Tom Juhas loves teaching.
Whether he’s in his classroom teaching advanced math at Northeast High School, working with his grandson “Smalls” doing yardwork or on the baseball field where he coaches the Vikings, Juhas is happy when he’s showing people how to do things the right way.
This has been the way he’s approached his job since he became a building rep at Olney High School in 1997. He also taught math, and it’s where he found out he was a very good baseball coach.
“I played catcher for one year at Kensington High School, but we had a house to run,” said Juhas, who grew up in that area but now lives not far from Northeast. “I didn’t know what I was doing in terms of coaching baseball, I wanted to establish myself in the classroom. But I took the JV baseball job because I love baseball.”
After spending time there he moved on and took the junior varsity job at Washington before moving to Northeast in 2015, where he’s been the varsity coach every year but two where he took off to spend time with his grandson.
“I missed it so much, I’ve always loved baseball,” Juhas said. “I told my wife before we got married that she’ll never be No. 1. Baseball will always be No. 1. She laughed, she’s so understanding. I’m a blessed man, I really am. I just fall into it. It just happens.
“I learned how to coach at Olney High School. I thought I knew everything, but you don’t. You need to learn this guy, that guy, and pick things up along the way. I wish I remembered all their names. There were some really cool guys at Olney. They helped me out a lot.”
Juhas has always been the kind of coach who has been able to tell his players exactly what he wants, exactly what he expects and exactly what they need to do to put themselves in position to succeed.
For the past two seasons, he’s been able to show them.
Juhas is back on the field, playing in a men’s league.
Juhas, 57, along with his brother Mike, 56, are back on the diamond doing exactly what they love to do.
The boys are playing for a men’s league in Limerick.
“I’ve wanted to play, but I never knew leagues like this existed and then a couple of years ago, we started playing, and I’m right in the middle of things,” Juhas said. “I got my brother to play, too, he’s always loved baseball. We have always loved baseball, but we couldn’t always play because you know, things would get in the way and we had responsibilities we had to take care of.”
The main reason Juhas plays is because he loves the game. But it also gives him a chance to show others what he can do.
Among those others are his players.
During a recent game, his grandson Smalls took in the game and he was joined by Northeast star Jose Santana, who made the trip to see how well his high school coach can play the game he teaches.
“It meant a lot to me to have him there because he was running around with Smalls, having a great time and Smalls loves going to the game, he’ll go anywhere if there’s baseball, but he had a great time with Jose, too,” Juhas said. “He’s a great kid, he came out and he saw us play. He had a good time, too.
“He knew Smalls was going to my last game. (Jose is) so cool. (Smalls is) there to ask questions. And Jose always gives him the right answer. He can take Smalls to the playground. I can’t do it at the game, I’m playing. Jose came to support me and videoed it. He said he couldn’t believe it.”
He also noticed that Juhas knew what to do when the ball was hit to him or when he was on the bases.
Juhas is a student of the game, and he was proud that his players could see him in action.
“I wanted to become a better coach,” Juhas said. “There’s stuff you forget. The best thing I can do for the kids coming up is know the game better, I felt they were good enough and I wasn’t. This will help me. It isn’t just me. It’s a motivator. I am down in the cage with the guys. Stay back. Give instruction. Now you know what you’re doing. Now I can demonstrate it. To a player from a player.”
He’s a coach. But he’s also a ballplayer and that’s how he plays the game.
“I’m having so much fun,” Juhas said. “Everyone is afraid, but I just look at it like I’m going to give it my all. I do make mistakes. I don’t make a million, not as many as I did as a kid. We turned 10 double plays this year and that was fun. My brother and a few other guys, I played shortstop and third base. Guys are old, they run slow, but I don’t throw as hard. So it feels good to turn them.”
This isn’t a project. It’s a passion. And Juhas is happy he can combine teaching, his players and family.
It’s everything he loves.
“Smalls loves it, he just loves seeing his Pop out there,” Juhas said. “Then he goes out and does it. He wants to be a baseball player. It’s something I share with him. My son didn’t play baseball, so I went to lectures at Princeton. Thomas is one of the few people I can sit there and go to a lecture with him about Einstein and it’s amazing. And you get a free doughnut. Science on Saturdays at Princeton. But Smalls loves baseball
“I love teaching anything. I was a foreman before at an engraving shop, I taught people there. I am good at explaining stuff. I love teaching. I do love seeing people learn. It’s pretty cool. They’ll sit there and won’t respond. If kids fail, that’s not just on the kids, that’s on the teacher. It’s a two way-street. You have to motivate. There are many ways to explain things. Give me a chance. Any kid that gives me a chance, I’ll try to motivate. And it’s something I like doing, especially for our kids because they’re all great.” ••
