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Woodka returns to Spongers

Replacing Jerry Woodka didn't quite work out as planned last year for Tarpon Springs principal John Nicely, so he fixed his mistake by bringing Woodka back.

After a disastrous season in which his successor, Michael Grayer, was asked to resign after a 1-11 start (three weeks later he was charged with sexual battery on a 17-year-old student), Woodka will return and try to salvage a program headed in the wrong direction.

Under Woodka, the coach from 1997 to 2001, the Spongers appeared poised to turn the corner and become one of the better north county teams. A 12-9 record in Woodka's final year in which most of the key players would return pointed to a promising future.

But Woodka, 39, could not be part of it. That year, six of his relatives died, including his stepparents (both spouses of his mother and father). With his family reeling, he could not devote the time necessary to coaching and teaching.

"It got to me bad," he said. "I needed to spend time with my family. It was a pretty tough year."

After Grayer resigned, Keith Thornburgh and athletic director Eric Zebley finished the season as co-coaches. Woodka helped make the 2002-2003 schedule but was hesitant to return because of how he thought it might look. Eventually he could not resist.

"Basketball's been my whole life since second grade," Woodka said. "Last year was the first year I could remember not being involved.

"I felt sorry for them (when I watched Tarpon Springs last year). When the opportunity came for me to come back to help, I wanted to. I checked with my wife (Julie), and she said, 'Why stop now?"'

Woodka's first step is to restore his basketball camp, which was abandoned last year. His second will be getting his team back to where he had it before resigning.

"It's not really starting over," Woodka said. "I have to get my program and my ideas back into the kids' minds. It's unfortunate what happened. It might take a while to get back where we were."

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