Mark Bonis and Ryan Manale: Coaching, fatherhood and weathering the storm

It is inevitable. The storms of life will come.

They have come and will continue to come, sometimes on occasion and sometimes in waves, no pun intended.

How we weather those storms will largely determine our ultimate success or failures in the experiences we become ensconced in and in life, itself.

On the field, Mark Bonis of Brother Martin and Ryan Manale of De La Salle have been undeniably successful, drawing praise and respect from opponents.

In his 11th season at the helm, Bonis has guided the Crusaders to a pair of state semifinal appearances and has presided over a consistent winner in the always challenging Catholic League.

While the league has been challenging, nothing could prepare Bonis and his wife, Rebecca, for what they had to endure nearly two years ago.

Already blessed with a pair of daughters, the Bonis family welcomed the addition of a boy in Marc Bonis to the household.

The blessing of life quickly became the burden of trying to save a life.

“Mighty Marc is definitely the mightiest of all of us, the strides that he’s made here in the last 15 months,” Bonis said. “At this time last year, we didn’t know if he would make it. Now, he’s thriving right around 28 pounds. He’s a little hellion on wheels.”

The younger Bonis is a virtual miracle.

He was born with a rare birth defect known as an omphalocele, with multiple organs outside of his body, including his liver and intestines.

“We thought that would be it with the other things that commonly come with it that he’s really suffered with,” Bonis said. “it really put us in some grim times. Part of his heart, we thought would collapse. That was brought to us with some real bad news.”

Bonis and his wife knew what had to be done.

“At that point, there was only one thing we could do and that was to turn to God in prayer,” Bonis said. “Believe it or not, two or three days later, we’d go back into the hospital and the doctors came out and said that there was no way to explain it but that his heart was in a better state. At that point, we knew what kind of special young man that we had. My wife and I, my whole family has become closer to God. We’ve been rewarded. We’re very blessed.”

Ryan Manale is in his eighth season at De La Salle, having led the Cavaliers to a state championship appearance in 2017 and two other semifinal appearances.

Brody Manale was born without incident, apparently healthy.

Over a year ago, Tami Manale had taken Brody to get ice cream, pure joy for a youngster or adult, for that matter. Ryan Manale was presiding over his De La Salle team practice.

“All of a sudden, I got multiple phone calls and it is actually my brother because my wife didn’t know what to do,” Manale said. “He’s calling and he couldn’t even get words out. It was a rough moment. I remember taking the De La Salle truck because it was the closest thing to me and I just flew to the ice cream shop.”

Manale described what he encountered.

“Next thing, he was in the ambulance and we were on the way to the hospital and with what they thought were seizures,” Manale said. “A lot of tests were run. To this day, we thank the Lord, we keep him in our bed. He stays right in between us. He’s now 4. He has a heart monitor inside of him for three years. He’s monitored pretty much 24/7. We still don’t know exactly what it is. To this day, they really don’t have the exact science of what it is.”

Manale knows the journey has a long way to go.

“It’s been a ride but it makes you stronger in faith and a stronger person,” Manale said. “The kids at De La Salle High School rally around Brody and it is amazing when I take him around to my kids (on the football team). It’s special.”

Manale relates perfectly to what the Bonis family has dealt with.

“I have the utmost respect for the Bonis family,” Manale said. “You really don’t know until it happens to you. All of a sudden, when you see your son going through it, it is good to know that there are people in your profession and I feel I can call Coach Bonis at anytime and we probably could talk for hours and relieve each other’s mind. That’s a strong relationship in this business.”

Bonis relates perfectly to what the Manale family has dealt with.

“Ryan has reached out to me on a couple of occasions and I’ve reached out to him,” Bonis said. “I think he knows this—anything he needs from a family standpoint, not just football but from a family standpoint, that I’m here. Any way that the Bonis family can help, we are definitely here. I know the feeling is mutual.”

Manale has been moved by the support he and Tami have received.

“To see the De La Salle community rally around me and you see the other schools reach out to me and ask what they can do, it means a lot to me and my wife and family,” Manale said. “We’re very blessed to be in the situation we’re in.”

At Brother Martin games a year ago, many opposing teams had fans who made signs of support for Mighty Marc which they displayed at games.

“I can’t explain how special that is and I’m not big on social media but my wife is,” Bonis said. “She does a lot of posting on Facebook and when I see some of her posts about our family and Mighty Marc and you see thousands of people responding, people you don’t even know, all from different walks of life, it is special.”

Bonis now has a greater understanding about the prospect of diametrically opposed persons uniting for a worthy cause.

“We know this, we live in a divided world and when her posts (Rebecca) and your child bring people together, it’s definitely an awe-inspiring moment,” Bonis said.

The storms have pounded the Manale and Bonis households, pouring heavy rain upon their very existences, testing the boundaries of remaining sane while dealing with the pain of watching a child struggle and suffer. It has been a drain on emotion, time and the pocketbook. It must be hard to refrain from questioning why.

Ryan, Tami, Mark and Rebecca had gone through the eye of the storm, weathered the forceful winds of terrible change in their lives and emerged scarred but restored, victorious on the other side of it all. While both believe God is repairing the heart, intestines, and liver, the coaches continue to do excellent jobs with their “children” at De La Salle and Brother Martin.

Both institutions are blessed to have such fine men. Both schools are fortunate to have such fine coaches. Both coaches are blessed to have loving, supportive wives. Both continue to help shape young lives and the youngest lives in their families as they emerge from darkness into light.