Sterling’s Ruizes give back through coaching, teaching

The sport of swimming first brought Kyle and Jamie Ruiz together in third grade through the Sterling Stingrays Swim Club.

They are still coming back to the pool together 30-plus years later – just in a bigger capacity.

Kyle, a U.S. history and sociology teacher at Sterling, was a sophomore on Sterling’s 2001-02 swim team under Bob Ptak that went 12-0 in the regular season and won the program’s first sectional title.

He qualified for state multiple years, going on to swim at Truman State University. He came back to Sterling in 2008 and first began working as a swim coach with the club team and at the high school as an assistant under Ptak.

Jamie, who teaches family and consumer science at Sterling, went to Sauk Valley Community College before graduating from Northern Illinois University. She also swam in high school before an injury led her more to the coaching side. Then Jamie Rodriguez, she became an assistant for the Sterling girls team under Maggie Wike before she retired. When she became head coach, Kyle was her assistant. Now, Jamie is Kyle’s assistant with the boys team.

The two reconnected after college through swimming and began dating.

Married in 2014, the 2004 Sterling graduates continue to give back to their high school alma mater.

“The old saying that it’s always best to be friends with someone before you date them, that was true for us,” Kyle said.

It’s now been over 30 years since the two first met.

“We’ve been pretty lucky with the life that falling in love with swimming has given both of us,” Jamie said. “An opportunity to coach so many incredible athletes and meet so many families. And just be a part of an incredible program together. We’re pretty lucky.”

Jamie has been teaching since 2012 and Kyle has been teaching since 2015.

“My goal is always to teach people hopefully enough about history that they can relate it to today and become smarter individuals,” Kyle said. “I want them to be functioning, intelligent members of the community.

Kyle says both he and Jamie try to get to know their students and connect with them.

“I share stories about my family. I share stories about our lives,” he said. “And I want them to know that we truly care about them. And hopefully they realize that we’re invested in their success. If we can do that, and a student truly believes we’re invested, then that’s my ultimate goal.”

Swimming provides another outlet to accomplish similar things. Kyle has coached the boys team since 2011, taking over for Ptak after he coached from 1972-2011, earning 250 dual wins and three sectional titles. Ruiz has won two sectional titles and been voted sectional coach of the year.

“We try to teach them that a lot of what goes on, especially with swimming, is going to help out a lot in life,” he said.

Time management, accountability and goal setting are all things the Ruizes hope to establish through swimming.

“All these things that will help them so much in their career. We’ve been fortunate enough to have a few of them come back and say, ‘you were right’. And they’re very successful,” Kyle said. “And we’re just so happy with the success that they have.”

The Ruizes stopped coaching the girls’ side in 2020 to have more time with their growing family. They have a 9-year-old named Ellie and a 6-year-old, Harper.

They also got to coach their two nephews, Blake and Braeden Ruiz.

“The Ruizes are incredibly valuable to the district as both teachers and coaches,” said Sterling Athletic Director Tyler Jaske. “Their communication and organization are top-notch, and they go above and beyond to create meaningful experiences for their student-athletes.

“They’re always finding ways to celebrate and promote their swimmers. They’ve built a tradition of achieving 100% best times at sectionals and have mastered the process of bringing out the best in their teams.”

The Ruizes feel grateful they can give back to the program and school that provided so much for them.

“It really did give us such incredible memories and taught us that hard work pays off,” Jamie said. “We are thrilled to be able to continue to share our passion with every high schooler that we get to encounter.”

“I was fortunate enough to take over for Bob Ptak, who was the only swim coach Sterling High School had ever seen for 39 years,” Kyle said. “I obviously had very big shoes to fill, but he was instrumental in doing the same exact thing that I’m trying to do today. He taught me a lot of things about character and accountability and goal-setting and all those things that we still try to carry on.

“To be able to kind of pay that back and hopefully give it to future generations is definitely important. … That’s what keeps us going.”