Coaches are vital to the success of a team. Fortunately, our Girls Basketball team is being coached by three great people – Coaches Brendan Queenan, Nicolle Wetzel and Krista Rambala. To start off, besides coaching here at North Arlington, Coach Queenan works as a middle school history teacher in Jersey City. Coach Wetzel is currently a science teacher at Veterans Middle School here in NA, while Coach Rambala is a school counselor in both Washington and Roosevelt Elementary Schools in North Arlington. 

Successful coaching runs much deeper than just wins and losses – it also involves reaching athletes on an individual level. This is definitely something that our coaches here at North Arlington can be credited with. In fact, when asked why they wanted to become a coach, the three agreed that they made this decision because they wanted to make a difference for our players. For instance, Coach Rambala stated that “part of [her] decision to become a coach was to be that female advocate for the girls playing because [she] could relate to what they are going through.” 

When asked about their favorite part of being a coach, the Girls Basketball Coaches were very quick to mention our players. As Coach Queenan stated, “the girls make the experience worth it.” However, undoubtedly, they acknowledged that coaching does have its challenges. When asked about the most difficult part of coaching, our Coaches emphasized the additional responsibilities that come with the job. As Coach Wetzel noted, “the most difficult part of coaching is balancing out all aspects of my life while also making sure I am dedicating all I can to the sport.” 

Lastly, as I noted above, a team’s success should not be measured by its season record and overall amount of victories. Instead, as our Coaches noted, it should be measured through gradual improvement. When asked about this, the Coaches agreed that gradual improvement is “the key to success in all areas of life, and not just basketball.” In fact, Coach Queenan even applied it to the team by noting how “[they] were at ground zero when the 20/21 season started. With shutdowns and limited time together [they] struggled early, but by the end of the year [they] started to show signs of improvement.” In actuality, this has also been evident on the court in the early part of this season.