In an exciting new chapter for the boys’ swim team, Groves is welcoming new head coach Nick Valice, after 4 years with former coach Ricky Forest. Following their previous state championship title, the announcement has sent ripples throughout the team, igniting hopes for a transformative season and a back-to-back state championship title. After interviewing Valice and some of the swimmers, the season seems to be on a bright path to success.
Nick Valice, a former swimmer with 11 years of coaching experience, moved back to Michigan after three years of coaching in Miami. After hearing about the roaring success of last season’s states and the uplifting team atmosphere, Valice decided to move back to his home state to coach.
“I lived in Miami for the past three years, and we were looking to relocate and found out this job was open, and due to the success and culture of this team, I decided to come back a little early to help out,” Valice said.
Although joining a new team and becoming cohesive with the athletes can be difficult, Valice and the swimmers are already getting to know each other and forming a bond.
“For only being with them for a month, relationships have come along pretty well. One of the big things I try and do is relate to kids on a personal level and not just as swimmers, so that is actually one of the things I try and push for more. I feel the more an athlete can trust someone, the more they are willing to do for someone. So I put a big focus on trying to create those coach-athlete relationships.” Valice said.
Getting to know the athlete is just one of the many hurdles Valice has to face, but there are also rewarding parts of the job.
“Most rewarding is definitely having kids get state cuts records or qualifications for the first time. As far as negatives go, just trying to keep motivation and work ethic up at all times can be difficult, but I can’t really say I have any complaints about what I do,” Valice said.
Valice hopes to keep working and pushing hard in workouts to reach his goal for the team.
“Our goals would definitely be to repeat as state champions like last year, as well as trying to develop the team for future classes,” Valice says.
Another way Valice plans to win the state championship again is through his challenging but rewarding workout sets. In an interview with Gio Baldini and Daniel Mordukhovich, two junior swimmers on the team, they compared Forest’s coaching strategies to Valice’s.
“I think the switch will help us improve. He gives harder sets and works us more,” Baldini said.
Expressing optimism over the conditioning change, the athletes see the coaching switch as a bittersweet victory for the team’s success.
Through his different coaching styles, new bonds with the athletes, and years of coaching experience, Valice’s appointment as head coach will be a new chapter in the swim team’s history.
