Argo's Coach McCarthy (in the background) at the Argo Shooting Clinic. (Photos by Argo senior Gabriela Espinoza)
Argo’s Coach McCarthy hosts basketball clinics for area schools
By Carol McGowan
Argo’s Head Girls Basketball Coach, Dan McCarthy, has been busy getting area students ready for their upcoming season, as well as ready for Argonaut basketball.
McCarthy recently hosted two basketball clinics. One was at Heritage Middle School in Summit, and one was held at Argo High School in Summit.
The first, a Coaching Clinic, was held at Heritage on August 24. It was geared toward junior high coaches in the area, specifically the staff at Heritage, Wilkins, and Willow Springs.
“I brought my varsity players there and demonstrated some of our most important drills we run at the high school level. It also gave the coaches an opportunity to ask questions on how we coach our players. When I was a young coach, attending coaching clinics helped me become a better coach,” said McCarthy.
The second, a Shooting Clinic, was held at Argo High School on Saturday, September 30.
“This was a free event, and the message is that we want to be a community resource for our families.”
“I want to give back to our community. I am extremely grateful for the run that I have had at Argo and so as I prioritize my goals for the back end of my career at Argo, I want to make sure giving back to the community is front and center. Of course, we have offered our Junior Argonaut feeder program for the last 18 years. Our Jr Argo program is local and affordable, yet another way we want to give back to our community.”
Five area coaches were registered for the coaching clinic, and 20 players were registered for the shooting clinic.
Three coaches that took part in the Coaching Clinic were from Heritage Middle School, and two were from Argo.
Students at the shooting clinic ranged from the fifth- to eighth-grades.
“We had players from 7 different schools in our feeder district: 5 from Wilkins, 4 from Heritage, 2 from Willow Springs, 5 from Graves, 1 from Brodnicki, 1 from Lyle, and 2 from Walsh School.
Each clinic was an hour and a half.
Besides McCarthy, Coach James Pino from Argo, and Coach Carolina Tovar (Wilkins and 2017 Argo grad) also helped with the shooting clinic.
McCarthy ran the Coaching Clinic himself.
These clinics aren’t new for McCarthy.
“I have run these clinics in the past. The last coaching clinic I hosted was in 2018. I usually like to run them every other year. But the pandemic came, so it’s been a few years. I would say this was my fifth coaching clinic I have run at Argo during my tenure.”
“I ran a shooting clinic this past April and moving forward, I plan to offer a free shooting clinic at least 2-3 times a year.”
As for the Coaching Clinic, the goal is to help young coaches develop into effective coaching leaders.
“Beyond the drills, I want to teach coaches how to be role models and how to effectively motivate young athletes.”
“For the shooting clinic, I want to teach young players the correct mechanics of shooting. Shooting is the name of the game in high school basketball. If you are not a good shooter, you will have a limited role on the team. I’m not saying you won’t make the team, but you need players that can spread the floor and shoot the three-ball. If you look at some of our best teams over the years, we had excellent shooters on the team. Teaching the jump shot is very similar to the golf swing—in that the mechanics are very scientific. And mechanics must be developed at a young age so that natural body strength and thousands of shot repetitions will help a player develop into an excellent high school jump shooter. I want to make sure the players that attend the shooting clinics are taught the correct form of shooting. And I want to give them some drills that they can continue to work on at home or in the gym. I would compare the shooting clinic to getting a golf swing lesson at the local gold course. But it’s free!”
Argo girls basketball has had many award-winning seasons with McCarthy as head coach. They’ve won 13 conference championships combined among all three levels. Five for varsity, six for sophomore, and two for freshmen.
In addition to that, they have had one Regional title (2020), three varsity holiday tournament titles (two Thanksgiving, one Christmas), and a 42-game varsity conference winning streak (2017-2020).
As far as Head Coach McCarthy and his team’s upcoming basketball season at Argo, “We will be rebuilding this year. We have a very young program, and we are excited about what the future holds. We will be doing a lot of teaching this year with young, inexperienced players.”
This is McCarthy’s 20th year coaching at Argo High School.
1 Comment
Local News
Willow Springs hires Grace as village administrator
By Steve Metsch Citing his experience in Lyons, Willow Springs Mayor Melissa Neddermeyer said Ryan Grace was the best of five finalists interviewed for the job of village administrator. Grace, 38, had been public works director in Lyons the past four years, working on a wide range of village issues and events in that time.…
Body of missing Forest View woman found
By Carol McGowan The search for 20-year-old Charisma Ehresman of Forest View is over. The body of the young woman was found Friday evening in her vehicle in Chicago’s South Austin neighborhood, on the city’s west side, which borders Oak Park. The car had apparently been there for several days. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s…
Heritage Middle School cheer team takes first
By Carol McGowan Congratulations are in order for the Heritage Middle School Cheer Team. The team competed for the first time on Saturday, January 15, at Old Quarry Middle School in Lemont and took first place. It was a huge accomplishment for the team and Summit School District 104 is very proud of them. Coach…
Area Sports Roundup: Sandburg bowls ’em over at state; Marist cheerleaders win sectional
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Is there a state trophy coming for the Sandburg boys bowling team in the future? With this unpredictable sport, that’s hard to predict. But after a fourth-place finish in the IHSA state tournament, held Jan. 28-29 at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon, the needle is pointing up. The finish —…
A long time coming: Oak Lawn wins first conference title in 39 years
By Steve Millar Correspondent After a 39-year wait and some near-misses in recent seasons, Oak Lawn is finally bringing home a conference championship. The Spartans sealed their first South Suburban Red title, and first conference championship of any kind since winning the SICA West in 1982-83, by pulling out a dramatic 48-45 road win over…
Lyons man is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
By Steve Metsch While you’re reading this story, Lyons resident Stephan Alheim will be busy climbing the tallest mountain in Africa. Alheim is one of 10 adventurers who this week are climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 19,341 feet tall. They started climbing Jan. 23 and are expected to reach the top…
Willow Springs expected to hire Lyons official as village administrator
By Steve Metsch Ryan Grace, public works director in Lyons for the past four years, is expected to be hired as the Willow Springs village administrator tonight. The village board is expected to approve his hiring during its 7 p.m. meeting. Grace, 38, said he was offered the job by Willow Springs Mayor Melissa N.…
Chicago Ridge librarian knocks off ‘Jeopardy’ champion
By Kelly White Rhone Talsma grew up watching “Jeopardy!” – the classic game show with a twist where the answers are given first, and the contestants supply the questions. On Wednesday, Talsma knocked off 40-day champion Amy Schneider and won almost $30,000 in the process of becoming the new champion. Locally, the show airs Monday…
Seven Mt. Carmel wrestlers win titles, help Caravan to Chicago Catholic League crown; Brother Rice takes 3rd
By Steve Millar Correspondent Ryan Boersma did not get the opportunity to become a four-time Catholic League champion because the COVID-19 pandemic caused to the cancellation of the conference tournament. But winning three Catholic League championships at two schools, and wrapping it up by winning a Lawless Award for the league’s best senior wrestler? The…
Former GOP allies to battle for county board race
Gorman wants to reclaim seat from Morrison By Bob Bong A battle royale is brewing in the race for the Republican nomination for Cook County Board’s 17th District. The 17th District is one of only two county board seats held by Republicans and it has only ever had a Republican commissioner dating back to Herb…
Neighbors
Jury deadlocks, mistrial declared in case of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked in their deliberations over whether former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza bribed longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan via a no-work contract for the speaker’s political ally. After nearly 15 hours of deliberation…
High court: Smell of burnt cannabis is not cause for warrantless vehicle search
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Law enforcement officers in Illinois cannot rely on the smell of burnt cannabis alone to justify searching a vehicle without a warrant, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision was unanimous, though Justice Lisa Holder White did not take part in it. Writing for the court,…
State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A federal judge invoked images from the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Thursday at the end of a trial in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. Judge Steven McGlynn, who has…
Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois’ assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense. Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms…
Case of former AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan heads to jury
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On Valentine’s Day in 2017, then-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza got some good news: After years of trying to push for legislation in Springfield that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars annually, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had agreed to a…
State Supreme Court hears arguments in Jussie Smollett’s effort to overturn conviction
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in actor Jussie Smollett’s appeal to overturn his conviction on disorderly conduct charges for falsifying a hate crime. Smollett, who was an actor on the TV show “Empire,” was improperly charged with the same crime twice, his legal team…
Testimony continues in 2nd Amendment challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer…
Contractor’s unsecured databases exposed sensitive voter data in over a dozen Illinois counties
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Around 4.6 million records associated with Illinoisans in over a dozen counties – including voting records, registrations and death certificates – were temporarily available on the open internet, according to a security researcher who identified the vulnerability in July. The documents were available through an unsecured cloud storage…
Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – After years of pushing in Springfield, AT&T Illinois’ executive team was thrilled when the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 passed legislation that would get the company out from under expensive obligations to maintain its aging copper landline wires in Illinois. “Game over. We win,” AT&T Illinois…
Trial begins in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – The owner of a gun store testified Monday that Illinois’ ban on the sale of assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines has had a significant impact on his business and prevented his customers from buying items they would normally use for self-defense, hunting, target…
Dan McCarthy told one of his student athletes that a panic attack wasn’t a valid excuse for missing practice and benched them. Dan doesn’t care about the students, just his image.