Steve Hesse has been impressed with what he’s seen at Villa Madonna in his two years teaching Social Studies there.
Current Villa Madonna Director of Athletics Jim Demler and the administration needed people to help supervise games and Hesse stepped in to help there. Now with Demler taking a similar role at St. Henry next year, Hesse will move into the AD role at the small private school in Villa Hills. He will still teach two Advanced Placement World History classes next year.
“We are so excited to welcome Steve Hesse to the position of Athletic Director,” said Pam McQueen, Villa Madonna Principal. “He is detail-orientated and incredibly committed to Villa Madonna Academy. He is a great role model to our students, involved in all of the activities here at Villa, and his dedication will certainly make him an excellent Athletic Director.”
This is the first AD position Hesse has held in his 20 years in education. But he did serve as a principal at Shawe Memorial Junior/Senior High School in Madison, Indiana and has coaching experience. He coached tennis and served as an assistant football coach at Carroll County before ending up at Shawe Memorial.
“The overall culture is excellent at Villa,” Hesse said. “I think the students and families know what’s important about education. It’s a lot about academics here. But it’s also about raising good kids here. I want to retire from Villa Madonna. I love Villa Madonna Academy. It’s an awesome school.”
Hesse said he learned ways to cultivate relationships in the community from Demler. Demler served as Ryle AD for 18 years before taking the Villa Madonna position four years ago.
Hesse said he will not have the challenges of 12-hour days that some ADs do. Hesse and his wife do not have kids at home. The 53-year-old 1987 Louisville Trinity graduate and his wife in the former Lisa Dwyer, a 1987 St. Henry alum, raised four kids. Their youngest one is 22.
He said Amy often works until 6:30 p.m., so she comes to games when she can. Hesse also does not have the time commitments that football takes since Villa Madonna does not have a football team.
“She’s supportive. It was my decision whatever I wanted to do,” Hesse said. “These past two years at Villa have been my two best years in education so I was a little bit concerned in switching roles and taking on additional responsibilities. But I also believe it was in Villa’s best interest so if I didn’t do it, it would be a selfish move on my part.”
Hesse said he’s aware of the challenges of building the programs at Villa Madonna. He admitted the Vikings may only be competitive with the likes of 34th District opponent Dixie Heights once every 10 to 15 years in many sports. But Hesse said he likes Villa Madonna’s no-cut policy and noted 75 percent of students participate in extra-curricular activities.
Similar to Shawe Memorial, Villa Madonna has a lot of students that play multi-sports. Villa Madonna girls head basketball coach Katie Kortekamp said she has maybe one girl whose main sport is basketball. The others are volleyball, soccer or even tennis players.
“I read a lot about multi-sport athletes. Shawe was super small and we needed our athletes to play three sports,” Hesse said. “It makes the kids more well-rounded. You have fewer injuries because you’re not working the same muscle groups over and over. If you’re an exceptional athlete, college coaches will tell you they want people who can compete. I think we’re so specialized these days with club volleyball, AAU basketball, indoor soccer. These kids are playing the same sport 11, 12 months out of the year. Then you have the financials. These travel teams are not cheap. It’s also raised the level of athletics for some schools.”
But Villa Madonna has had some success in recent years in various sports. The cross country teams have been in the running for the Class A state championship the last few years.
Villa Madonna’s softball team won the All “A” Ninth Region crown and made it to the region quarterfinals in 2021 and 2022. The girls soccer team also made the Ninth Region Tournament in 2021 for the first time since the current format came about in 2012.
“What I’m really excited about being AD is I think Villa’s priorities are right. We want to win. We want to be competitive. But that’s really not why kids send their kids to Villa,” Hesse said. “I’d love to compete for state titles. I’m super happy about cross country competing for state titles. But it’s about all the lessons athletics teaches kids. It teaches them teamwork. It teaches them leadership. It teaches them all these things. If you look nationwide, athletes have better GPAs than non-athletes do. Athletics really helps education with time commitment and all these things.”
Villa Madonna’s volleyball team under the guidance of 30-year veteran coach Sandi Kitchen finished 22-7 for its best season since going 21-9 and last making the region tournament in 2015. That team beat Beechwood for the first time since 2008 on its way to finishing runner-up in the All “A” Ninth Region championship game to eventual All “A” State runner-up Holy Cross.
The Vikings lost to Dixie Heights in the 34th District semifinals, but Villa Madonna did pull out wins over two teams that made the region tournament in 36th District champion Highlands and 36th District runner-up Newport Central Catholic.
“I enjoy coaching that because you can push them,” Kitchen said. “You know when to stop. But they understand that they have potential and they’re going to do whatever it takes to get there. That’s why I love Villa too.”
Demler’s daughter Joci will return as an outside hitter this fall. Kitchen earned the 2022 Ninth Region Coach of the Year honors and has more than 500 career wins as a volleyball head coach.
“Jim Demler will definitely be missed. His expertise and his knowledge of things is something I think Steve will learn,” Kitchen said. “I think he learned a bit under Jim. But I think it takes a bit to build up that rapport up with the teams and things. But I know he’s a very personable guy, a great guy and very supportive of all the athletics and I think he’ll do a great job.”
Basketball programs generally generate the most revenue at schools without football. Hesse said coaching continuity is the key to consistency for teams.
Kortekamp, a former player at Loyola University at Chicago, just completed her second year coaching the Vikings. She’s trying to teach the players to develop a passion for the sport so they’ll want to work to improve.
“It is difficult. Every couple years, you get some really talented seventh or eighth graders that can see that they do have an athletic ability that’s kind of more than their peers,” Kortekamp said. “It gets difficult to retain talent at the high school level. That’s what I’ve been trying to focus on rallying around the middle school age to get them focused on a longer career at Villa. You want the best for them. But selfishly, you would love to see them stay to help the team.”
Villa Madonna last made the region tournament in 2011. The last winning season for the Vikings came at 18-13 during the 2015-16 season.
The Villa Madonna boys basketball team finished 10-20 this past season, but beat Ludlow, 59-56 in the first round of the 34th District Tournament for its first district tournament win since 2019. The Vikings last made the region tournament in 2008.
Demler said he’ll finish the year then head to St. Henry in June. That’s when Hesse will take over the AD duties.