A Sparta Icon

SPARTA - Another year. One by one, the latest rendition of the Lady Spartan senior class was met with a high-five, a red rose and a peck on their cheek. Another game. Fred Geffken stood at center-court on senior night, the bottom cusps of the trademark white sweater resting at his waist, and watched them pass by. Another story. And, perhaps, for a moment, the only coach Sparta girls basketball has known for the past three decades, had to wonder where this group was off to or what they would go on to become. Some probably would become teachers. Others might pursue medical careers. And there would be those who might even become cops. But no matter what the future has in store, they had already become winners if, for the simple fact, that they had won more games than they had lost. That’s just they way it is, just the way it has been, and just the way it probably will be as long as basketballs bounce and Fred Geffken coaches at Sparta High School. “We’ve been blessed with a lot of good Lady Spartans,” said Geffken. “There have certainly been a lot of success stories.” And the coach wasn’t even talking about this year’s crew, which used clutch free-throw shooting to defeat Northern Highlands, 27-18, Monday night, and to win the NJSIAA/ShopRite North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 title - Sparta’s 12th crown in Geffken’s 27 years as head coach of the high school varsity program. “This is what you work hard for,” said Geffken, who earlier this year surpassed 600 career coaching victories. “It’s very difficult to do, so it never gets old.” For Geffken, X is better associated with diagrams in a playbook than advancing Roman numeral years on a calendar. The longtime Sparta girls basketball coach has stood the test of time; the gray thinning hair on the sides of his scalp and the championships noted on the walls of the school gymnasium are testament to his longevity and accomplishments. Since Geffken was asked to take over the girls basketball program in 1979 after the team had suffered through one defeat after another, Sparta has never had a losing season. Only two high school coaches in New Jersey have won more girls basketball games. “There was uncertainty; no one knew anything about him,” said Sue Jespersen, a starting guard on Geffken’s first team. Boy - or in this case, girl - do they know now. And for those who don’t, try this for a sampling - six appearances in the state finals, 18 Sussex County Interscholastic League titles, and 25 consecutive trips to the SCIL Festival finals. Bill Ruggieri knows. He’s been cheering his friend on since they were players for the Mohawk Diamonds in a Sparta softball “rec” league some 30 years ago. “He’s decent to the kids,” said Ruggieri, a self-proclaimed team mascot. “He doesn’t pull any punches, but they all love him.” Jessica Schueneman knows. She’s watched her daughters -- Vicki, Lindsay, and now Mallori - filter through the girls basketball program that Geffken helped to create and sustain in Sparta. “He has the ability to see talent and has the ability to handle high school girls,” said Shueneman. And Pat Shea knows. He came to Sparta in 1991 and has spent the past three years as the high school’s athletic director. “He just treats the girls like athletes,” said Shea. “He works them very hard at the game and brings out the best in them.” When Geffken took over as coach, he knew most of the parents or kids in town one way or another. He had been a coach in Babe Ruth baseball and for the seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball teams; spent a stint as a baseball assistant and head softball coach at nearby Pope John; and then had tenures as a football and soccer assistant at Sparta. But Geffken knew more about the kids than most coaches. He was also a lieutenant on the Sparta police force. “He was a positive role model,” said Jespersen, now a corporal on the Sparta police force. And to others as well. The 1,000 point scorers -- 13 of them in all - from Kaitlyn Prol to Liz Hanson; and the names of Dillow, Warner, Jent, Reigstad, Morrison, Drandakis and Simpson, whose legacies decorate the school’s hallway trophy case. Another year. Another player. “A lot of these girls played exceptionally well,” said Geffken. “They all worked their butts off and they didn’t complain. If you want to be a Lady Spartan, that’s what you have to do.” Ernie Reigstad watched his younger sisters, Helene and Lauren, work during the late ‘80s, when, at one stretch, Sparta was winning 29 consecutive games and its first state title in 1985. But the older brother picked up a few things from his sisters’ coach along the way as well, winding up on the Sparta police force, where Geffken had since risen to chief. “He’s an outstanding coach and his success speaks for itself,” said Reigstad, who became chief of police after Geffken retired in 2003. “He’s had some good players and good assistant coaches, but so have a lot of other coaches who haven’t had his success.” Reigstad, who has coached the Sparta girls basketball travel teams for close to 25 years, credits Geffken’s consistency to his dedication and devotion to the township youth program. “He always comes down to watch the games and comes to the practices to work with the kids,” said Reigstad. “It’s a thrill for the kids to see the high school coach come watch them play. It makes it a special day.” And the kids are all special to the coach, who still gets a kick out of seeing former players hanging around the gym on any given game night. “One group of kids lead to another,” said Geffken. “I look at these kids as my extended family.” In fact, the coach hasn’t always had to look very far. His daughter, Barbara, was an all-league player for her father, when Geffken first began coaching in the early ‘80s. Barbara Letore is now a successful nurse, married, and lives in town. And there’s a granddaughter, Meagan, who could play for Geffken when she becomes a freshman next season at Sparta. “We’ll see how that works out,” said Geffken. “She’ll have to earn a spot.” Geffken isn’t one for playing favorites. Family will have to get in line like everyone else. “It’s cost me some friends whose daughters I didn’t play,” he said. “And they got mad at me.” Unlike some coaches who throw tirades when play goes awry, Geffken doesn’t lose his cool or his seat on the bench next to his assistant coaches. “I try to keep it low-key,” said Geffken, who hasn’t had much to complain about, winning 90 percent of his games, never losing more than two consecutively. “I learned early on with the girls that you can’t rip into them. You have to treat them like your daughter.” Jeff Hughes knows a little bit about winning as well. The Sparta boys and girls tennis coach, who has amassed more than 900 career victories, remembers when Geffken joined the high school athletics staff. “Fred came in and turned the program around,” said Hughes. “He has a great repertoire with the kids and always has. He gets the most out of his kids. He can take an average player and make them a strong player. His influence has been tremendous in developing basketball in Sparta.” Now Geffken and the Lady Spartans turn their collective attention to a Group 3 state title and a chance to advance toward a berth in the Tournament of Champions. Another game. Another story. “I never planned on doing this for this long, maybe a half-dozen years - 10 at most,” said the 66-year-old coach. “If there’s a perfect time to step down, this might be the time. But, I haven’t had the itch.” Another year? Perhaps, another story?