New Caparaso acting like old Caparaso

First-year Spoto coach Dale Caparaso has aways thought of himself as being a disciplinarian, but something happened his final two seasons during a recent stint at Pasco. He stopped being himself.

"The first couple years at Pasco, if a kid was two minutes late there were consequences," Caparaso said. "Severe consequences. But I think that got away from me a little bit. With the immense pressure to win, win, win all the time, I probably played a kid when I shouldn't have for coming to practice late or missing practice. I'm the first to admit I didn't do things the same. The numbers went down a little, so I let a few things slide I shouldn't have. I'm not talking about anything major, just little things."

As Spoto players have discovered, the old Caparaso is back.

"We're back to being disciplined," the coach said. "There are two words we use with the kids on a daily basis. I've been there nine weeks, and I've said these words every day -- accountability and responsibility."

To emphasize both, the Spoto coaching staff had a simple rule over the summer: If an athlete couldn't make it to a voluntary conditioning session, he was asked to call in advance.

"My phone rang off the hook," Caparaso said. "It was a great summer in terms of kids taking ownership and becoming responsible young people. ... On Aug. 11, that theory ended. With mandatory practice, you have to get here on time. If you have to walk 3 miles, you better leave at 2 o'clock. A couple of kids have been late and have suffered. We ran them and ran them, and let them know, no more. But so far, so good. They've done a fabulous job. The kids were really kind of yearning to have some discipline."

--KEITH NIEBUHR