Former head track and field coach Ernie Perrica has taken over the athletics director position at Mehlville Senior High School.
He’s a 1988 graduate of Mehlville and appears to have hit the ground running as he takes the reins to one of the top athletic programs in the area.
The Call asked him several questions about the goals he’s set for the program and what he would like to accomplish over the next several years.
Q: What is the No. 1 goal that you feel needs to be accomplished by the end of the school year?
A: Probably the No. 1 goal over the short term, for me personally, is to get acclimated to the job. For the athletic department, it’s to continue the successes that we’ve had. You look at what our football program has done and the basketball program last year had an above .500 record. The soccer program was also a success. I think that for the most part, we have really good students and really good people at Mehlville and I just hope to continue that.
We’ve upgraded our facilities obviously with the (installation of synthetic) turf and upgraded the facilities at Mehlville High School, where our basketball and volleyball teams practice and play. We’ve upgraded the floor, bleachers and scoreboards. Every small thing we can do helps.
Q: Regarding the current situation for the tennis team, what is being done in trying to get players a facility to practice and play on that is actually within the school district?
A: That’s an ongoing process. I’ve been given the paperwork by (former Activities/Athletics Director) Ed Willis and I know that (Oakville High Athletics Director) Becky Czuppon has been given the same paperwork to try and create districtwide tennis courts or a center. Ed’s given me some things from the USTA (United States Tennis Association) where they will help pay for the courts, but he did say that it’s a couple-year process. So I’m basically taking the information in relation to the tennis courts and of course fully jumping into the situation myself.
Q: The swim coaches reported that they were not able to practice for the past couple of days because a decision was made to paint the locker rooms. The fumes were apparently so bad that the teams had to practice at another facility.
A: Yeah, that was something out of my hands and out of my control. That was a disaster, to be honest. I got phone calls from people apologizing about it. I guess with the crunch at the end of the school year, with a lot of things going on, I don’t want to say it was an oversight, but that was powers above me to be honest. But we were able to get practice for the swim team over at Affton High School and that was a great help to get us a practice facility at the end of the week and in case we need it, the early part of this week.
Q: In terms of a long-term goal, what would you like to see accomplished?
A: One, of course, as you asked earlier is the tennis courts. I think that Oakville and Mehlville are in need of tennis courts. I think that’s a pretty high priority thing over the next couple of years. I’m sure that both tennis coaches would agree, along with a lot of other people.
Q: Do you foresee any sports being added at Mehlville in that five-year time period?
A: The last sport that we’ve added was boys’ volleyball. I don’t know of any sports that people have brought up or anything like that in regards to a new sport (being added).
