss to La Salle in the PIAA Class AAA tournament.
Schifko said he had planned to step down for a year. He is transitioning into an administrative position at the Innovative Arts Academy Charter School in Catasauqua. He also is completing coursework for his principal certification.
Schifko also said he is stepping down for family reasons. His son, Tyler, was a regular as a freshman at rival Allentown Central Catholic and Schifko wants to spend time as a father after dealing with coaching against his son.
“I knew last summer this would likely be my last year based on my increased professional responsibilities,” said Schifko, who has been a guidance counselor for nearly 20 years.
“On top of all that, coaching against my child – while he wanted me to do that initially – for me, the only time I get to see him play is when we play them. For me it may be time to be dad for a little while.
Schifko said it was difficult to say goodbye to the Parkland program that he’s helped build into a legitimate state contender. This year the Trojans went 20-4 and claimed their first PIAA victory, a 14-7, triumph over Upper Dublin in the opening round of states. They held their own against La Salle Saturday.
Overall, Schifko guided Parkland to five league titles and two district crowns.
“The cool thing is that all the members of my staff are former Parkland players,” he said. “They all came back to work with me and give back to the school they love so much.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys and we talk all the time about getting our kids to buy into the belief that Parkland can compete with anybody.”
Schifko spent four years as the Trojans’ coach from 2005-08, then returned in 2013. He went 103-32 during this recent stint.
“There is no shortage of talent at Parkland. In Saturday’s game, we never got into a rhythm (against La Salle),” he said. “Obviously, I take my hat off to La Salle, they have such a tremendous program.
“They didn’t allow us to get comfortable on the offensive side of the ball. We had opportunities and squandered them. But I am proud of our defensive effort; we held them to six goals and only on in the second half. We were right there.
“I wanted to make sure that in my second go around as coach we were always getting better. I truly feel we should be winning the District 11 championship and pursuing a state championship every year. It should be the norm.”
Schifko is also an assistant coach with the HEADstrong LC Lehigh Valley program, along with Mike Bender.
Parkland will return several key players, including juniors James Cipolla, Greg Santa-Anna, Alex Albertson and James McLaughlin. Cipolla, the East Penn Conference MVP, is an Ohio State commit.
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