Who are the kids that will be on my team? Where are the basketballs and uniforms kept? When can I use the gym for practices? Can I bring along my own staff?

These are just some of the questions that confront a new coach of a high school basketball program.

Some have the advantage of getting promoted from an assistant’s position in the same school, and have already built relationships with most of the players.

That was a critical benefit for Dan Muir, who succeeded Nadia Gauronsky at Pleasant Valley this year.

Such an advantage was not the case for Jerry Lloyd at Northwestern, Gauronsky at Jim Thorpe, or Pat Wanamaker at Northern Lehigh.

Lloyd left the head boys’ job at Phillipsburg High School in New Jersey to take over the Tigers’ program.

“I own a small business, and the pandemic put me in a rough spot,” said Lloyd who lives in Whitehall. “Since I had to travel a long distance to Phillipsburg and try to keep my business going, it got to be too much to do, so I was preparing to take a year off from coaching.

“Then the Northwestern position opened up and for many reasons, it was perfect for me when I got the job.”

Building a relationship with his team was compromised by the pandemic which shut down summer leagues and workouts.

“We did get some time in the fall with kids who didn’t play other sports,” he explained. “Since team building was out of the mix over the summer, this helped me getting to know some of the players, and them getting to know me.”

Gauronsky had similar issues with getting to know her Olympians.

“Summer leagues and open gyms are good times to build rapport with the players, and we had neither,” she said. “We were a bit out of sync for our first few games because we didn’t have time to navigate that water beforehand.”

The highly-touted Olympians opened their season with a 2-2 record, and have since rattled off eight straight wins.

With eight seniors having played for a previous coach, Wanamaker had to earn their trust quickly.

“On the first day, I put it all on the line as to who I was and how I coach. I’ve been open and honest from the beginning and the kids have been great, especially the seniors, who had their own challenge of having to prove themselves to a new coach.

“After all that the pandemic has caused, these kids are just happy to play and they compete hard, but they bring a carefree attitude to the court every day. With a late start and multiple postponements, we’ve played exactly three games so far, and we’ve come up against teams that have played 10. Together, the kids and I are learning on the fly.”

All four new coaches agreed that there is a period of adjustment needed for communication between coaches and players, and that motivating individual players is not a one-plan-fits-all philosophy.

Gauronsky said there is a certain awkwardness during the first few games between a new coach and the players.

“Kids are kids,” she said. “We don’t yet know what to expect from them. As a coach, you need time to build the trust with your players so they get to a certain comfort level and can perform to the best of their abilities.

“It takes a while to learn that one player needs praise and an arm around her to get her best performance, but for another player, you need to light a fire under her.”

“It takes time to get to know each player,” said Lloyd. “It’s a day-by-day process to figure out how to get each individual to give his best effort.”

Wanamaker, an assistant at Northwestern for the past eight seasons, stepped into a perfect storm of challenges at Northern Lehigh. Hired in September, Wanamaker saw a preliminary sign up of 34 students reduced to just 12 by the time the season rolled around.

The lack of numbers - caused at least in part because of continued COVID-19 concerns and Pennsylvania’s statewide mandate that masks be worn during play - has added another element to the normal rookie coach issues.

“We couldn’t begin working with the kids at all until Nov. 20,” said Wanamaker, who played his high school basketball for the Bulldogs. “Then, we couldn’t field a junior-varsity team, and with eight seniors on the roster, I immediately thought that next year we’ll be starting all over again.”

Muir was the most fortunate of the group.

“I had coached many of the girls at Pleasant Valley when they were in the middle school,” he said “The biggest challenge is to get the ones I didn’t know to trust the offensive and defensive system we put in, so I have given them a little extra attention.”

The mechanics for coaching at a new school were also waters to navigate for Lloyd.

“I was calling our athletic director Jason Zimmerman every other day with a lot of questions,” he said. “I had a pile of keys, but I didn’t know which one opened the closet for the basketballs.

“When you’re brand-new to the school, you don’t know where anything is. Jason was very helpful.”

Bringing familiar faces and veterans of the game along with certainly helps a first-year coach acclimate to a new program.

Lloyd put together his staff at Northwestern that includes his father Kevin, and his own high school coach from when he played at Whitehall, Jerry Radocha. Lloyd also retained freshman coach Bob Mazziotta from the previous staff, giving him someone who has knowledge of the young players coming up to the JV and varsity levels.

“My dad was an assistant at Pen Argyl for many years, so I can lean on him for insights into the league and the teams on our schedule,” Lloyd said.

Gauronsky’s staff includes her longtime assistant coach at Pleasant Valley, Chris Jarrow, and Jim Thorpe High School teacher, Johanna Fry.

“Chris and Johanna are the perfect marriage,” said Gauronsky. “Chris brings with him a comfort level for me of working with someone I’ve coached with for years, and Johanna brings a knowledge of our student athletes from her years as a teacher in the school.”

Muir kept some staff in place at Pleasant Valley while also adding his friend, Frank Dekmar, who’s in the New Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame for his 20 years of success coaching girls at Roxbury High School.

Building a relationship with parents is another important responsibility, especially for a new coach.

Lloyd had the good fortune of knowing many of the families of the players in the school.

“I knew Northwestern was a great school with great kids before I had applied,” said Lloyd.

“I already knew many of the parents from the booster club,” said Muir. “That was a big help when it comes to my communication with them.”

Wanamaker, who chuckled when he said he didn’t expect this kind of homecoming at Northern Lehigh, introduced himself at a local park. “I needed to put a face to my name,” he said.

All four head coaches are settling into their new roles, but as Gauronsky, an elementary school teacher has learned about the unpredictability of kids - no coach can ever fall into a comfort level for too long.

“You can have the best plans, but you have to expect that at some point, some things will not go as smoothly as you had thought,” she said.

When that happens, Gauronsky, Muir, Lloyd and Wanamaker will do what all coaches must do, and that is coach their way through it.

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WAITING GAME … Early this week, Mother Nature caused a sudden stop in play with a winter storm that blanketed much of the area with over a foot of snow. While teams were forced to spend a few days on the sidelines, there is no doubt they will be more than ready to get back into the swing of things after the impromptu break.

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ON A ROLL … The Jim Thorpe boys’ basketball team has been enjoying great success with a lengthy win streak. The Olympians are in the midst of a seven-game stretch, which is their longest win streak since Jan. 5-23, 2009 when they also won seven in a row. The last time they had a longer streak, which was eight games, was Jan. 17-Feb. 3, 1995.

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KEEP IT ROLLING ... The Jim Thorpe, Northwestern and Lehighton girls have also been on a tear. The Jim Thorpe and Northwestern girls are both on an eight-game win streak, while the Lehighton girls are sitting on a streak that has lasted four games. The Indians have won six of their last seven. The Tigers (8-0) are unbeaten this season.

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CLINCHED ... Two area basketball teams have already clinched berths in the District 11 tournament. The Northwestern and Jim Thorpe girls have secured their spots and are currently No. 1 and No. 2 in Class 4A, respectively.

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BULLDOG PRIDE … While numbers may be down among Northern Lehigh wrestlers, Brenden Smay has accounted for most of his program’s team’s points over the last week with three straight wins. Smay earned a technical fall in losses against Palmerton and Palisades, and scored a decision in the Bangor match.

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30-SOMETHING … Palmerton’s Brianna Moore had a career night last Friday against Catasauqua, and Jim Thorpe’s Skyler Searfoss rattled off a season-high against Tamaqua on Saturday. Moore provided the spark in helping the Bombers earn a 65-24 Colonial League victory over the Roughies, leading all scorers with a game-high 30 points. On Saturday, Searfoss led a trio of Olympians in double figure points with a game-high 30 points in a 74-41 Schuylkill League win over rival Tamaqua.

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BLOWING UP THE SCOREBOARD … On Saturday, the Panther Valley and North Schuylkill boys basketball teams put a whole lot of points on the scoreboard. The Panthers and Spartans combined for 161 points. In the end, it was the Panthers that came out on top with a high-scoring 82-79 victory over the Spartans. Stephen Hood, who hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer, led a trio of Panthers in double figures with 20 points, while Chase Weaver and Mike Pascoe added 18 and 17, respectively.

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TWICE AS NICE … Last Friday night, the Pleasant Valley and Stroudsburg wrestling teams squared off in a doubleheader. It was a competitive showdown, as the Bears and Mounties split the evening’s results. Several Bears enjoyed successful nights as Josh Griffith (126), Everett Lata (132), Gentry Knapp (138), James Syracuse (172), Robert Dominick (189) and Christopher Frable (215) all earned a pair of wins.

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DOUBLE THE FUN … Over the last week, the Tamaqua swim team saw a trio of swimmers capture multiple wins in a single meet. In a victory against Mahanoy Area, the Blue Raiders’ Nathaniel Kovalchick grabbed first-place finishes in both the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly events. Over the weekend, the Blue Raiders’ duo of Ethan Amershek and Joey Lescavage shined. Amershek touched the wall first in two of his events, the 50 and 100 freestyle. Lescavage matched Amershek’s efforts, recording two firsts of his own in the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle.

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CLUTCH … On Saturday, the Lehighton girls’ team made the most of its late-game visits to the foul line against Pine Grove. The Indians converted only one field goal in the fourth quarter, but a 13-for-20 effort (65 percent) from the line helped the visitors hold on for a close 49-47 Schuylkill League win. Taylor Bowman went six-for-seven from the line for the Indians in the quarter.

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CALLED OFF ... The Schuylkill League announced last week that it would be canceling its team wrestling championships this season.

“In an effort to make sure our Schuylkill League wrestlers are provided with the best situation possible this season, the league has decided in a majority vote by league wrestling schools to cancel the league wrestling championships for the 2021 season,” it said in a statement. “There were many factors that went into this tough decision, with the health and safety of our student athletes being the main consideration.”

The team championship was previously set for the week of Feb. 8, which would have consisted of the top two teams in each division qualifying for the team league championships, and then wrestling in a semifinal and final format to declare the team league champion.

The current plan in place will allow for the teams to wrestle their complete league schedule. For the 2020-2021 season, the Division 1 Champion and the Division 2 Champion will be declared Co-Champions.