Elevating an Alma Mater
The Papanicholas family pays it forward with a home ice advantage for Saint Viator High School’s hockey program.
Whether it be through financial gifts, mentorship, or acts of service, the Papanicholas family has always leveraged its resources for the greater good. In 2015, Nick Sr. was informed that his children’s alma mater was seeking space for its up-and-coming hockey program.
He began hunting for a facility that he could morph into an ice arena to benefit the high school as well as serve the community at-large. A defunct credit card processing facility near Nicholas & Associates’ corporate headquarters fit the bill and construction commenced. Since then, the family has converted and expanded the space to create Nicholas Sportsplex—a recreation hub with three sheets of regulation ice, a pro shop, a sports rehabilitation center, synthetic turf fields, and a gourmet restaurant and lounge.
By combining their financial resources, construction manpower, and operational acumen, the Papanicholas family has helped elevate Saint Viator to regional acclaim with this marquee facility.
Advancing a Mission
Nicholas Sportsplex’s north rink was built to accommodate Saint Viator’s hockey team. While the intent has not changed, the purpose has become much deeper. The Sportsplex now serves as an impressive tool to support the overall vision, mission, academic, and athletic rigor upon which the high school was founded.
Most private college preparatory high schools in the Chicagoland area thrive and exhibit exponential enrollment when they are known for excellence in a particular sport. Saint Viator is no exception. By leveraging Nicholas Sportsplex and hiring exceptional coaches, the high school is quickly becoming ‘the place’ for students and parents seeking a top tier hockey experience coupled with an excellent, religious-based education.
Coach John Sclafini commented on the program’s success. ‘The Sportsplex is an incredible selling point to parents and the students who would like to pursue hockey. Having such a clean and well-appointed facility that they can call home is unheard of, and yet they have it at their fingertips. We can recruit more players which in turn helps grow the overall school body and mission for Saint Viator.’
With the Sportsplex as a tool, Sclafini has been able to recruit heavily. His intent is to have five teams which will include a U14, U15, U16, U18, and a prep team. His goal mimics that of the school’s athletic department—to offer/house the number one high school hockey organization in all of Illinois.
Immersion Yields Excellence
There’s more than just Saint Viator’s hockey at the Nicholas Sportsplex, and that is precisely why it is such an invaluable asset to the school. Today the Sportsplex attracts more than 750,000 visitors annually from around the country and hosts some of the largest youth hockey tournaments in Illinois, including Tier 1 State Playoffs and Championships, Tier 2 State Championships, SuperSeries AAA,
CCM World Invite, and the CCM 68 Combine.
Thirty-four teams and individual programs call the Sportsplex home, including the Reapers
(AAA team) and Northwest Chargers youth hockey program. The daily energy and synergy that occurs in the halls affords invaluable experiential and learning opportunities for Saint Viator athletes and families, and countless ways to remain engaged and surrounded by others with a similar affinity for hockey. The facility has become an incubator of best practices and top talent across all student age groups under one roof.
The growth of Saint Viator’s team has required further enhancements to the facility. In 2022, an expanded private wing was created for the team which includes a dual-purpose film and study hall, coaching offices, and additional lockers rooms. Talks are underway for yet another expansion that would create two floors of space for the team to leverage as the program grows and evolves.
The turf fields are used for hockey family outings and socials, in addition to off-ice sports conditioning. On game days, team dinners are provided by the onsite chefs—chefs who also cater to the discerning palates and sophisticated drink orders for parents and spectators.
Nicholas Sportsplex was born out of the Papanicholas’ desire to give back to their high school. It was designed with student athletes in mind and is arguably the largest and most significant private partnership a high school has in the region. It is a special place where friendships are forged, memories are made, and career paths are charted.
‘The level of play that we're doing—because of the facilities, because of the family’s backing, and because of the passion we collectively have for the students and the sport—make us an unstoppable machine,’ says Coach Sclafini. ‘My door is always open to an athlete who wants to talk hockey, or a parent who wants to talk further about any of the incredible opportunities that Saint Viator can offer
its students.’