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If Bill Sytsma continues to score employment in Italy, he may need to consider acquiring dual citizenship. The 33-year-old former head football and lacrosse coach at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., will fly to the lauded land of love Sept. 25 for his second attempt at helping its citizens to fall even more passionately for pigskin.
The Center City resident will guide the Terni Steelers, a member of the Italian Football League and the sixth overall squad he will have attempted to change into a champion. The move to Terni, the capital city of the province of the same name within the Umbria region, will mark his second straight year of international coaching. The Bari Wild Boars responded to his instruction last season, leading the league in offense in registering an undefeated regular season.
“The quality of the athletes is pretty good,” Sytsma said Monday from University City’s Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he works as the assistant to the chief of thoracic surgery.
He earned his chance to survey their skills through membership in the American Football Coaches Association. His involvement made his credentials accessible to the general manager of the Wild Boars, one of the two teams in Bari, the capital city of the Bari province in the Apulia region. Months elapsed before a call gave Sytsma a need to work on his foreign language comprehension.
“All these crazy, random numbers went by,” he said of the European outreach.
Having already answered e-mail inquiries, he aced his phone interview and received an immediate résumé booster.
“Landing the Bari job is something I had never imagined would happen,” he said of leaving America in January 2010. “I was so enthused about building interest in the sport.”
Sytsma has never felt a similar need for guided appreciation. He played for Northeast Catholic High School and scouted for Frankford High School. His alma mater which closed last year, employed him as its freshman head coach and varsity passing game coordinator. After two seasons, he became a Saint at the newly formed East Passyunk Crossing institution.
“I loved my time at Neumann-Goretti and still enjoy South Philly,” he said, adding East Passyunk Avenue’s distribution of shops reminds him of Italy’s setups.
He headed the varsity unit for two seasons after two years as its offensive coordinator and one as the freshman leader. He experienced novelty at the school through a four-year stint coaching lacrosse, a sport of which he had no prior knowledge. Uniqueness struck again in ’09 upon departing from both jobs and accepting the head coaching position with the Philadelphia Liberty Belles of the Women’s Football Alliance.
“I spent one season with the Belles, but it was a great year,” he said.
The ladies won their eight regular-season contests as members of the National Conference’s Northeast Division and one postseason game before falling in the conference championship round.
“We went undefeated at Bari, too, butlost in the playoffs. I am starting to think I am a choke artist,” Sytsma quipped.
The coach, primarily of Irish descent and owner of a Dutch surname, began Italian lessons immediately upon his arrival, gaining enough knowledge to handle, among other endeavors, shopping and communicating with his players.
“My job was great about my leave and continues to be supportive of my coaching career,” the graduate of the nearby University of Pennsylvania said of his employer.
Minus any job stability issues, he began the not-too-taxing task of drawing up strategies for the Wild Boars, whose home country, owns a reputation for breeding soccer fanatics.
“We played all over the country,” Sytsma, who lived in Puglia’s Santo Spirito quarter, said of the five-month season. “Doing so was an interesting way to pick up culture.”
Returning early last autumn, he helped current Saints’ varsity football coach C.J. Szydlik at a camp but then decided to give the playcalling part of his brain a break. His desire, though, had no desire to be dormant for too long.
“I started getting the itch again,” Sytsma said.
He could not know Italy would scratch it, though, but his pedigree kept him in general managers’ good graces.
“We all had moral clauses in our contracts anyway and went through mandatory training,” he said of being well-behaved among fellow Catholics.
In addition to sharing a belief system, Sytsma and the Italians see football as capable of being a global force. His background meant the Terni general manager had his man after a 10-minute phone interview. Sytsma signed a contract Sept. 6 and anticipates next month’s opener.
“Football is expanding in Europe,” Sytsma said of rabid fans in Germany, Russia, France and others.
According to Sytsma, Europe and North American approach football similarly. The Europeans adhere to the National Football League’s rules and play 12 regular season games, four fewer than the footballers across the Atlantic Ocean.
“The referees can be odd,” he said of their eagerness to slap players with unnecessary roughness penalties. “The league has definitely heard my complaints.”
No more than 25 percent of a team’s roster can come from outside of Italy, so Sytsma will observe local talent when commuting from Rome.
“Their work ethic is impressive and incredible, and they ask tons of questions,” he said.
Extremely humble, he knows he is simply a conduit for football to become a rival to soccer.
“Television has played and will continue to play a big role in the glamorization of the game in Europe,” he said. “In Bari, people wore American football jerseys, and satellites showed games. For me, football has proven a great way to see the world. I had never thought it would have that advantage.”
Sytsma will return home for Christmas yet is not sure when he will make his next trek back. He has no reservations over leaving his native land for his adopted territory. The latter also has one massive advantage, delicious pizza.
“Since I’ve been back here, I have not found anything to match it,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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