wellington volunteer
Mike Schmickle
Coach Enjoys Teaching Kids About Football, Teamwork & Life By Matthew Auerbach
Not all volunteering takes place indoors. Sometimes, the act of giving your time and energy to others goes on between the white lines of a football field, amid the grunts, groans, victories and defeats of kids trying hard to be the best they can be. Some of those kids are guided by the expertise and concern of Mike Schmickle, who has been a major player in the Western Communities Football League for the past eight seasons. Schmickle is the June nominee for Wellington The Magazine’s Volunteer of the Year Award. A former high school athlete himself, the Wellington resident knows firsthand the benefits inherent in competition and teamwork and wanted to pass his knowledge along to the young football players here in the western communities. Schmickle can thank his son for his WCFL coaching experience. “My son Ben played quarterback in the WCFL for head coach and board member Mark Jolly in 2007,” Schmickle recalled. “Mark is a great coach, and I saw from the sidelines how much fun he and the other coaches were having teaching the boys about football, teamwork and life. Having played football, baseball and basketball in high school, I was interested in getting back on the field, spending more time with my son and having fun with the other coaches.” When Jolly asked him to be an
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June 2013 |wellington the magazine|
assistant coach the following season, Schmickle jumped at the chance. “I had previously volunteered as a coach in baseball, basketball and soccer in Wellington, but football was my real passion,” he said. “When Mark asked, I was more than happy to join him. That next season I had a great time coaching with him. He truly showed me what volunteering is about. The boys on the team had a lot of fun, and I realized how much of a positive influence a coach could be in their lives.” Schmickle made the jump to head coach in 2009. After a year as an assistant coach, Mike Pignato, then WCFL president, invited him to take the reins of his own team. “I learned a lot from Mike and fellow board member Gus Pasquale that year,” Schmickle said. “These two men, along with all the other tireless volunteers on the WCFL board, were a real inspiration to me. I don’t know if people realize the countless hours that the volunteers put into the league. Many do not even have kids playing. They simply volunteer because they love football, love Wellington and love helping others.” Schmickle wears many hats at the WCFL. “In addition to being a head coach, I have helped out with
registration, equipment checkout, equipment check-in, etc,” Schmickle said. “In addition, I was nominated to be head coach of the all-star team this past fall. Most of my time has been involved with scheduling the hundreds of regular-season and playoff games each year. With the numerous rainouts each year, it’s pretty difficult rescheduling games for hundreds of families on a moment’s notice.” Schmickle’s journey to Wellington began in Iowa, where he grew up. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with an accounting degree and, after taking a job in Minneapolis, Schmickle and his family — wife Theresa, daughter Taylor and son Ben — moved to Wellington in 1998. Since 2005, he has been a partner at Palm Beach Capital, a private equity firm. Once the Schmickles found Wellington, they knew they would wind up living here. “We looked at several areas in Palm Beach County. However, moving here from the Midwest, Wellington just felt more like home,” he said. “Wellington has changed so much in the 15 years we’ve lived here. Before the mall opened, we would spend most of our time traveling to West Palm for things to do. Now,