By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
In a few days, Tim Sullivan will begin his 16th season as boys head basketball coach at Cooper High School. One of the freshmen on the roster is his son, Elijah, who was born in 2008, the year that Sullivan launched the Jaguars program.
Cooper’s first two varsity teams compiled a 7-50 record. Sullivan said his infant son was one calming factor during that rough start. The other was his wife, Andrea, who recently finished her 21st season as head volleyball coach at Scott High School.
“I think because she was a coach and with her personality and the way she is, that was another humongous thing that helped me get through it all,” Tim said.
The married coaches have done a remarkable job with their high school sports teams over the years while raising their three children. Elijah’s younger siblings are Emory, 13, and Easton, 9, and they’re all involved in sports.
Andrea said she prepares a detailed weekly schedule to make sure everyone gets to where they need to go.
When their coaching commitments overlap, they ask their parents and other relatives to help with the kids like most married couples do.
“There’s times when we go, ‘What would it be like to be normal,’ but this is what we’re meant to do,” Tim said of the hectic schedule. “Her mom and my mom are a lot alike in that they want to help others, and I think we both have that gene. Not to get religious about it, but it’s a calling. We’re doing what we’re called to do.”
The Sullivans look forward to spending Thanksgiving Day relaxing with family members instead of rushing around. It gives them a chance to revitalize their most vital relationships.
“There’s probably times when (our kids) feel like we put our basketball and our volleyball kids ahead of them,” Tim said. “But I don’t ever want them to think that consumes us all the time.”
Tim enters this season with a 250-179 record at Cooper. The Jaguars won the 2017 9th Region basketball championship and took the runner-up trophy in the state tournament. Last season, Cooper made it back to the region final and lost on a last-second shot.
Scott has won five 10th Region volleyball championships in 10 trips to the finals and compiled a 463-304 record with Andrea as head coach. This year, the Eagles made it to the region final with a young team and lost, 3-2, in the title match.
Tim did not go to the volleyball region final in October because their daughter had a sports banquet that night. After watching the end of the match online, he posted a note on Twitter.
“I can say this was easily the greatest coaching job I’ve ever witnessed out of my beautiful wife,” Tim wrote. “We are blessed to have witnessed what you, your staff and this group of young ladies did.”
Andrea said she marvels at what her husband does with his Cooper basketball teams each season. Their success is one reason Tim was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame earlier this month.
“I think we’re each other’s biggest fans,” Andrea said. “I see the relationships he builds with the kids and I don’t know another coach who cares about them the way he does and tries to do what’s right for them the way he does.”
Both of them preferred not to coach their children in youth basketball or volleyball. But Elijah grew up wanting to play in the Cooper boys basketball program and he will finally get a chance to do that this season.
The freshman has seen his father in action during practice sessions and games and knows he’s a coach who demands a lot from his players.
“I didn’t want to coach them as kids because I felt like it would boil over to the house and I didn’t want that,” Tim said. “Now that he’s in high school, I said be careful what you wish for. If you want to play for dad, it’s going to be intense. If you were able to make the team, you’re going to get coached like everyone else.”
Their daughter, Emory, will also be attending Cooper so she won’t get to play volleyball for her mom’s high school team. Andrea just wants her to learn the life lessons that she and Tim try to convey to their players through sports.
“You talk about how hard it is for us (both being coaches), but those are things we talk to our teams about, like perseverance and commitment. If you’re going to make a commitment, it’s not always going to be easy.”