The start of the winter sports season was the beginning of coach Megan Fong’s journey in mentoring girls varsity basketball. Although she coached the JV team in previous years, it is Fong’s first year coaching at a varsity level, which she said requires a more ambitious attitude because of its higher standards.
Point guard Danica Lim said that Fong is adjusting well to the team dynamic and adapts based on the players’ skills.
“She’s really open and tells us straight to our face what we do wrong and what we are doing right,” Lim, a junior, said. “As a team, this year we’re closer to her as a coach and closer together as a team because of her communication.”
To allow for improvement, Fong said she evaluates the team’s patterns throughout each game and changes her coaching method accordingly.
“I always look at the stats from the games and adjust in different ways,” Fong said. “I [consider] certain drills that I don’t think are helpful, and traditionally, we don’t play well in the first quarter, so we change practice to adjust to that.”
Center senior Gabriella Fourkas said Fong does a good job watching out for everyone’s needs on the team, considering different skill sets and allowing the team to improve in ways that they had not previously.
Through Fong’s coaching method, sophomore shooting guard Vedhika Medampalli said Fong has been effective in fostering strong relationships between players and coaches.
“Coach knows I struggle with certain things that aren’t just basketball-related,” Medampalli said. “Her getting to know me as a person has helped me do better. I’ve learned to take criticism better from my coaches, from my peers and from the captains.”
Despite being new to the position, Fong said she is consistently impressed by the team’s dedication to the sport, which has helped her experience a smooth transition to varsity.
“Everyone’s gotten a lot better as the season progressed,” Fong said. “I like that I don’t really have to tell people to work hard. Everyone just shows up and works hard every day.”
