Athletics Staff

Chris Bianchi

Accomplishments...

Personal
During his playing days, Chris was a two sport athlete at St. John Fisher College (basketball/soccer), a first team all-conference player and captain during his high school career at Bishop Kearney/Cardinal Mooney.  Coach Bianchi attributes his drive and success to his battle with cancer (Hodgkin’s Disease) in 1994. “Facing cancer afforded me the perspective and motivation to strive for excellence and appreciate life every day. The most important thing I teach is work ethic. ‘If you want a special result, then you need to give a special effort. No excuses!!!’ This is the key to all of life’s opportunities. If you want something bad enough, you’ll make the necessary sacrifices to eventually get it.”

Education

UWP College Professor
Chris Bianchi taught in both the School of Education and the Physical Education Department during his time as a college professor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He also served as the coordinator for the Athlete Life & Academic Skills Course. Every year he was director of the Athlete Life & Academic Skills Course, the athletes recorded a higher GPA than the student body.

High School Teacher
Prior to his college tenure, Bianchi was an award winning history teacher and team leader in one of the top 100 school districts (Pittsford CSD) in the country. Through his career he has worked closely with committees of special education teachers and counselors, school planning teams, coaches, parents and administrators. Bianchi is also a certified AVID coordinator & instructor (AVID is a national academic program that assists student’s academic and social transition from high school to college). Coach Bianchi not only believes in the strong link between academics and athletics, he has mastered this relationship. During his years as a college head coach and also as a varsity high school head coach, he has NEVER had an athlete academically ineligible! We believe this is a true testament to his commitment as a teacher and coach.

Advising
What makes Coach Bianchi so valuable to the staff is his intimate knowledge of the academic and athletic keys to the college recruiting, search, selection and transition process. Coach Bianchi leads this elite group that makes RPA such a fantastic resource for college-bound student-athletes.

Coaching

University of Wisconsin-Platteville - Men's Soccer
Coach Bianchi had an immediate and dramatic impact as a college head coach. During his final season at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, his Men’s Soccer team reached a national ranking of #9, a regional ranking of #3, and won the prestigious Flower City Classic Tournament. The Pioneers won a school record 14 games during this season and were recognized as the best team in school history. During his tenure, Bianchi’s men’s team won a total of 6 tournament titles and broke 11 school records. Their national ranking was the school’s first (and only) in the 45 year history of the soccer program.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville - Women's Teams
Many believe Bianchi’s work with the women’s team at UWP is his most impressive coaching accomplishment. This included 43 school records and 3 tournament titles. They set records for the most wins during each of his last three seasons. The Pioneers had a record of 6-59-1 the 3 seasons prior to Bianchi taking over. During his last 3 seasons with UWP, Bianchi had a 26-20-5 record. In 2004, (Bianchi’s second season) UWP was recognized at the 6th most improved NCAA program in the country. As a result of his vision, success and commitment to his players, the women’s teams had the largest rosters in school history from 2004-2006. Bianchi brought the Pioneers from futility to national prominence and created a program that commanded respect from opponents.

UWP Assistant Basketball Coach
As a result of his basketball background and coaching success, Bianchi was asked to help the women’s basketball program as an assistant coach during the 2004-2005 season. He was responsible for scouting opponents, evaluating recruits, developing post players and guards. The UWP women’s basketball program has only 4 seasons of .500 or better since 1992. The 2004-05 season was one of the few bright spots in the history of the program as the Pioneers finished 13-13!

High School Coaching
As a high school coach, Bianchi guided Nazareth Academy (1994-1997) to their first playoff victories, the first Final Four and the first 3 winning seasons in school history. Four of his players went on to play college soccer, they were the first four to achieve this feat. His semi-final team of 1997 set a school record for wins with 13.

From 1996-2000 he was also the Associate Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach and coached the JV Boys’ Basketball team at Sutherland High School. He coached the Freshman Boys’ Basketball team from 1993-1995. During his 7 years coaching basketball at Sutherland High School, the Knights made five semi-finals, 2 finals and earned a Section V Championship. Sutherland has produced DI men’s basketball players for the following schools: Syracuse, Michigan State, Illinois, Coastal Carolina, Hampton, Quinnipiac, Manhattan, Michigan and New Hampshire.