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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2013
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sports&recreation SPORTS VIEW Contact Jim at Ogsmar@aol.com
Belleville enjoying historic girls’ volleyball season
Kearny turns hoop reins over to local guy McDonnell In his heart of hearts, Bob McDonnell never wanted to be anywhere else than coaching the kids of Kearny. After all, being a Kearny guy is what McDonnell has been for the last 30 years. He’s lived here, raised his family here. He served as a police officer in Kearny for 15 years, as a patrolman, as a DARE officer. And McDonnell was a youth coach, volunteering his time coaching wrestling and basketball in Kearny. He spent seven years coaching the freshman, junior varsity and assistant on the varsity basketball teams at Kearny High. For nine years, McDonnell was involved with the Kearny AAU basketball program and served on the town’s basketball committee, organizing and supervising clinics and leagues for the youngsters of the town. But four years ago, after failing to secure the head coaching position at Kearny, a slot he coveted so much, McDonnell moved outside the town. McDonnell took a job as an assistant coach at Berkeley College in Newark. “I actually became more of a student of the game,” McDonnell said.
“I learned more about fundamentals, learned about the quickness of the game, the difference between high school and college. I saw different coaching styles and it really opened my eyes up.” McDonnell kept himself busy as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Berkeley. “I saw over 600 high school games over the last few years,” McDonnell said. “So I know what’s going on, especially in Hudson County.” So when Bill Schoener left Kearny after one season to take a new position at Saddle River Day School, it left the position open that McDonnell always coveted. Last week, the Board of Education officially appointed McDonnell as the new head coach at Kearny High. “I’m extremely excited,” McDonnell said. “I think the program can work. I’m willing to work to make it better.” It’s not going to be an easy task. Ever since Kearny has joined the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League five years ago, the Kardinals have not been at all competitive. see VIEW next page
Photo courtesy John Spina
The Belleville girls’ volleyball team owns an impressive 19-2 record, a vast improvement from just two seasons ago, when they won just three times. Back row, from l., are Jenna Lombardi, Fiorelys Perez, Breana Nieves, Kayla Sica, Shatia Silas, Chloe Mecka, Abigail Ocaya and Gabriella Tabago. Front row, from l., are Dashel Arizmendi, Andrea Nugent, Kirsten De La Cruz, Kristan Lombardi, Barbara Jacangelo and Ariana Douglass.
By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer
turned in our favor,” Spina said. “We were improving. We started to beat the teams that hen John Spina took were beating us.” over coaching the The Bucs ended the season girls’ volleyball team with a 14-12 record. It meant at his high school alma mater that volleyball could be a viable Belleville three years ago, the sport in Belleville. program was in disarray. “We got girls who wanted “They were 0-17 the year to play volleyball all the time,” before I took over,” Spina said. Spina said. “We had six girls “I just tried to implement com- playing club volleyball and petition.” another three who played durThe first year with Spina as ing the winter. We created an a head coach, the Buccaneers atmosphere where the expectashowed a slight improvement. tions were higher.” “We won three games,” Spina So when the 2013 season said. “It wasn’t really frustratbegan, Spina truly believed that ing, because I knew what I his program was poised to take wanted to do.” the next step. A year ago, the Buccaneers “We didn’t want to shy away were headed down the wrong from competition,” Spina said. road, losing nine of their first 11 “We wanted to create some matches. pressure to perform. They “But then the momentum
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hated it at first, but once we started to breed competition in practice, it gave us the edge that we needed. We were going to be less likely to crumble and fold. We had a lot of good players who could play a lot of positions, a lot of depth.” Spina said that the Buccaneers prepared for the coming season with a lot of diligence in the offseason. “It’s a credit to the girls, who put in the hard work during the summer,” Spina said. “If they didn’t, they would have been just an average volleyball team. The hard work is paying off.” Obviously. The Buccaneers are currently enjoying a sensational season, one of the best in the school’s history. They have a see BELLEVILLE page
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