One day, Gregg Zenerovitz was preparing to coach the Lawrence High girls’ tennis team. The next, he was overseeing the entire athletic department.
Well, there may have been a few days in between, but when Athletic Director Alyson Fischer was promoted to vice-principal this year, Zenerovitz wasted little time applying for—and getting—the position he has long coveted. He got a taste of it in spring of 2016 when Fischer was out on maternity leave and Zenerovitz became the interim AD.
“This has always been a goal,” he said. “You don’t know when the opportunity is going to present itself. I was fortunate to get the interim tag when Alyson went out. At the beginning of August, I’m getting ready to go out and do girls’ tennis and I was surprised to hear that the position was open. There was no doubt I was going to apply for it. I just love being around sports, athletics and athletes in general. I kind of consider myself a sports guy.”
After 90 days in Fischer’s seat, he also considered himself a sports administration guy.
“Those three months were kind of like my interview,” Zenerovitz said. “I got a lot of positive feedback those three months and it did reassure me that I could certainly do the position if I got the opportunity again.”
During his brief tenure, Zenerovitz impressed his fellow coaches with how he approached things.
“Z is the perfect fit for the position,” boys’ basketball coach Jeff Molinelli said. “The time he took over before, it was a such a smooth transition. He did a great job during that time. Being a physical education teacher in the district for 17 years, no one knows Lawrence sports better than Z. He knows the coaches, the players and the community.”
Dana Williams replaced Zenerovitz as varsity girls’ basketball coach, but kept him in the program as an assistant until she stepped down after last season. It was almost as if Williams was eavesdropping on Molinelli before giving her answer.
“Gregg Z is the perfect fit for the position,” Williams said. “He not only showed it when he took over the position two springs ago, but in his every day dialogue with the students and coaches at Lawrence. As a phys-ed teacher and coach, he genuinely cares about every sports program in that building. He was always up to speed with the latest athletic achievements of our students and teams and made sure to congratulation everyone on athletic achievements.”
Zenerovitz is a product of northwest New Jersey’s Sussex County. The Wantage native competed in soccer, winter track and golf for High Point High School before playing on The College of New Jersey golf team.
‘Long term, this was always my goal, and so there was no doubt in my mind that this was my opportunity.’
Zenerovitz was hired as a health and physical education teacher before he even graduated from TCNJ in 2000, and then-athletic director Ken Mason quickly put him to work coaching middle school boys’ soccer. That was followed by stints with JV girls’ basketball and JV boys’ tennis. He transitioned into varsity tennis and coached all three levels of girls’ basketball, and was the Cardinals golf coach for the past 13 years.
“I loved teaching health and phys-ed and enjoyed coaching so much,” Zenerovitz said. “I actually looked forward to the end of the day where you go out and coach. It’s tough giving up the girls’ tennis and golf. But long term this was always my goal and so there was no doubt in my mind this was my opportunity. You don’t know when you’ll get this opportunity again.”
Cardinals swimming coach Mike Underwood, who was aided by Zenerovitz on occasion, feels that Mason and Fischer provided strong role models for the new AD.
“He has seen two very good and professional examples as a coach to model himself after, and he has coached or helped many different programs in his time as a teacher,” Underwood said. “He is not shy to work hard to achieve a goal or a solution to a problem and is very well liked in our district and across the CVC athletic scene. He will be a great figurehead for the Lawrence athletic community.”
Girls’ soccer coach Emily Palombo feels that keeping an even keel is one of Zenerovitz’s biggest strength.
“He’s calm and poised, very direct and a very good administrator,” Palombo said. “He makes decisions, tells you in a calm manner and he’s approachable. He’s great to work with.”
Zenerovitz takes over during a tremendous athletic growth at LHS, with two new turf multi-purpose facilities that include lights on the football field. He feels for Fischer, who oversaw much of the work in getting things done, but does not get to reap the benefits as the AD.
Then again, she is not completely detached from the position.
“I am lucky to have Alyson right down the hallway from me, and she has been a big help transitioning me into my role,” Zenerovitz said. “Not many first-year ADs are lucky to have another AD in the building.”
The 38-year-old Hamilton resident respects the foundation laid by Mason and Fischer to the point he has no plans for any major changes. He will apply a tweak when necessary but is not on a mission to put his distinct mark on the program.
“I’ve made it very clear that Alyson got a good thing going, we’re headed in the right direction,” Zenerovitz said. “My job is to keep it going in that direction. There’s always things you gotta tweak here and there, but there won’t any drastic changes.”
One thing Zenerovitz plans on doing is being hands-on as far as attending games and knowing who the athletes are and how they are progressing as athletes and students. He considers himself a people person and has promised that, rather than get stuck behind his computer doing administrative work all day, he will go out to the fields in the afternoons to watch practices or games.
In essence, he feels it is important for the student-athletes to know who he is and to understand that he is concerned about them.
“Z has his priorities in the right place when it comes to running an athletic program,” Williams said. “As a coach, he always wanted players to not only develop as athletes but also taught them how to develop and grow into positive people. He values building character in our athletes over everything and is respected by everyone. He truly cares about each individual program and athlete and will work tirelessly to do what he can to help them be successful. His work ethic is incredible and if he doesn’t know an answer he won’t stop until he gets it.”
Zenerovitz appreciates the kind words of his coaches and has similar thoughts about them. He feels he is surrounded by a quality staff and will make it a priority to keep them, saying “it’s getting harder and harder to find good coaches who want to coach these days.”
In assessing what attributes are necessary for his job, Zenerovitz feels he needs to be a good listener, must be visible and has to be a good community leader. He also understands the benefits of his calm demeanor.
“One thing I learned when I was doing the interim position, is if you start to show your emotions then the person you’re talking to is going to show theirs,” he said. “So you’ve got to stay calm, you’ve got to be patient. I also think if you don’t know the answer, it’s OK to say, ‘I’m not sure, I’ll get back to you.’ And then use the people around you. I’m surrounded by a fantastic administrative team and I was fortunate enough to get to know the athletic directors when I was interim and they all say, ‘If you need help, ask.’
“You’ve got to trust the people around you. Sometimes you need a little help Sometimes it’s ok to say to someone ‘I don’t know it; can you help me out here?’ or tell someone ‘I’ll get back to you.’ I think people respect you a little more when you’re able to do that and say that.”
From what his coaches have to say, it sounds like Zenerovitz has already earned some pretty good respect.
Lawrence athletic director Gregg Zenerovitz stands on the new turf field Sept. 14, 2017. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.),
