Trailblazing Tomek takes a breather
State legend retires after 35-year teaching, coaching run
By Matt Le Cren
The sports world celebrates and reflects on the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the landmark federal legislation that banned discrimination on the basis of gender in education. In suburban Chicago, one of the multitude of women who benefitted from the law and blazed a trail for others to follow quietly retired.
Wheaton native Christine Tomek, who first made history when she earned all-state honors playing for the Wheaton Central boys soccer team, ended her 35-year teaching and coaching career after a 28-year tenure at Downers Grove North.
Tomek’s last school year ended May 19, which was also her birthday. The 58-year-old coached her final game May 24, when the Trojans girls lost 1-0 to Glenbard West in a sectional semifinal. Even after a long and storied career, the denouement came much too soon for the many who played for and/or coached with Tomek. Her contributions in the classroom and on the pitch will echo far into the future of the thousands of lives she impacted.
“She’s a unique woman,” said Downers Grove North girls head coach Brian Papa, for whom Tomek was an assistant the past six years. “She is Downers Grove North.
“I’ve known her for many years on the boys side coaching against her, and coaching against her on the girls side. She gets along with the girls as well as the guys. They all respect her.”
Given Tomek’s history and accomplishments, it’s easy to see why.
The early years
When Tomek grew up in Wheaton in the 1970s, opportunities were still scarce for girls in the early years of Title IX. Still, she was a two-sport star at Wheaton Central, where she also earned all-state honors as a softball outfielder.
But soccer was Tomek’s main sport. The passion was passed down to her from her father George, who left his native Czechoslovakia after World War II. Wheaton Central did not field a girls soccer team at the time, so Tomek and her younger sister Anne-Marie played for the boys team.
Tomek was an all-state midfielder for the Tigers as a senior in 1981, but she was not allowed to play in the postseason.
“I thought nothing of playing on the boys team,” Tomek said. “The first time I felt strongly about the inequities was when the IHSA ruled that I could play on the boys varsity team until playoffs. When playoffs started, I was not on the field as a female playing.”
Tomek wasn’t the first member of her family to face such blatant discrimination.
“My sister had the same issue,” Tomek said. “She played on the boys team, and they placed second (in 1983).
“When they played in the state finals, my sister had to sit not on the bench but in the stands. The coach took the medal he received, and he walked up into the stands, and he put it on my sister.”
Tomek doesn’t consider herself a pioneer. She believes that title should be reserved for the girls and women who came up in the decade before her. Regardless, she has broken down barriers throughout her life.
Tomek earned a full softball scholarship at Iowa, where she played two seasons and was second team All-Big Ten as a sophomore. She later transferred to George Mason University to play soccer and led the team to the 1985 national championship.
The U.S. Women’s National Team was formed that same year. Tomek was part of the original player pool and competed in 12 games in 1986 and 1987 alongside the likes of Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers and Julie Foudy.
“It was just such an honor,” Tomek said. “When I made the team … I put my jersey on and slept with my jersey on the first night.
“I just felt so blessed and grateful that I had this opportunity, because I know many women did not. It was a goal of mine, if there was a national team, to be on that team. I reached that goal.”
Women’s soccer was just getting started at the international level when Tomek played. The first Women’s World Cup wasn’t played until 1991 and the U.S. didn’t have a pro league until 2001, but Tomek grasped the gravity of the situation.
“To represent my country, I took that seriously,” Tomek said. “I remember my father telling me that when I played for our country, I’m representing not only myself but my family and my country, so to take that seriously.”
The original national team was a shadow of what it is today. Its funding was embarrassing. Tomek noted that, too.
“When I played on the national team, we got $10 per diem,” Tomek said. “We had to put patches on our jerseys, because they were old jerseys from the men’s team.
“Then we had to train on our own, because we didn’t have funding. When you think about those times and compare them to where we are today and where we’re going, it’s very exciting.”
Coaching
After graduating from George Mason, Tomek began teaching and coaching in Virginia. When her father became ill, she returned home and took a job at Waubonsie Valley High School.
Then, Downers Grove North boys soccer coach Bob Graham gave her a heads-up about a job. In 1994, she was hired to teach health and became head coach of the Trojans’ girls soccer program and sophomore boys coach.
When Graham stepped down, Tomek was elevated to head coach and became just the second woman to lead a boys varsity soccer team in Illinois. Katie Keller, who graduated from Wheaton Central three years before Tomek, was the trailblazer at Batavia.
The Trojans climbed to unprecedented heights during Tomek’s tenure from 1995 to 2003, reaching the state quarterfinals for the first time in 2000 and again in 2001. They lost 3-1 to eventual runnerup Lincoln-Way, which was coached by Papa, in the 2000 quarterfinals. Downers Grove North lost 2-0 to eventual champion Sandburg the following season.
She stepped down from the top job shortly before her father died but later returned to both programs as an assistant.
Two of the key players from those teams followed Tomek into coaching at their alma mater.
Class of 2003 alums Mike Schmitt and Mike Corvo now run the boys program. Schmitt was named head coach in 2014, and Tomek returned to help him out. She also recruited Corvo to come back as Schmitt’s assistant.
“She’s the one that brought me back into the North program,” Schmitt said. “I had volunteered a few years before, and it was really nice to have as an assistant someone who guided my growth as a player.
“She has had a massive impact on me as a coach and a player. A lot of the pieces of the foundation of how we run the program today are from what was instilled in me as a player.
“I still run things very similar to the way she did. She taught me a lot about integrity and respect on and off the field -- how to be not just a good player but a good person. I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for not only the program but myself as a coach.”
Tomek will blush at such praise. She prefers to turn the spotlight on her players.
“For a long time, I didn’t like having the attention on me,” Tomek said. “I want to be a humble person and just do my job, but I came to realize the value in sharing my story.
“When these stories would come up, and I saw the responses of my students or soccer players both on the boys side and girls side, I realized my story is one to share. It is important to know the history, and people looked up to me.
“That was uncomfortable for many years, but I accepted that role. I made a promise to myself that I would always be humble and yet honest, the best role model that I can be and a positive influence on others.”
A role model
When the girls head coaching position became open in 2017, Tomek was the obvious choice to fill it. However, she wanted to remain an assistant.
Instead, she urged Papa, who had retired from teaching and coaching at Lincoln-Way East the year before, to apply for the job.
“When I retired, I did not want to be a head coach,” Papa said. “I wanted to be somebody’s assistant. But it worked out at DGN.
“She talked me into applying for it. She was my eyes and ears inside the school for everything. Without her, it would have been really tough, me being new, not being familiar with that conference. She just helped me tremendously.”
It didn’t take long for the pairing to pay off. In Papa’s first year at the helm, the Trojans, who had won only one regional title and never been past the sectional semifinal round, advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals after a stunning shootout upset over Naperville North in the supersectional.
Downers Grove North returned home with the school’s first state soccer trophy after its fourth place finish.
Midfielder Abby Swanson was the star of that 2017 team and captain of the 2018 squad that won another sectional title before losing to Andrew in the supersectional. Now a fifth-year senior at Loyola, the 2020 second-team All-American credits Tomek with her ascent in the sport.
“For us as players, especially in high school, you couldn’t even dream of a better role model to have at practice every day as a coach and even as a teacher,” Swanson said.
“You’re watching someone who isn’t afraid to play with the boys and is better than the boys. We talk about women in sports and kind of finding our own way and not being in the shadows, and she’s been doing that before that was as big as it is now.”
While Tomek demanded excellence from her players and had a fierce competitive drive, that’s not what stood out to Swanson, who benefitted from Tomek’s mentoring in other ways.
“She always had our back,” Swanson said. “I feel like when you were on her team or in her class, everyone could go talk to her.
“If something didn’t feel right or you had a concern about something, she heard your voice but she never spoke over you. She listened to what you had to say and highlighted that and took our concerns to heart.”
Even as a prep player, Swanson was an articulate team spokesperson. At Loyola, she has been interviewed several times on Chicago television. The aspiring nurse thanks Tomek with helping her communications skills.
“At the time I was 16, we’re still learning how to use our voices,” Swanson said. “But she was someone who totally empowered you to go forward, whatever way that was, and it was just so cool.”
Tomek’s efforts have allowed a generation of girls to dream big. But it was also important for her male players to experience her leadership.
That’s especially poignant now for Corvo, whose daughter Logan turned one on July 16.
“Tomek’s been the only female coach that I’ve worked with as a player,” Corvo said. “She’s breaking barriers, which is really cool.
“I’m in software technology, so women in tech is top of mind for me now. It’s not like it wasn’t before, but having a daughter of my own now, I have a different lens to look at things.
“With Tomek being that trailblazer that she was and continues to be right now, if I could ever get my daughter to spend time with her and build a relationship, it would be invaluable.”
Corvo’s takeaways from Tomek are applied beyond the soccer field.
“Out of all my coaches, she had if not the most, then definitely up there the most influence on me personally, taking a different angle and really dissecting it at more of a personal level,” Corvo said. “These players are human; they’re people; it’s not a business.
“We’re really shaping these boys and doing everything that we can to help turn them into young men. It’s invaluable what she’s taught me as a coach as it relates to just making sure you’re grounded. Winning and losing is important, but people become better people is even more important.”
The legacy
In the continuing push for equality, Tomek remains a local standard-bearer. Her generation grew up with few female athletes to emulate.
The current generation has plenty, and they will pay it forward into the next generation.
“I think back to when I went to Wheaton Central and I played on the boys team, there weren’t many female role models to look up to,” Tomek said. “We didn’t have those opportunities when I was growing up.
“My role models were male players, because that’s who I watched. I watched Charlie Fajkus and other superstars that came out of Wheaton Central.”
Her alma mater and its successor school Wheaton Warrenville South produced notable sporting luminaries such as Fajkus, who played for the Chicago Sting and remains a friend of Tomek’s, football legend Red Grange, two-time PGA Tour victor Kevin Streelman and Olympic volleyball gold medalist Sean Rooney.
Tomek is the only one who remained in the area. Her tenure at Downers Grove North helped define the impact women can have in sports.
“It’s massive,” Schmitt said. “She really did so much in terms of breaking down that gender stereotype.
“Crossing over into the boys side she led such a successful program for so long, and people kind of stopped looking at her as a female coach and just saw her as a coach. She led the program into a new era.
“There are so few woman coaches out there, and she did it at such a high level for such a long time on the boys side and the girls side, and garnered so much respect from so many people. She was very knowledgeable.”
So knowledgeable, in fact, that she could see the potential in players before they could see it in themselves.
Swanson has a legitimate shot at becoming the first Downers Grove North girl to play professional soccer, something that wasn’t on her radar when she sat out her freshman season with a torn ACL.
“She was the one that, from a young age, put that thought in my head about playing college, playing pro,” Swanson said. “It was never a question with her that I would play pro.
“Having someone like her to follow, I don’t know that I’d think of the possibilities without having someone like her around.
“It was just so cool to have someone in your corner like that who was looking for the next opportunity for you before you even knew it sometimes. She pushed me to get to that next level.”
Tomek passed up on several opportunities to remain at Downers Grove North. She had offers to coach at the collegiate level but chose to earn a Master’s Degree in counseling and remain as a health teacher.
“I wanted to stay in the classroom, because that’s where I felt I could do my best work,” Tomek said. “I felt I found my place at the high school level. Specifically, my time at Downers Grove North was truly amazing.
“What an honor to coach and teach at such a wonderful, respected school with supportive parents. We are certainly blessed to work in such a supportive community.”
The future
Tomek is taking some time off to relax. She recently bought a house in Nashville, Tenn., but has kept her home in the western suburbs, where her mother and other family members still reside. She does not know what her next endeavor will be.
“I never really looked forward to retiring, because I love teaching, and I love coaching,” Tomek said. “It’s still weird talking about it in the past tense.
“Every day, I felt very thankful to have the opportunity to do what I did for a living.
“It’s been my life and my passion. My goal was to give everything I had, whether it was in the classroom or sponsoring a club, or coaching, every day. Hopefully I achieved that and made a difference in young people’s lives.”
Tomek won’t rule out a return to coaching one day. Schmitt and Corvo expect it.
“I’d be very shocked to see her give it up cold turkey like that,” Schmitt said. “As someone who has played the game her whole life and been a part of the game, it’s really hard to step away like that.
“After a few months, I’m sure she will miss it.”
Corvo attended the Downers Grove North girls’ regional championship win over Glenbard East on May 20 and introduced a potential future Trojan to Tomek.
“I brought Logan and my wife (Taylor). We’re talking to Tomek and I’m like, ‘This is the future here, and you can coach Logan.’
“She said, ‘I would love to but that’s another 10-15 years away.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, take your time off now, because you’re coming back.’”
Until then, Corvo and Schmitt intend to hold down the fort.
“I don’t know how she’s going to be able to stay away from the game,” Corvo said. “I don’t think she’s the type to just sit around.
“I think she’s going to get to that point where she’s like, ‘Hey, I need to do something.’”
Tomek is always doing something. This summer has included watching women’s soccer games on TV. She’s heartened to see the stands packed.
And she’s thrilled former players like Schmitt and Corvo are coaching for the long haul.
“That’s a good feeling,” Tomek said. “They’re giving back not only to the game but to the school.”
But the promise of Title IX has yet to be completely realized.
“I feel that I’m fortunate to have benefitted from Title IX,” Tomek said. “We’ve made great strides, but we still have more work to do on equality.
“We have to keep pushing for opportunities and equality for girls and women, not only in sports, but in education and the workplace.”
Tomek did much to get the ball rolling. She is the only woman in the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Papa, who stepped down this spring as the organization’s president, said several others will be inducted in the near future. They will all owe a debt of gratitude to Tomek.
“She’s had such a phenomenal impact on so many people,” Schmitt said. “She is an inspiration for all players. What she has given to the game in the state of Illinois is massive.”
State legend retires after 35-year teaching, coaching run
By Matt Le Cren
The sports world celebrates and reflects on the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the landmark federal legislation that banned discrimination on the basis of gender in education. In suburban Chicago, one of the multitude of women who benefitted from the law and blazed a trail for others to follow quietly retired.
Wheaton native Christine Tomek, who first made history when she earned all-state honors playing for the Wheaton Central boys soccer team, ended her 35-year teaching and coaching career after a 28-year tenure at Downers Grove North.
Tomek’s last school year ended May 19, which was also her birthday. The 58-year-old coached her final game May 24, when the Trojans girls lost 1-0 to Glenbard West in a sectional semifinal. Even after a long and storied career, the denouement came much too soon for the many who played for and/or coached with Tomek. Her contributions in the classroom and on the pitch will echo far into the future of the thousands of lives she impacted.
“She’s a unique woman,” said Downers Grove North girls head coach Brian Papa, for whom Tomek was an assistant the past six years. “She is Downers Grove North.
“I’ve known her for many years on the boys side coaching against her, and coaching against her on the girls side. She gets along with the girls as well as the guys. They all respect her.”
Given Tomek’s history and accomplishments, it’s easy to see why.
The early years
When Tomek grew up in Wheaton in the 1970s, opportunities were still scarce for girls in the early years of Title IX. Still, she was a two-sport star at Wheaton Central, where she also earned all-state honors as a softball outfielder.
But soccer was Tomek’s main sport. The passion was passed down to her from her father George, who left his native Czechoslovakia after World War II. Wheaton Central did not field a girls soccer team at the time, so Tomek and her younger sister Anne-Marie played for the boys team.
Tomek was an all-state midfielder for the Tigers as a senior in 1981, but she was not allowed to play in the postseason.
“I thought nothing of playing on the boys team,” Tomek said. “The first time I felt strongly about the inequities was when the IHSA ruled that I could play on the boys varsity team until playoffs. When playoffs started, I was not on the field as a female playing.”
Tomek wasn’t the first member of her family to face such blatant discrimination.
“My sister had the same issue,” Tomek said. “She played on the boys team, and they placed second (in 1983).
“When they played in the state finals, my sister had to sit not on the bench but in the stands. The coach took the medal he received, and he walked up into the stands, and he put it on my sister.”
Tomek doesn’t consider herself a pioneer. She believes that title should be reserved for the girls and women who came up in the decade before her. Regardless, she has broken down barriers throughout her life.
Tomek earned a full softball scholarship at Iowa, where she played two seasons and was second team All-Big Ten as a sophomore. She later transferred to George Mason University to play soccer and led the team to the 1985 national championship.
The U.S. Women’s National Team was formed that same year. Tomek was part of the original player pool and competed in 12 games in 1986 and 1987 alongside the likes of Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers and Julie Foudy.
“It was just such an honor,” Tomek said. “When I made the team … I put my jersey on and slept with my jersey on the first night.
“I just felt so blessed and grateful that I had this opportunity, because I know many women did not. It was a goal of mine, if there was a national team, to be on that team. I reached that goal.”
Women’s soccer was just getting started at the international level when Tomek played. The first Women’s World Cup wasn’t played until 1991 and the U.S. didn’t have a pro league until 2001, but Tomek grasped the gravity of the situation.
“To represent my country, I took that seriously,” Tomek said. “I remember my father telling me that when I played for our country, I’m representing not only myself but my family and my country, so to take that seriously.”
The original national team was a shadow of what it is today. Its funding was embarrassing. Tomek noted that, too.
“When I played on the national team, we got $10 per diem,” Tomek said. “We had to put patches on our jerseys, because they were old jerseys from the men’s team.
“Then we had to train on our own, because we didn’t have funding. When you think about those times and compare them to where we are today and where we’re going, it’s very exciting.”
Coaching
After graduating from George Mason, Tomek began teaching and coaching in Virginia. When her father became ill, she returned home and took a job at Waubonsie Valley High School.
Then, Downers Grove North boys soccer coach Bob Graham gave her a heads-up about a job. In 1994, she was hired to teach health and became head coach of the Trojans’ girls soccer program and sophomore boys coach.
When Graham stepped down, Tomek was elevated to head coach and became just the second woman to lead a boys varsity soccer team in Illinois. Katie Keller, who graduated from Wheaton Central three years before Tomek, was the trailblazer at Batavia.
The Trojans climbed to unprecedented heights during Tomek’s tenure from 1995 to 2003, reaching the state quarterfinals for the first time in 2000 and again in 2001. They lost 3-1 to eventual runnerup Lincoln-Way, which was coached by Papa, in the 2000 quarterfinals. Downers Grove North lost 2-0 to eventual champion Sandburg the following season.
She stepped down from the top job shortly before her father died but later returned to both programs as an assistant.
Two of the key players from those teams followed Tomek into coaching at their alma mater.
Class of 2003 alums Mike Schmitt and Mike Corvo now run the boys program. Schmitt was named head coach in 2014, and Tomek returned to help him out. She also recruited Corvo to come back as Schmitt’s assistant.
“She’s the one that brought me back into the North program,” Schmitt said. “I had volunteered a few years before, and it was really nice to have as an assistant someone who guided my growth as a player.
“She has had a massive impact on me as a coach and a player. A lot of the pieces of the foundation of how we run the program today are from what was instilled in me as a player.
“I still run things very similar to the way she did. She taught me a lot about integrity and respect on and off the field -- how to be not just a good player but a good person. I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for not only the program but myself as a coach.”
Tomek will blush at such praise. She prefers to turn the spotlight on her players.
“For a long time, I didn’t like having the attention on me,” Tomek said. “I want to be a humble person and just do my job, but I came to realize the value in sharing my story.
“When these stories would come up, and I saw the responses of my students or soccer players both on the boys side and girls side, I realized my story is one to share. It is important to know the history, and people looked up to me.
“That was uncomfortable for many years, but I accepted that role. I made a promise to myself that I would always be humble and yet honest, the best role model that I can be and a positive influence on others.”
A role model
When the girls head coaching position became open in 2017, Tomek was the obvious choice to fill it. However, she wanted to remain an assistant.
Instead, she urged Papa, who had retired from teaching and coaching at Lincoln-Way East the year before, to apply for the job.
“When I retired, I did not want to be a head coach,” Papa said. “I wanted to be somebody’s assistant. But it worked out at DGN.
“She talked me into applying for it. She was my eyes and ears inside the school for everything. Without her, it would have been really tough, me being new, not being familiar with that conference. She just helped me tremendously.”
It didn’t take long for the pairing to pay off. In Papa’s first year at the helm, the Trojans, who had won only one regional title and never been past the sectional semifinal round, advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals after a stunning shootout upset over Naperville North in the supersectional.
Downers Grove North returned home with the school’s first state soccer trophy after its fourth place finish.
Midfielder Abby Swanson was the star of that 2017 team and captain of the 2018 squad that won another sectional title before losing to Andrew in the supersectional. Now a fifth-year senior at Loyola, the 2020 second-team All-American credits Tomek with her ascent in the sport.
“For us as players, especially in high school, you couldn’t even dream of a better role model to have at practice every day as a coach and even as a teacher,” Swanson said.
“You’re watching someone who isn’t afraid to play with the boys and is better than the boys. We talk about women in sports and kind of finding our own way and not being in the shadows, and she’s been doing that before that was as big as it is now.”
While Tomek demanded excellence from her players and had a fierce competitive drive, that’s not what stood out to Swanson, who benefitted from Tomek’s mentoring in other ways.
“She always had our back,” Swanson said. “I feel like when you were on her team or in her class, everyone could go talk to her.
“If something didn’t feel right or you had a concern about something, she heard your voice but she never spoke over you. She listened to what you had to say and highlighted that and took our concerns to heart.”
Even as a prep player, Swanson was an articulate team spokesperson. At Loyola, she has been interviewed several times on Chicago television. The aspiring nurse thanks Tomek with helping her communications skills.
“At the time I was 16, we’re still learning how to use our voices,” Swanson said. “But she was someone who totally empowered you to go forward, whatever way that was, and it was just so cool.”
Tomek’s efforts have allowed a generation of girls to dream big. But it was also important for her male players to experience her leadership.
That’s especially poignant now for Corvo, whose daughter Logan turned one on July 16.
“Tomek’s been the only female coach that I’ve worked with as a player,” Corvo said. “She’s breaking barriers, which is really cool.
“I’m in software technology, so women in tech is top of mind for me now. It’s not like it wasn’t before, but having a daughter of my own now, I have a different lens to look at things.
“With Tomek being that trailblazer that she was and continues to be right now, if I could ever get my daughter to spend time with her and build a relationship, it would be invaluable.”
Corvo’s takeaways from Tomek are applied beyond the soccer field.
“Out of all my coaches, she had if not the most, then definitely up there the most influence on me personally, taking a different angle and really dissecting it at more of a personal level,” Corvo said. “These players are human; they’re people; it’s not a business.
“We’re really shaping these boys and doing everything that we can to help turn them into young men. It’s invaluable what she’s taught me as a coach as it relates to just making sure you’re grounded. Winning and losing is important, but people become better people is even more important.”
The legacy
In the continuing push for equality, Tomek remains a local standard-bearer. Her generation grew up with few female athletes to emulate.
The current generation has plenty, and they will pay it forward into the next generation.
“I think back to when I went to Wheaton Central and I played on the boys team, there weren’t many female role models to look up to,” Tomek said. “We didn’t have those opportunities when I was growing up.
“My role models were male players, because that’s who I watched. I watched Charlie Fajkus and other superstars that came out of Wheaton Central.”
Her alma mater and its successor school Wheaton Warrenville South produced notable sporting luminaries such as Fajkus, who played for the Chicago Sting and remains a friend of Tomek’s, football legend Red Grange, two-time PGA Tour victor Kevin Streelman and Olympic volleyball gold medalist Sean Rooney.
Tomek is the only one who remained in the area. Her tenure at Downers Grove North helped define the impact women can have in sports.
“It’s massive,” Schmitt said. “She really did so much in terms of breaking down that gender stereotype.
“Crossing over into the boys side she led such a successful program for so long, and people kind of stopped looking at her as a female coach and just saw her as a coach. She led the program into a new era.
“There are so few woman coaches out there, and she did it at such a high level for such a long time on the boys side and the girls side, and garnered so much respect from so many people. She was very knowledgeable.”
So knowledgeable, in fact, that she could see the potential in players before they could see it in themselves.
Swanson has a legitimate shot at becoming the first Downers Grove North girl to play professional soccer, something that wasn’t on her radar when she sat out her freshman season with a torn ACL.
“She was the one that, from a young age, put that thought in my head about playing college, playing pro,” Swanson said. “It was never a question with her that I would play pro.
“Having someone like her to follow, I don’t know that I’d think of the possibilities without having someone like her around.
“It was just so cool to have someone in your corner like that who was looking for the next opportunity for you before you even knew it sometimes. She pushed me to get to that next level.”
Tomek passed up on several opportunities to remain at Downers Grove North. She had offers to coach at the collegiate level but chose to earn a Master’s Degree in counseling and remain as a health teacher.
“I wanted to stay in the classroom, because that’s where I felt I could do my best work,” Tomek said. “I felt I found my place at the high school level. Specifically, my time at Downers Grove North was truly amazing.
“What an honor to coach and teach at such a wonderful, respected school with supportive parents. We are certainly blessed to work in such a supportive community.”
The future
Tomek is taking some time off to relax. She recently bought a house in Nashville, Tenn., but has kept her home in the western suburbs, where her mother and other family members still reside. She does not know what her next endeavor will be.
“I never really looked forward to retiring, because I love teaching, and I love coaching,” Tomek said. “It’s still weird talking about it in the past tense.
“Every day, I felt very thankful to have the opportunity to do what I did for a living.
“It’s been my life and my passion. My goal was to give everything I had, whether it was in the classroom or sponsoring a club, or coaching, every day. Hopefully I achieved that and made a difference in young people’s lives.”
Tomek won’t rule out a return to coaching one day. Schmitt and Corvo expect it.
“I’d be very shocked to see her give it up cold turkey like that,” Schmitt said. “As someone who has played the game her whole life and been a part of the game, it’s really hard to step away like that.
“After a few months, I’m sure she will miss it.”
Corvo attended the Downers Grove North girls’ regional championship win over Glenbard East on May 20 and introduced a potential future Trojan to Tomek.
“I brought Logan and my wife (Taylor). We’re talking to Tomek and I’m like, ‘This is the future here, and you can coach Logan.’
“She said, ‘I would love to but that’s another 10-15 years away.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, take your time off now, because you’re coming back.’”
Until then, Corvo and Schmitt intend to hold down the fort.
“I don’t know how she’s going to be able to stay away from the game,” Corvo said. “I don’t think she’s the type to just sit around.
“I think she’s going to get to that point where she’s like, ‘Hey, I need to do something.’”
Tomek is always doing something. This summer has included watching women’s soccer games on TV. She’s heartened to see the stands packed.
And she’s thrilled former players like Schmitt and Corvo are coaching for the long haul.
“That’s a good feeling,” Tomek said. “They’re giving back not only to the game but to the school.”
But the promise of Title IX has yet to be completely realized.
“I feel that I’m fortunate to have benefitted from Title IX,” Tomek said. “We’ve made great strides, but we still have more work to do on equality.
“We have to keep pushing for opportunities and equality for girls and women, not only in sports, but in education and the workplace.”
Tomek did much to get the ball rolling. She is the only woman in the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Papa, who stepped down this spring as the organization’s president, said several others will be inducted in the near future. They will all owe a debt of gratitude to Tomek.
“She’s had such a phenomenal impact on so many people,” Schmitt said. “She is an inspiration for all players. What she has given to the game in the state of Illinois is massive.”