It was her love for the sport that led her to her first role as the assistant girls varsity basketball coach fourteen years ago when she arrived at Deerfield with her husband who had accepted a teaching position. Having taught and coached basketball prior to that at Blair Academy and The Browning School, Coach Schloat knew that she had to jump at the opportunity to coach when it presented itself—even though the timing could not have been worse with a newborn at home. She recalls how her husband would drive their two-month-old son to her away games just so that she could nurse. “One of the things I like most about Coach Schloat is her passion for basketball,” says Director of Athletics Bob Howe. “She loves the game, and she loves the players she coaches. Coaching and teaching at a place like Deerfield can be challenging; both require a ton of time. To do both well, a person needs to be organized and committed to excellence. We have this in Coach Schloat.”
GREEN COACH TEAM // l to r: Ashani Petrizzi, Leah Moore, Julie Schloat, Kylie Laurenitis
BEING ON A TEAM WILL MIMIC SO MUCH OF WHAT LIFE IS GOING TO BE LIKE. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO COMPROMISE AND LEAN ON OTHER PEOPLE AND STEP UP FOR OTHER PEOPLE Julie’s infectious positivity and passion have attracted a great support network of people who want to be involved with the team. “She leads with the utmost integrity. Her care for our players and the sport of basketball are always clear in each and everything she does,” says Assistant Coach Ashani Petrizzi, who coached alongside Julie in the most memorable game in recent history: The first win against rival NMH in a decade! For Coach Schloat, team sports are an essential preparation for life. She hopes that her players realize that they can accomplish so much more by working alongside people than they could alone. “Being on a team will mimic so much of what life is going to be like. You’re going to have to compromise and lean on other people and step up for other people,” she says, reflecting on the life lessons she hopes her players take with them. “Of course, winning is the goal, but it’s not the only thing,” she says with a glimmer in her eye, as she goes on to recount how the team turned a losing game around. It was the last game of the day at the Eight-Schools tournament against Exeter, down by three and needing a three to tie the game to get to overtime. The previous week, they had just put in a special play for their best outside shooter to get a three-point shot but had barely practiced it. “I called a timeout and said, ‘Girls this is when we need to run this play and we need to run it perfectly,’” which they did, she says, as she relives that moment when the player hit the shot that took them to an overtime win. “It was a great moment for the girls to believe in themselves and to believe they can make things happen.” Coach Schloat hopes that all her players will always want to come back to visit and that their team experiences were positive and memorable in all the right ways. “I went to the state championships twice. We lost both times. Does that ruin my memory of my basketball team? Absolutely not. What I end up remembering are all the times in the locker room, the bus rides, screaming at the top of our lungs to our favorite songs. You only get your high school team once, so enjoy it.” //
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