ONE-ON-ONE Rayen A.D. Marinucci wants to make a difference

Molded by his parents, Carmen and Lidia Marinucci, to be strong in family values and education, Marco Marinucci became a math teacher. His career began at Woodrow Wilson High (1988-90) and continued at South for two years before he transferred to Rayen. With a desire to impact students' lives, Marinucci accepted a new challenge and became the Tigers' athletic director, replacing Chester Leone. Marinucci took over in August and has spent many hours working to improve the athletic program and remove the negative perception sometimes given to Rayen. He recently spoke with Vindicator sportswriter Brian Richesson.
What was your dream job growing up?
"My dream job would have been being a major league baseball player. But I realized I wanted to get into education when I was coaching my nephew 20 years ago. He was playing Little League and I started coaching. Before you know it, I got hired at Boardman as the softball coach. My original plans were to go into engineering. I spent a year at YSU in engineering; did not enjoy it at all. So I ended up getting my bachelor's in math. As I was coaching at Boardman, I realized that I liked to be around kids. So I went back and got my certification in math."
Why did you apply for the athletic director position?
"I've always been involved in sports and coaching, but I felt there was a need for a change. I thought I could make that change. I actually was interested a few years ago. Our AD [Chester Leone] just retired, so I thought this would be the time to do it. I took the challenge on. I'm a little bit younger and I felt I was able to help the program out and actually change it. There were a lot of problems. There was a lot of discouragement instead of encouragement. So I felt I wasn't going to sit back and watch anymore."
What are your main responsibilities as the athletic director?
"Eligibility, scheduling, ticket sales. I have to do it all. I don't have a secretary. I don't have a ticket sales manager. You call these other schools and they have a secretary and full-time AD. I do receive help from other teachers. I've got to attend every event, if possible. Concerns from parents, concerns from coaches, students. Every day, I get pulled one way or the other."
When you became the athletic director, did you consult anyone for advice?
"Definitely. My boss, John Tullio, and the athletic director at Chaney, Jim Mullally. When I took the job, I got phone calls from athletic directors I did not even know. I've met a lot of people, some relationships that are going to pay off in the long run. It's great how everybody works together."
What are some of the first steps you must take in this position?
"You have to be a leader, and you have to show the kids that you care. In the past years, we've lost quite a few kids to other schools. This year we've lost one student. Hopefully I've had something to do with that; I don't know. Instead of encouraging these kids to leave, we're trying to build this thing back up and have them stay here.
"I noticed a lot of our kids, at the end of their 12th-grade year, that was it. Nobody moved on. I thought my No. 1 goal is to get these athletes to go to college, whether it's for academics or whether it's a scholarship for athletics. The most important thing is the academics, but I've seen too many kids with a lot of talent, at the end of 12th grade, just hang it up. That's my No. 1 goal -- to get more kids into college."
What are some of the challenges you face working in the city?
"We're in a conference [City Series], but it's just Chaney, Wilson and Rayen. That can be a scheduling nightmare right there. We've had a bad rap in the past about the behavior of kids. So people probably don't really want us to come to their place, and they really don't want to come here for fear of something. We have not had a problem that I can remember as long as I've been here. So I think we get a bad rap that really is unjustified. That part of it is difficult. Another part is scheduling baseball and softball. We don't have our own fields. We've got to go through the park. Football we have to go through YSU. Having our own facilities obviously would be a lot easier in scheduling. Once we merge with Wilson, things might be a little easier."
How will consolidation impact athletics?
"Hopefully, I see an addition of more sports. Right now we have the basics -- football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball. Merging the two schools, you would think that we might be able to get more athletes. This year we probably had the best turnout as far as amount of athletes for football [70]. If I can generate more interest here and Wilson can generate more interest there, once we get together hopefully we can be recognized."
What is your long-term goal?
"All of my beliefs have come from my mom and dad, who instilled education and family. Hopefully I can pass that along to these students. The other day I received a letter from a student from college, telling me how great she's doing. When I see that, it makes the next day a little bit easier. I just hope we can have more of that."
richesson@vindy.com