Nick Namio is the head girls varsity coach and assistant boys coach, and also the dean for the CREATE Academy at Freeport High School.
“I grew up in Freeport. My mom and dad were pretty young we didn’t have a lot of money,” said Namio.
He graduated in 1992 from the same school he now works at. His hobbies in high school mostly consisted of sports.
“I played soccer here, and baseball all four years, and basketball freshman and sophomore year, ” said Namio.
When Namio went to college at Western Illinois University , he played rugby for 3 1/2 years and ended up traveling the country with his team.
“If I knew I was going to be a soccer coach, I would have stuck with soccer,” said Namio.
Namio originally planned to work in special education. After he graduated, he started working in special education classrooms for 16 years. As a special education teacher, he focused on kids with different behavioral disorders.
“I’ve enjoyed helping the non traditional students or the ones who don’t necessarily have anyone to advocate for them,” said Namio.
Yet, Namio was confident that he wanted to be a coach.
“I knew that’s what I wanted to do, ” said Namio. “I knew I wanted to coach something; I thought I was gonna be a baseball coach.”
Not only was Namio a coach and teacher, he is also an advocate for students.
“I try to advocate for those who typically don’t have advocates, ” said Namio.
When Namio started the dean job he knew this is as far as he wanted to go. He had no interest in being a principal or anything of the sort.
“This is my dream job,” Namio said. “I want to stay where I can give kids the most.”
Namio hopes to work this job until retiring happily.
“This is hopefully the job I will end my career with, ” said Namio.
