Springdale girls coach ‘at loss for words’ with 6-player roster

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 1, 2018 | 11:03 PM

Springdale girls

Coach: John Broderick

Last year’s record: 1-19, 0-14

Returning starters: Caitlyn Ullger (sr. F), Katlyn Nagy (jr. G)

Top newcomers: Julia Parfitt (so. G), Emily Wilhelm (fr. G), Maggie Dvorcak (fr. G), Brianna Thompson (fr. G)

Coach John Broderick thought the numbers problem that has plagued the Springdale girls basketball program had subsided by the end of last season.

The Dynamos had 11 players on the team that finished 1-19, 0-14.

But only six players were on the floor this past week as Springdale prepared for the upcoming season.

“I’ve never been this discouraged,” the fourth-year coach said. “I really thought we were doing things right. I thought we were moving in the right direction. One girl moved away in the offseason and four girls just didn’t come out. I’m at a loss for words.”

With such few players on the floor, there’s only so much that can be accomplished. Practices have been cut to about an hour and 15 minutes daily and Saturday practices have been done away with for players who hold part-time jobs.

It has forced the veteran coach to throw down the gauntlet. Rosters needed turned in by the Nov. 28 deadline.

“That’s it,” Broderick said. “No one’s walking in the first week of December or at Christmastime. We’ve decided that we have to draw a line in the sand. We’re never going to break this cycle unless we break it. This is really going to be a tell-tale season. We’re going to run this program the way every other program I’ve been involved with is run. We can’t cut corners anymore. This is not doing the kids any good.”

Turnout problems aside, Broderick is happy with the girls he has on the team.

“On the flip side, the girls who are here are playing hard and doing what we’ve asked them to do,” Broderick said. “We have three freshmen, a sophomore, and junior and a senior. We can see progress every day but from where they’re at now to where they have to be to be competitive is so far away.”

Returning starters Caitlyn Ullger and Katlyn Nagy are ready to go.

“We definitely can make progress,” Ullger said. “We have been getting the girls coming in and putting the effort in to make our team better.”

“We have an “I ‘Heart’ Hoops” program now,” Nagy said. “So whenever the younger kids are coming up and learning basketball and when they get up to our level, they’ll be skilled enough to play.”

Preseason scrimmages will be vital.

“We not worried about perfection,” Ullger said. “We want to have fun and improve our skills.

Said Nagy: “We want to have a team bond and a connection to each other.”

Sophomore Julia Parfitt is expected to be a big part of the team, along with freshmen Emily Wilhelm, Maggie Dvorcak and Brianna Thompson will have major roles.

Broderick praised the summer program that assistant coach Courtney Yaksich and other ex-players are operating. There were more than 60 participants, grades 6 and under, this past summer. In the fall, up to 15 players participated in the seventh- and eighth-grade programs.

But the varsity is the problem.

Broderick’s wife, Mary Ann, and Yaksich will be the assistants.

Springdale will a member of Class 2A, Section 2 against rival Riverview, Brentwood, Ellis School, Jeannette, Serra Catholic and Winchester-Thurston.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Springdale