SETON HALL MAGAZINE
W
SPRING 2019 8
hen Kaity Healy became captain of Seton
the court, she says she “tries to do the little plays that
Hall’s women’s basketball team three years
nobody likes to do, like taking a charge, getting a steal,
ago, she hadn’t yet played a single minute
getting a stop on defense.”
for the Pirates.
The graduate of Colts Neck High School in New Jersey
Healy — an accounting major who is also getting her master’s in the same field — altered her on-court play,
sat out her first season with the Pirates as a redshirt.
and also adjusted her leadership style during her three
And yet, before the start of the following season, and
years as a captain, saying, “The first couple of years I
before she’d seen any game action, she had taken over
would definitely say it was more lead by example, and
as a leader of the Pirates.
this year, because it’s my last year and I feel like I’ve
“I didn’t name her a team captain,” says head coach Tony Bozzella ’89. “She earned the captaincy. She did a great job of becoming a leader. She had
grown so much as a person, I try to be a bit more vocal and still lead by example.” Bozzella recruited Healy early out of high school,
to earn it with her work ethic. … She was a good
and when she was just a sophomore she committed
captain at the beginning, and now she’s become a
to Iona College, where Bozzella coached before taking
great captain.”
over at Seton Hall. She ended up following him to
Healy remembers Bozzella telling her about the
South Orange, where he watched her mature into her
new role “about five minutes before he told the team.
role as a captain and grow on the court as the strength
I was in a little bit of shock as well, but I was like,
work she put in during her redshirt season paid off.
OK, whatever you need, Coach. I was so happy, and at
“She’s much more vocal and holds the kids a lot more
the same time so nervous, but my teammates had my
accountable,” he says. “I think early on it was hard
back, the coaching staff had my back, so it was a really
for her, but she had to take that mantle and she did.
easy transition.”
It was important that she do that if we were going to
Leadership may have come naturally because of
be successful.”
Healy’s upbringing. Her mom, Jeanene, played basket-
When Healy finishes playing, she wants to follow
ball at Wagner College and then coached her daughter
both her mother and Bozzella into the coaching world.
through high school. Healy’s dad, Robert, played soccer
But she’s also inspired by trailblazer Edniesha Curry,
at Greensboro College, but quickly transformed from
an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at
a soccer guy to a basketball fanatic as she progressed
the University of Maine, who has a unique role in the
with the sport. Her folks were her biggest supporters
male-dominated field.
and role models. “They instilled in my sister and me
Photo courtesy of Seton Hall Athletics
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Healy explains, “My ultimate goal would be to
a very blue-collar work ethic,” Healy says. “Nose to the
be a men’s college coach, either professionally, but
grindstone, don’t worry about anything else, and the
mostly college … I feel like I have a really good I.Q.
most important thing is the team.”
and feel for the game so hopefully I can just get an
At practice and during games, Healy has adapted to whatever the Pirates needed. A 5-foot-6 point guard
opportunity and get my foot in the door.” When she does become a coach, she’ll surely
when she played in high school and during her first
look for strong leaders and feisty, versatile players
years with the Pirates, in her final season on the court
who remind her of a Seton Hall guard named…
at Seton Hall, with the team’s new system, Healy start-
Kaity Healy. n
ed playing off the ball as well, a role change that saw her shooting the ball more. No matter her position on
Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.
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