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Apr. 3—Bob Kowalick, the man who shaped and steered the Frontier League behind the scenes for almost 50 years, died Monday at the age of 88.
Kowalick, a native of Watertown, served as Frontier League executive secretary and then later as executive director since taking the position in 1976. During the 48 years that he advocated for the league, there wasn't a scheduling change, division realignment, league controversy, new sport addition or rule change that didn't cross his desk until his retirement in 2024.
"Bob has always been a strong advocate for the Frontier League," former Section 3 executive secretary Dick Bader said in 1999. "His knowledge of the rules and regulations is second to none. He's never afraid to argue his point, and he's steadfast in his desire to make sure his league is treated fairly."
During Kowalick's tenure, the Frontier League grew in the number of teams, athletes and sports. Kowalick was key in the growth of girls athletics and also in the addition of sports like volleyball, lacrosse and competitive cheering to the league. Kowalick came to be known as "Frontier Bob," for championing the league, which is now in its 94th year.
"Shortly after I started in 1976, the movement for girls sports really came on and the job was to make sure they fit in," Kowalick said in 2021. "And you can imagine at the time, the male coaches of the boys teams didn't want to have anything to do with them, because now they had to share facilities. As a league we took it upon ourselves to make sure they were given every opportunity that the boys were given and so on, it was a challenge."
Kowalick was a standout athlete in baseball and basketball for Watertown High School in the 1950s and also excelled in both sports at SUNY Potsdam, batting .488 his senior season and setting several school marks. He was inducted into the SUNY Potsdam Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.
Kowalick received a bachelor's degree in education at SUNY Potsdam and then earned a master's degree in educational administration at St. Lawrence University. He began his teaching career at General Brown, chiefly as an eighth-grade social studies teacher. He also coached varsity wrestling from 1958-66 at the school. Later, he took over the General Brown baseball program as coach and compiled a 170-75 mark with nine league titles and two sectional titles over 17 years. Over his 26 years coaching at General Brown, his teams won 11 league championships.
Kowalick's background as an athlete and coach in the Frontier League gave him the confidence to stand up for the league during his many Section 3 meetings with administrators from Syracuse- and Utica-area schools. He vouched for the league's members who he felt were being punished when it came time for sectional games because of their distance from the more populated southern part of the section.
He told several sectional committees over the years: "You people seem to forget that Interstate 81 has a northbound lane as well as a southbound lane."
A significant part of Kowalick's job was working on every league sport's schedules for not only varsity contests, but junior varsity and modified, too.
"That takes a majority of my time," Kowalick said during a Times interview in 1999. "Some are easy, like baseball and basketball that don't change much over the years. But in those sports where not all of the league teams participate, it takes a lot more work."
Kowalick said he knew that he couldn't make every school happy when he was scheduling 17 schools that range in size from Class A to D in a league that included three or four divisions over the years.
"Every school has its own agenda. If it's good for them, that's all they care about," he said. "But I have to make sure all the schools are treated fairly. What I've learned over all these years is you can't satisfy everybody's needs."
Kowalick also acted as main interpreter for the league for any new mandate issued by the National Federation of State and High School Associations, as well as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association and Section 3. Kowalick was on top of everything from dress code changes to sportsmanship requirements. He would gather the new information and submit a recommendation to the league's executive committee for a decision.
Kowalick often was the first contact for the local media when winter weather or days of rain forced the postponement and rescheduling of sports events or sometimes the cancellation of playoff games. He also weighed in on player eligibility issues if schools couldn't come to an agreement among themselves.
Kowalick served the league in other ways, setting up league championships for several sports and moving the boys and girls basketball championships to Jefferson Community College. He worked constantly to gain scholarship opportunities for the league's athletes and established a Frontier League scholarship at Jefferson CC in 1980.
"He's knocking on doors trying to get people to contribute," said Frontier League assistant director Scott Connell in 2021. "All of the behind the scenes things that you just don't see as a coach or even as an (athletic director) that goes on in the league to make it be successful and have so many amazing athletes come through here."
Kowalick also helped start the league's Coaches vs. Cancer games and fund-raising program in 1997 after a meeting with Art Sboro and Bob Fox, who each lost their wives to cancer.
"I took it back to the executive committee of the league for their approval," Kowalick said. "They supported it then, and they've continued to support it through the years."
In 2001-02, the Frontier League and Northern Athletic Conference ranked 16th in the country among Coaches vs. Cancer fund-raising programs.
In 2021, while acknowledging the 90th year of the Frontier League, Kowalick was honored at the Hilton Garden Inn. Kowalick was presented with a special desk lamp in the form of a replica covered wagon, which is the symbol of the Frontier League.
"The only reason why I knew it was 90 years was I was able to fortunately find a diary of the Frontier League and the minutes and meetings and so forth, so it was fantastic to read through all that stuff," Kowalick said. "Just the history of it all."
Kowalick received the first Bob Kowalick Meritorious Service Award during that event and the award continues to issued in his name.
"I was an AD for many, many years working with him and just never, I guess, appreciated the complexity of running a league with 17 schools," Connell said. "With its alignments and all of that and how he does it, it's just amazing."
Kowalick was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Donna. He is survived by a daughter and three sons, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be held at Holy Family Church in Watertown at 11 a.m. on April 26. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the JCC Foundation/Frontier League Scholarship, c/o Jefferson Community College Foundation, 1220 Coffeen Street, Watertown.
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Kowalick, a native of Watertown, served as Frontier League executive secretary and then later as executive director since taking the position in 1976. During the 48 years that he advocated for the league, there wasn't a scheduling change, division realignment, league controversy, new sport addition or rule change that didn't cross his desk until his retirement in 2024.
"Bob has always been a strong advocate for the Frontier League," former Section 3 executive secretary Dick Bader said in 1999. "His knowledge of the rules and regulations is second to none. He's never afraid to argue his point, and he's steadfast in his desire to make sure his league is treated fairly."
During Kowalick's tenure, the Frontier League grew in the number of teams, athletes and sports. Kowalick was key in the growth of girls athletics and also in the addition of sports like volleyball, lacrosse and competitive cheering to the league. Kowalick came to be known as "Frontier Bob," for championing the league, which is now in its 94th year.
"Shortly after I started in 1976, the movement for girls sports really came on and the job was to make sure they fit in," Kowalick said in 2021. "And you can imagine at the time, the male coaches of the boys teams didn't want to have anything to do with them, because now they had to share facilities. As a league we took it upon ourselves to make sure they were given every opportunity that the boys were given and so on, it was a challenge."
Kowalick was a standout athlete in baseball and basketball for Watertown High School in the 1950s and also excelled in both sports at SUNY Potsdam, batting .488 his senior season and setting several school marks. He was inducted into the SUNY Potsdam Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.
Kowalick received a bachelor's degree in education at SUNY Potsdam and then earned a master's degree in educational administration at St. Lawrence University. He began his teaching career at General Brown, chiefly as an eighth-grade social studies teacher. He also coached varsity wrestling from 1958-66 at the school. Later, he took over the General Brown baseball program as coach and compiled a 170-75 mark with nine league titles and two sectional titles over 17 years. Over his 26 years coaching at General Brown, his teams won 11 league championships.
Kowalick's background as an athlete and coach in the Frontier League gave him the confidence to stand up for the league during his many Section 3 meetings with administrators from Syracuse- and Utica-area schools. He vouched for the league's members who he felt were being punished when it came time for sectional games because of their distance from the more populated southern part of the section.
He told several sectional committees over the years: "You people seem to forget that Interstate 81 has a northbound lane as well as a southbound lane."
A significant part of Kowalick's job was working on every league sport's schedules for not only varsity contests, but junior varsity and modified, too.
"That takes a majority of my time," Kowalick said during a Times interview in 1999. "Some are easy, like baseball and basketball that don't change much over the years. But in those sports where not all of the league teams participate, it takes a lot more work."
Kowalick said he knew that he couldn't make every school happy when he was scheduling 17 schools that range in size from Class A to D in a league that included three or four divisions over the years.
"Every school has its own agenda. If it's good for them, that's all they care about," he said. "But I have to make sure all the schools are treated fairly. What I've learned over all these years is you can't satisfy everybody's needs."
Kowalick also acted as main interpreter for the league for any new mandate issued by the National Federation of State and High School Associations, as well as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association and Section 3. Kowalick was on top of everything from dress code changes to sportsmanship requirements. He would gather the new information and submit a recommendation to the league's executive committee for a decision.
Kowalick often was the first contact for the local media when winter weather or days of rain forced the postponement and rescheduling of sports events or sometimes the cancellation of playoff games. He also weighed in on player eligibility issues if schools couldn't come to an agreement among themselves.
Kowalick served the league in other ways, setting up league championships for several sports and moving the boys and girls basketball championships to Jefferson Community College. He worked constantly to gain scholarship opportunities for the league's athletes and established a Frontier League scholarship at Jefferson CC in 1980.
"He's knocking on doors trying to get people to contribute," said Frontier League assistant director Scott Connell in 2021. "All of the behind the scenes things that you just don't see as a coach or even as an (athletic director) that goes on in the league to make it be successful and have so many amazing athletes come through here."
Kowalick also helped start the league's Coaches vs. Cancer games and fund-raising program in 1997 after a meeting with Art Sboro and Bob Fox, who each lost their wives to cancer.
"I took it back to the executive committee of the league for their approval," Kowalick said. "They supported it then, and they've continued to support it through the years."
In 2001-02, the Frontier League and Northern Athletic Conference ranked 16th in the country among Coaches vs. Cancer fund-raising programs.
In 2021, while acknowledging the 90th year of the Frontier League, Kowalick was honored at the Hilton Garden Inn. Kowalick was presented with a special desk lamp in the form of a replica covered wagon, which is the symbol of the Frontier League.
"The only reason why I knew it was 90 years was I was able to fortunately find a diary of the Frontier League and the minutes and meetings and so forth, so it was fantastic to read through all that stuff," Kowalick said. "Just the history of it all."
Kowalick received the first Bob Kowalick Meritorious Service Award during that event and the award continues to issued in his name.
"I was an AD for many, many years working with him and just never, I guess, appreciated the complexity of running a league with 17 schools," Connell said. "With its alignments and all of that and how he does it, it's just amazing."
Kowalick was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Donna. He is survived by a daughter and three sons, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be held at Holy Family Church in Watertown at 11 a.m. on April 26. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the JCC Foundation/Frontier League Scholarship, c/o Jefferson Community College Foundation, 1220 Coffeen Street, Watertown.
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