Written by Chad Abbadessa
The newest member of the Concordia University Chicago coaching family is coach Steve Belanger for track and field. Coach Belanger came from Boston College where he was the assistant track and field coach. He has been coaching at the Division I level for nine years but Coach Belanger started his career as an athlete at Central Connecticut State. Coach Belanger did long sprints and long jump until he tore his rectus femoris his junior year. He was not fully sure what degree he wanted to pursue since he went from IT to accounting to finally industrial technology environment and public safety. Coach Belanger worked in fire management in Connecticut from 2007 to 2011 but was called in to help coach track and field at his alma mater high school, Newington High School. He said, “I felt like I was not done and wanted to help athletes.”
Coach Belanger started to notice that high school athletes might not be the best group from him since he wanted the athlete to reach success more than the athlete did. After three years at his alma mater, he got a job as the long sprints and long jump coach at Quinnipiac University. This is where he grew the most as a coach so far since he fostered his coaching philosophy there.
His philosophy is, “Track and field is more about heart and desire, and that if a student-athlete wants to make the sacrifices and put in the work to get where they want to be, that ultimately define success.” In other words, he says athletes with the work ethic and determination will beat the athletes with just pure talent. Coach Belanger noticed this philosophy take shape in front of him at Quinnipiac University where he took the women’s four by four relay to the New England track and field championships. This championship not only had the best Division I programs but also the best of Division II and Division III. Quinnipiac University, before Coach Belanger, was at best seventh in their conference but when he left Quinnipiac University, they were runner ups in 2015 and 2016.
Quinnipiac University finally grabbed their championship in 2018. He helped send 29 event conference champions, six New England champions, 57 conference champion qualifiers, five conference champions. When asking Coach Belanger what were his best coaching memories so far, he said, “Help[ing] grow Quinnipiac University from nothing to winning three years straight, as well as winning the four by four relay at the New England championships.” He said that the best aspect of winning at Quinnipiac University was not only the success but the people he was around. The group of women he coached embodied his philosophy to the fullest. The women he had did not have that much talent but had promise, grit and the will to sacrifice to win.
When asking Coach Belanger what were the things he does not like about coaching and he said, “I do not like recruiting numbers, sitting behind a desk and some of the political aspects that come with coaching.” All in all Coach Belanger is excited for this season here at Concordia since he has a strong core of upperclassman who are leaders. He does not expect a complete turn around for the program in one season but has a great group of athletes who are willing to listen and get to work.
