Loyola’s Novakovic Is a Man on the Move

It could be said Peter Novakovic is a dashing figure.

If he’s not dashing to work, he’s dashing to soccer practice. In between, he’s been dashing around town making wedding plans. Last week he and his fiancee whipped into his native New York City and were married.

Novakovic--a.k.a. Peter Novak to save time--is a man on the run. Says one associate: “When you see Peter he always seems like he just ran in from somewhere, he’s always sweating or running to somewhere else. You have these conversations with one-word answers--’Fine, great, see ya.’ ”

“My day’s a long day,” says Novak, who works in an investment firm and coaches both the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Loyola Marymount. “This last week, between work, practice and picking up (wedding) rings, my life has been hectic. Working with the Middle East environment that’s on Wall Street, coaching two teams, my heart’s been racing from mid-August to now.”

All that’s left for the second-year coach to try to squeeze in is a successful run in the West Coast Conference. That figures to be more a marathon than a dash. If the WCC isn’t the nation’s toughest conference, it’s ranks right up there. Santa Clara is the defending national champ and is a contender again, as is Portland. San Francisco is a fully scholarshipped program that has won several national titles.

The Lions, with no scholarships and virtually no financial support, are essentially a club team. But Novak is making progress with the talent on hand and says he’s in for the long haul. In the Novakovic family, soccer is a passion, as much a part of life as eating or working.

“My dad played for a first division team in Yugoslavia,” Novak, 29, said. Playing in a tournament in Italy in 1958, his father defected and made his way to the U.S. Novak was born in Brooklyn.

“I basically grew up around soccer,” he said. “I went to Adelphi University on a soccer scholarship. I have four brothers and two are on soccer scholarships now. When we were kids my mom had soccer laundry going nonstop.

“We’ve been planning this wedding for a year. I had to make sure the wedding fell before or after the (Oct. 21) Santa Clara game. I thought of getting married at halftime of a game, I figured maybe that way we’d draw 100 fans.”

His fiancee, Helene Bozonier, drew the line there. “She just rolled her eyes,” Novak said.

She bears some of the responsibility, however, for Novak’s double life. Friends of hers were the ones who revealed Loyola was looking for a coach for its women’s club team. She told Novak, who figured that living in Marina del Rey near the Loyola campus and working East Coast hours, he could fit in a coaching stint. He contacted Loyola Athletic

Director Brian Quinn and joined the staff as a volunteer coach in the summer of 1989.

“We had a good meeting,” Novak said. “He was frank about the fact there was no money. A few weeks after, Brian called and was kind of in a panic, he said the men’s coach just resigned and could I (coach) the men? I had just met with the women and felt committed to them, so I said, ‘How about if I do both, I would like to try it.’ ”

Novak met with another volunteer coach, Loyola graduate Jay Simon, and the two formed a coaching partnership. “The one area I kind of lack--goalkeeping--he’s experienced in, so in that sense we’re really matched,” Novak said. “If I’m running late or one team’s on the road we swap a lot.”

Novak, who works for Morgan Stanley Investments in downtown Los Angeles, goes to work at 5:30 a.m. and finishes in early afternoon. Most days, he rushes home, changes and goes to Loyola for practice at 3 p.m. He said his supervisor, Joseph O’Conner, has children in youth soccer and allows Novak to work a flexible schedule.

“Luckily, the firm is an avid supporter,” Novak said. “He even donates to the program.”

That’s fortunate, because the Lions have to fight for what little money they get.

“We’re trying to build something that’s never been here,” Novak said. “We play five teams in the top 20 with zero money. We have to fight for uniforms. It’s tough, sometimes, to get (the players) motivated. The women are basically on a life-support system but we’re keeping it going. I think when Brian sees me now, he walks the other way. He knows I’ll ask him for something.”

Quinn laughed when told of Novak’s comments.

“Considering the obstacles he has, it’s a very difficult job to say the least,” Quinn said. “Like any coach he’s going to do the best he can for his kids. When he asks for something, it’s never for him, it’s always for the players. He’s one of my least demanding coaches. I could use 25 more like him. He’d be a wonderful full-time staff member but with the job he’s got, I doubt he could afford to give that up.”

Novak admits there are times when all the demands start to close in on him. But then he’ll think of a player learning a skill he has worked on for months, or he remembers that his team was one of only two in the conference to score against Portland last year.

“What keeps me going is I think of something that happened, maybe in practice, and it brings a smile to my face. I see we’re improving.”

Along with sharing his soccer knowledge, Novak has done a good job of motivating the young team. The standout player is sophomore Eric Hill, and Novak starts a majority of sophomores and hopes to keep them together two more years.

“These kids, all they need is time and a little bit of money (for the program),” Novak said. “I’m sure down the road there’ll be some rewards. We have a good nucleus. I’m hoping by their senior year we can really develop something.”

Hill, a halfback Novak said could play for any college team, said the team attitude “is improved tremendously.” He added, “Skill-wise we’re better but not what we need to be. We’re inconsistent right now. But (Novak’s) best aspect is he instills confidence in us. We were kind of intimidated. His main thing is he wants to win a couple of conference games. He says on any given day we can play with those teams.”

In his first season, Novak’s team was mostly freshmen and went 3-13, the low point of which was a 9-0 whipping by USF. Two weeks ago, the Lions lost to the Dons, 2-0. Still looking for its first WCC victory, the team was 2-12 going into Friday’s game at St. Mary’s. They play at powerful Santa Clara at 2 p.m. Sunday.

“(The USF game) wasn’t pretty but I told the guys nobody’s gonna embarrass us,” Novak said. “Last year I think some (WCC teams) tried to rock us. I don’t feel like being lion meat anymore. One day this is all gonna turn around. I’ve got to applaud the kids.

“We ran ‘em at 6 a.m. in the preseason, they came two weeks before school opened and they weren’t allowed to stay in the dorms so they were sleeping on my floor and Jay’s floor for two weeks. They came because they love the game. They’re eager. They got a little discipline, a little taste of what it takes. It’s great to be able to pass on something you love.

“You know the worst thing about coaching? It’s sitting on the bench, not being able to go out there and do something when they need help.”

Said Quinn: “The kids play hard, they’re very well coached. I deeply appreciate the job he’s doing. The concern I’ve seen, the caring, the compassion are way above and beyond what you’d expect from a part-time coach.”