Woodstock North tennis coach, teacher Bart Zadlo builds success with relationships

Bart Zadlo wanted to build a culture when he came to Woodstock North eight years ago.

Zadlo, a teacher who also coaches boys and girls tennis, knew how important strong relationships are to building something successful, and he made sure to build relationships with his students first as a teacher and then as the leader of both tennis programs five years ago.

Zadlo has focused his time on those relationships to grow both the Thunder tennis programs and the advanced placement courses he teaches, leading to success both in the classroom and on the courts.

“I put an onus on relationships with students because I know that not all the students that I am going to have in the classroom are going to be the ones on the tennis courts, and vice versa,” Zadlo said. “I get a whole other subset of students that I can work with that are not just the ones that I see in the classroom, but now I can make an impact on them as well.”

Unlike many of the sports, Zadlo noticed North’s tennis programs hadn’t built a clear identity since the school opened in 2008. Zadlo spent time with both programs as an assistant coach before taking over five years ago and wanted to build strong relationships that made students want to be a part of the program.

The Thunder girls tennis program has since won five straight Kishwaukee River Conference titles and the boys program has finished second in the past two conference tournaments.

Zadlo’s relationships on the tennis courts have also translated to the classroom. He teaches some of the toughest courses at the school (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) but students have gravitated to him because they’ve heard and experienced how much he cares about his students and athletes.

That trust has led to tennis players trying out his classes and students trying out for the tennis teams. The boys tennis team has the most members in the KRC with 24 athletes this season.

“Kids know when someone generally cares about them and has their well-being in mind, and Bart has that,” Woodstock School District 200 Superintendent Michael Moan said. “He’s a tireless worker both in tennis and as a teacher, but he works for kids and with kids.”

Zadlo, like many teachers, needed to find new ways to approach his students when the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes to meet remotely. He didn’t want to throw a pity party and focus on all the things they couldn’t do or wish that things were back to normal.

Despite his boys team losing its season in spring 2020, he stayed positive and saw the situation as a challenge to focus on how his students and athletes could progress, whether they were playing tennis or learning in the classroom.

“I didn’t try to highlight the negatives that we were experiencing,” Zadlo said. “I tried to highlight the positives and all the good things that were happening around our program so that when the kids left the courts or the virtual meeting or school, they would know that even though things are different, they might not be the way we want them, we are still progressing and we’re doing the best that we can.”

Zadlo still wants to challenge himself like he did when he started at Woodstock North. He knows his students will change in the classroom and on the courts each year and his approach with them will need to change as well to fit their needs.

The coach also wants to help tennis grow in Woodstock so students can enjoy the same opportunities that other tennis players have in nearby communities.

But the relationships will never change. That’s been the constant in Zadlo’s coaching and teaching career as he wanted to build a culture at Woodstock North, one his students will never forget.

“I would be happy if the relationships stayed the same,” Zadlo said. “For me, that’s the most important part. I’m glad that the kids will look back maybe five, 10 years from now and say we won a couple conference championships, but if they come back to the courts and feel a sense of pride for being there, feel like they were the ones to put Woodstock North tennis on the map originally, that’s something that I think goes a lot further than a trophy or a picture.”