'A true volunteer:' Bill Giovino reflects on teaching through Lebanon area sports

‘A true volunteer:’ Bill Giovino reflects on teaching through Lebanon area sports

Posted by Admin November 25, 2024 Sports

After 35-plus years as a leader in Lebanon’s community, Bill Giovino’s impact can’t be overstated. His background in sports has led him to teaching around the community at each turn.

At any level, sports can have great influence.

The reasons that athletics ring so powerful for many are often intangible, but Lebanon has a history of people who have defined sports around the area.

As a former head coach and principal at Lebanon High School, Bill Giovino has always been a teacher of all sorts — which goes back beyond his time coaching the Cedars on the gridiron.

Following his high school sports career at Central Columbia, Giovino spent four years playing football at Lebanon Valley College under hall of fame coaches Lou Sorrentino and Jim Monos, where he began learning how to bring academics into his realm of athletics. He would eventually spend 35-plus years in the Lebanon school district and made his mark through sports at each turn.

In his senior year of college, Giovino spent time student teaching at Lebanon High with Mr. Steven Miller’s math class — and it eventually led to a lifestyle of volunteering around the area.

“Sports was really the reason I got into education. I wanted to be a coach, and I wanted to be a teacher,” Giovino told the Lebanon Daily News. “So unfortunately, I was an athlete first, and then became a student.”

“A lot of kids are the same way — that’s what they want to do, and sports was their first avenue to the light switch going on and becoming a better student.”

Getting back and forth between football and teaching wasn’t easy, but Giovino’s mindset of being a “true volunteer” became a reality for the 1988 Lebanon Valley grad. When he finished his first degree and earned a job teaching at Lebanon, he decided to join the Cedars’ football team as an assistant coach — giving him the chance to begin helping in any way possible.

“Sports are a great connection, and especially in an urban environment like Lebanon,” Giovino said. “I think it’s a great way for people to bond and to be around something positive, no matter what’s going on in anybody’s lives.”

“Win, lose or draw, it’s good for them to be involved and compete.”

After stepping into his roles at Lebanon, Giovino’s transition was guided by other coaches around him and left a mark of “great relationships” that he still values. As a leader and mentor around the area for over three decades, Giovino said his time around Lebanon gave him another family.

“I’ve been told by many (students) that I was their favorite teacher, and was a good teacher, so that’s first and foremost what I wanted to be,” Giovino said. “As I grew up, I wanted to be a good teacher, and you hope that transfers on to the athletic fields.”

Throughout his career, Giovino made time to be involved around Lebanon in any way possible. In the 1995 and 1996 seasons, Giovino spent time volunteering as an assistant defensive line coach for the Flying Dutchmen before returning to coach the Cedars for nearly a decade — including six years as head coach from 1999-2005.

The lessons he’s gained through teaching and coaching have rang true through his life, and Giovino’s focus has been the same since finding his passion in Lebanon.

“I was told a long time ago, ‘Don’t change who you are, just be yourself,’ and I think that was the easiest part,” Giovino said. “I’ve been the same person from day one, and I think forming positive relationships with everybody in the community was key.”

“I refer to Lebanon as my home. I believe that God put me in the right place, and it’s definitely rewarded me with all of the fortune I’ve had working in that community.”

After becoming the third coach in Cedars’ history to lead three consecutive winning seasons, Giovino’s responsibility grew in scale after entering administration for Lebanon. Following stints as athletic director and assistant principal, Giovino became principal at the high school in the 2012-13 school year.

He knew that coaching would “take a back seat” with administrative duties, but figured out a way to make it work and lead by example once again.

“Luckily, at Lebanon we wanted our kids to volunteer as part of their graduation requirements,” Giovino said. “I started volunteering as a football coach at Lebanon Valley College, and I still do that to this day, 12 years later.”

Today, his day-to-day activity with LVC football doesn’t have a routine schedule, instead he sticks to his lifestyle as a true volunteer. Giovino is technically an assistant receivers coach, but he’s always bounced around the team to help wherever is needed — including off the field.

His connections between sports and academics come up often at his alma mater, such as when Giovino introduced a tradition of LVC athletes reading at local elementary schools.

“It was kind of full circle — here I am as an administrator, helping to recruit athletes and people to help our kids become better readers,” Giovino said. “We still have guys that come and they read to our elementary schools which has been a great connection all around.”

Nowadays, Giovino continues to leave his mark around Lebanon since retirement as principal. He was placed into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2021, and still keeps up with former students like they “didn’t miss a beat.”

Bringing his lessons and connections through sports to the community has always been the goal for Giovino, and it’s led to his long career path.

After about 40 years ingrained in Lebanon area sports, Giovino’s time has shown him that the bond of sports can translate to more than just wins and losses and ultimately unifies a community.

“At Lebanon, we’ve always had some special individual athletes — and it’s cool to see the community rally around those special kids that come through and their teammates.”

“That’s the beauty of it — the memories you saw happen on an athletic field or a court that you still talk about years later. Sports are a great way to bond, and that’s what I think shapes Lebanon.”