Rick is being inducted into the Upper Iowa University Athletic Hall of Fame as an Athlete. He was a four-year letter winner in baseball in 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972. Netolicky was a three-time Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection as an Outfielder. He was named to the first team in 1971 and 1972 and to the second team in 1970. Upper Iowa University held NAIA membership those years and he was selected to the NAIA District 15 team for three consecutive years (1970, 1971, and 1972). In 1972 he topped these honors by receiving an Honorable Mention All-American selection. A .364 hitter in baseball for his career, he was very instrumental in Upper Iowa's two IIAC Baseball Conference Championships in 1971 and 1972, while playing for coaches Stan Jack and Bill Prochaska.
Throughout his 25-year coaching career in baseball, 13 as head coach at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids from 1988 to 2000, Netolicky earned many honors and citations. In 1994 the team won the IHSAA 4A State Championship. Netolicky had three teams in the State Tournament (1994, 1999, and 2000), also named in 1994 4A Iowa Coach of the Year.
An outstanding high school athlete at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Netolicky was the first to receive the "Athlete of the Year" in 1968, competing in baseball and wrestling. He was named to the Kennedy Hall of Fame in 1996 as an athlete and to the Washington Hall of Fame in 2001 as a coach.
Netolicky earned a B.S. degree in Physical Education and Elementary Education in 1972. Then he embarked as an educator for 34 years in the Cedar Rapids Community School District, 30 years at Harrison Elementary, as a classroom teacher and building facilitator, and the last four years at Garfield Elementary as the school's Principal.
Rick and his wife, Jan (Jones), a 1972 Upper Iowa University graduate, live in Cedar Rapids and are the parents of sons Bryan, Greg and Chad.
