GAME On the Sideline
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GAME On the Sideline
Q & A with Michael McParlin, Varsity Basketball Head Coach of Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima High School, the Tigers
Warren, Rhode Island
Private enrollment, 175 students
No Rhode Island Team Athletic Championships
Being able to have the opportunity to coach such a young team and rebuilding a program to become competitive at the Varsity level. It’s exciting to see this team improve every day in practice and games.
The Fatima Community has been great in their dedication to build the athletics program back up. It is such a wonderful place to coach. Fatima has a great school community with a great school history. It has a lot of potential for growth.
Where is your team going?
The team is going in the right direction. It is tough for any team to play night in and night out with 9 guys who dress for the game, but to say that you are competitive in every game with only two seniors on the roster as well having 4 guys play their first year of organized basketball is pretty remarkable.
What’s been your greatest success as a coach?
The biggest success for me as a coach is helping the athletes that I coach grow not only as basketball players but into great young men. It is rewarding when your former players come back to practice and talk to the team or see you out in the community and they tell you about how well they are doing in school. It gives you pride in knowing that they appreciated you playing a role in their lives as a coach.
When I was coaching at the Newman YMCA in Seekonk, one of my players had been cut from his high school basketball team for three straight years, and I worked with him all summer long before his senior year. He not only made Varsity, but he was the team’s leading scorer that season. It felt great when I received that phone call after try-outs and he was thanking me because he made the team. It’s a great feeling helping someone else succeed.
What’s been your biggest failure?
The biggest failure has to be not producing many wins at start of my head coaching career. But to me it’s not about the wins and losses, like I tell the team, it’s about preparing them for life after basketball. We are basically building a program from scratch and success comes with maturity, hard work and determination. Hopefully eventually everything will fall into place; but I don’t think wins and losses define a team, person or a program.
What is your coaching experience?
I started out as a volunteer coach at the Newman YMCA in Seekonk, Mass where I would help out during my summer vacation from college. I began running clinics and camps to help the local youth in the community.
I was an assistant basketball coach as well as freshman and JV coach at LaSalle for 4 Years before I became Head Coach at Fatima this year.
Teaching and coaching are something that I love to do and hopefully I will have the opportunity to coach and teach for a long time.
Who have been the best players you’ve coached?
I have had the opportunity to coach a lot of great players, who not only succeeded on the basketball court or baseball diamond, but in other sports as well:
Matt Hansen is one, who was a star safety for the football team at URI. He was a part of a basketball team who finished 2nd in the state his senior year at LaSalle. Pucci Angel is another, a former All-Stater who currently plays basketball at Catholic University. But it would be very special if I can say that my current players at Fatima were the best basketball players that I have coached after they graduate in 4 years.
How do you motivate your players?
I always have a practice player of the week for the person who works the hardest during that week.
I am very big on defense and the kids taking pride in defensive fundamentals especially taking charges, so any player who takes a charge during the game receives a Gatorade at the next practice.
Working hard, while having fun keeps the kids motivated and ready to compete every day.
Thanks Coach!