WEST CALDWELL- Ever since his Mark Teshkoyan passed away four years ago his longtime Caldwell softball co-coach has continued to feel the presence of his brother, and especially at the Chiefs’ softball diamond.
“He’s there each day and at every game we play,” said Mike Teshkoyan. “We always felt most at home together at our field because it’s always been a special place which represents good times and great people with the opportunity to coach together for so many years.
Now, that special location will always be a part of many more great Caldwell softball memories for years to come after it was named ‘Teshkoyan Brothers Park’ during a special pre-game ceremony before a recent (April 5th) independent game vs. Gill St. Bernard’s at the West Caldwell field.
“They couldn’t fit ‘Brothers’ on the scoreboard which reads ‘Teshkoyan Field’ but it will always be a place that also honors my brother who was such a huge part of everything we did for all those years together,” said Mike Teshkoyan. “The dedication of the field was a perfect day for me and I’m so thankful to our school administration and to all the people who came out to join me on a cold, damp but very special day for my family.”
The game vs. Gill was tied at 1-1 before it was called after four innings due to wet conditions. Still, the day was quite special and also included a party thrown at the original Teshkoyan homestead by 94-year-old Gloria, the brothers' devoted mom.
The Teshkoyan brothers coached together for 33 years and Mike (749-264, 74%) is now in this 39th season at the helm while currently being third all-time in terms of New Jersey high school softball coaching victories behind the now retired Don Panzarella of South Plainfield (848 wins) and the still-active Debbie Schwartz of Donovan Catholic (767).
“I still enjoy every day teaching (6th grade social studies at the Grover Cleveland Middle School) and coaching our girls, continued Teshkoyan, who will turn 67 on May 28. “You see people like (St. John’s basketball coach) Rick Pitino and (University of North Carolina head football coach) Bill Belichick (both 72 years old) still out there coaching in their sports.
"Even as far as my family goes my dad (Ed, who passed away in 2022 at 99) worked as a civil engineer until he was 88, so I think you could say it's in my blood to keep teaching and coaching for a long time.
“I do know that I have no plans to retire any time soon!”
The last few years have been challenging health-wise for the longtime Chiefs softball head mentor who has Parkinson’s disease, although he is doing very well dealing with it.
“Once I adapted to the medications I’ve been doing well,” he said. “I can still do what I need to do each day as far as teaching and coaching plus I have a couple of terrific assistant coaches in Amanda Best and Mikayla Romero and they have been great!”
And, each day at Teshkoyan Brothers Park conjures up plenty of tremendous memories about one of the state’s storied softball programs. Caldwell has won 20 conference titles, seven Essex County Tournament championships, 10 NJSIAA state sectional crowns and three overall Group 2 state titles, including two (11992 vs. Gateway Regional) and 2005 (vs. Audubon) with the Teshkoyans together at the helm.
Mike was an assistant coach for John Pallino when the 1983 Chiefs defeated Gateway for the program’s initial Group 2 crown.
Mike and Mark joined forces in coaching the Caldwell girls soccer program in 1985 and worked together in that sport for 33 seasons before Mark stepped aside and Mike left his head varsity post in the sport before the 2020 fall season.
It was at a 2017 softball victory at Montclair Kimberley Academy where the Teshkoyans were honored with a special poster commemorating 1,000 combined victories in Chiefs’ girls soccer and softball.
Mark lived his life in courageous fashion while dealing with kidney disease for many years. He would still continue to have full and productive days, transitioning from teaching industrial arts and his coaching duties at James Caldwell High School to then undergo four hours of dialysis in the evening; yet even when he finally had to step aside from coaching, he remained one of the softball team’s most ardent fans before passing away in January of 2021.
