Closing Out a Legendary Career

Jordane Branch co-Editor-in-Chief

This school year wraps up 22 years of coaching and mentorship here at PB for the legendary Coach P, aka Ms. Heather Podosek. During this time period, Coach P has continuously graced everyone at PB with her tough love, passion, and support.

Coach Podosek is from Atco, New Jersey where she attended Edgewood Senior High School. After high school, she attended George Mason University on a basketball scholarship. It was at George Mason that she made the decision to make education and coaching her career. “I loved the impact my high school coaches had on my life and they were teachers at my school. So, I decided to pursue a degree in education with an emphasis in physical education,” she recalls. Coach P adds about basketball that she “loved the sport and felt I could impact young women the way I was impacted by my coaches.”

To that end, after graduating in 1983, she took a job as an assistant basketball coach at Glassboro State College, now known as Rowan College. Since then, Coach P has remained in coaching and teaching including coaching boys’ basketball at the Lab School of Washington in DC, attending Texas Woman’s University where she got her masters degree in kinesiology while coaching womens’ basketball alongside current PB AVID Coordinator Ms. Crump, who was head coach at the time. Adding to her time coaching and teaching in Texas, Coach P taught PE and coached girls varsity basketball at Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth.

In 1992, Coach Podosek began her work in Montgomery County Public Schools, where she would continue for the rest of her career. She taught at Westland Middle School for 5 years and Banneker Middle School for 4 years before moving to PB to teach PE in 2001. While at Westland and Banneker, she did a lot of coaching including JV girls’ basketball at PB, varsity girls’ basketball and JV softball at Rockville High School, and varsity girls’ basketball at National Cathedral School in Washington, DC. She took her final coaching job in 1997 when she became the varsity girls’ coach at PB where she remained head coach for many years, amassing over 300 wins along with two state championships in 2001 and 2008, respectively.

Here at PB she also coached girls’ volleyball and co-ed volleyball for 2 years as well as serving as assistant AD for 4 years. In 2010, she became PB’s Athletic Director. Working at PB has been a very important part of Coach P’s career and she notes many proud moments. “There are so many proud moments at Paint Branch,” she notes before listing some of the things that make every day worthwhile: “Working everyday with amazing studentathletes and coaches, seeing our student-athletes graduate, signing day for those who earned scholarships, seeing the progression of teams as they begin to bond and improve in contests, success in the playoffs, proud moments when teams and individuals (players and coaches) receive awards/medals/championships for their efforts.”

Of course, one thing Coach P values above all others, being a part of this community. “The proudest moment has to be the honor of being a part of this amazing community, this Paint Branch Family!” Although she will miss her PB community, Coach P is looking forward to doing some travel after retiring, both domestically and internationally along with her wife, Dee Thoren, a former PB staff member.

Coach P’s impact and legacy will live on forever no matter the distance. Coach closes with a meaningful quote, “Once a Panther, Always a Panther, 24 hours a day, 365 Days a year, for the rest of our lives!”