Eric Fender will do it his way at Springfield High

One of three coaching Fenders , he will face his father and brother as Tigers’ coach.

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

NEW MIDDLETOWN — Don’t expect Eric Fender, one of the three coaches in his family, to copy his father Tom’s style of defensive play in his new job at Springfield High.

“It won’t be the same kind of defense that I played at Poland. My philosophy will be different than my father’s,” said Eric Fender, who recently was promoted from assistant coach to head coach at Springfield after one season, succeeding Grant Spaite, who resigned after six years.

“With the personnel we have, we may not be able to run a fast-paced trap all over the place like we did at Poland,” said Fender. “We will run a basic man-to-man defense.”

Eric, who served on the Poland coaching staff with Tom and brother Chad during the 2007-08 season before striking out on his own, said his players will have to learn to learn the fundamentals of playing defense before getting too fancy and trying to emulate Poland’s highly-acclaimed full-court defensive pressure.

“I want them to learn the basic differences of playing defense, and then we can become more sophisticated and start out with different things then,” said Eric, who played four years of basketball for Poland under Ken Grisdale and then won four letters at Mount Union College under coach Lee Hood as a shooting guard.

Tom Fender previously coached the Fitch High team before becoming an assistant at Poland where he also coached Chad and Eric.

Eric said that he will adopt the defensive style of his defensive coach when he played at Poland, Brian Nord.

“We are going to try to become a defensive-minded team [but] I hardly don’t think we will [become like Poland]. I will bring my own style that I played at Poland,” said Fender.

“I want to stress discipline and get the kids to understand their roles and to play a strong, tough man-to-man defense.”

He said it is important for players to learn what they are good at so they can fill certain roles.

“I want the kids to come in and learn their roles every day. It is good for kids to find their strengths because then they can be used in roles. We want to find seven guys who understand their roles,” said Fender, who will return four letter winners and a number of inexperienced players.

“The biggest benefit of being [at Springfield] one year is being around the players and getting to know the kids. We will have a different system and basketball philosophy,” he said.

Regarding offense, he said, “I want to run a motion offense with normal man-to-man sets.”

Fender said he plans to keep assistant coaches Matt Ferraro and Tim Norris “and we may add one or two more coaches.”

Fender also plans to continue as a physical education teacher at Springfield Elementary.

Meanwhile, Springfield and Poland have developed a strong backyard rivalry, and the Fenders again will be looking across the court at each other as opponents this coming season.

But it will be the first time one of them will be at the helm.

kovach@vindy.com