Twenty-five years ago, my interactions with Rich Zalonis were common. As a football statistician at South Williamsport, our meetings occurred weekly. But despite living in the same community, our paths have seldom crossed in recent years. Thus, I was surprised when he walked into our team’s dugout prior to a recent softball game in Hazelton.

The ‘what are you doing here’ question was quickly answered when Rich explained he was doing a sports broadcast for the Hazelton School District.

Daily job commutes for most area workers are comparatively short. For South Williamsport’s Zalonis, it was a 58-minute drive to Troy that gave him his first high school head coaching job and a one-hour, 19-minute trek to Hazelton that is providing an enjoyable retirement gig. He is thankful for both and has enjoyed the ride.

“It’s not a bad ride,” he explained. “I’ve lived in South Williamsport for years, and I taught in Troy, so I’m used to commuting. Not teaching anymore, I don’t have to rush around and can take my time. Sometimes when I’m doing four or five games a week, it can get a little hectic, but it keeps me involved with sports, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Zalonis was raised in the Mahanoy Area School District, but moved in with his brother, John, and his sister-in-law, Charlotte Zalonis, after his parents passed away. Enrolled at South Williamsport as a freshman, he played football for four years. After graduation, he attended Lock Haven University, where he also participated in football.

Following graduation, he got his first teaching job at Troy, where he taught and coached for seven years, serving one year as its head football coach. He returned to his Alma Mater, serving three years as an assistant on his brother’s staff, until 1995, when he became the Mountaineers head coach for six seasons. He later served at Lycoming College on Frank Girardi’s staff and concluded his active coaching career on Mike Pearson’s staff at South.

Using his own words, Zalonis then “faded into oblivion” until a chance meeting in the Philadelphia Airport led to an opportunity presented by Jim Webb to do weekly football games alongside coal region broadcaster Paul Bo. Their first game as a duo was at Central Mountain against Williamsport. They hit it off immediately and worked on Webb Weekly broadcasts for several years.

“A few years ago, Paul called me stating that the Hazelton School District was expanding its sports broadcasting operations and offered me an opportunity to again work with him as the color analyst,” Zalonis explained. “We do game broadcasts for football, boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, and softball. We broadcast on the school district’s YouTube. We can’t see us, but you can hear us and watch the games.”

People play sports, talk sports, and others get the chance to coach the game. Occasionally, a coach may get an opportunity to describe the game from the other side behind a microphone. Zalonis has traveled that path.

“It’s different because you are not responsible for the lives of kids. But it comes down to how much you want to excel at it or not. It really depends on how good you want to be at it. We prepare diligently. We try to get the names of the kids right. The preparation between coaching and broadcasting doesn’t really change. If you want to be good at anything, you must prepare to do so.

“I’ve had some wonderful experiences since I’ve been broadcasting. I’ve worked with Bob Ide at Fox TV and have filled in when needed with him on several football games, and that’s been a treat.

“The Hazelton girls’ basketball team has been phenomenal the last three years. We have broadcast when several players, both boys and girls, scored their 1,000th point. Have seen a lot of great games that have been milestone moments for me. Covering 6A schools is a different experience. Those schools have so many more players to choose from, which elevates the level of competition. This year, the Hazelton boys’ basketball team didn’t have a great season by their standards, but they had several players at 6’4”, and that opened my eyes a little bit after doing so many broadcasts of smaller school games.

“Anytime I do a broadcast, I try my best to avoid any blooper-type moments. But those moments do occur when I might misread something, mispronounce a name, or some information may change. The last game I worked, I called a senior a junior, which is not a big mistake, but it matters to the player involved. So far, I’ve been fortunate to avoid any major on-air blunders.”

An old saying exists referencing choosing the road less traveled. It symbolizes stepping out of comfort zones, embracing challenges, and accepting uncertainty. As a young football coach, Rich Zalonis would never have envisioned the roads he is now traveling. But he is certainly glad he accepted the challenge.