The ‘gal’ sitting courtside.

She is forever present when the Tamaqua girls basketball team is playing a game - and for some of the boys basketball games as well.

She knows the ins and outs of the game, and functions as a smooth-running machine. No blips, no slips no missteps.

If an official was judging the scorer’s table, there would be no whistles blown – she is that efficient.

Joanie Nowak might be the most valuable support lady who has ever graced a school district. Anywhere. She is that valuable - and respected - when it comes to the Tamaqua Area School District.

That’s because it’s not just basketball games where you’ll find Nowak helping out.

The Tamaqua native is the right-hand gal for just about every sporting event her beloved alma mater plays.

All that in addition to working full-time for the school district in the administrative department.

Despite her decades of working in the school district office, however, it’s her work for the Blue Raider sports programs that makes Nowak a familiar face to the Tamaqua community.

Nowak is self-schooled in the sporting arena. She never kept a score book until one day she was asked to help.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, but I said what the heck, I’ll give it a try.”

And that’s how it all began.

First time

The then newly-opened Tamaqua Area High School gymnasium was about to be christened in December 2000.

The Raiders were preparing for their first-ever girls basketball game in the new venue. But there was one problem - the team didn’t have a scorekeeper.

“I got asked to do the book two days before the first game ever played in the gym,” Nowak fondly recalled. “(Athletic Director) Mike (Hromyak) called me and asked me if I had any interest in it and I said I didn’t know how - and he said, ‘you’ll learn.’”

Nowak received a crash course in score keeping 101.

“Before the first game, Mike Melnick sat down with me and showed me how to do the book,” Nowak said.

A star was about to be born.

Twenty-four seasons later, Nowak is still the Tamaqua girls basketball scorekeeper - the only one they’ve had since the building opened.

Hromyak paid her the ultimate compliment.

“Oh my God, Joanie Nowak is one of those people that you can truly say is irreplaceable,” said Hromyak. “At the drop of a hat, she’ll do anything for you – for me.

“She’s here longer than I am doing sports - and she does everything. In addition to keeping the score book for basketball, she serves as an announcer for multiple events, she works soccer games, football games ... pretty much anytime I need someone for anything at any sporting event, Joanie will handle it.”

Nowak’s duties during the day include working as part of the Tamaqua Area School District human resource team and serving as secretary to Superintendent Raymond J. Kinder and Assistant Superintendent Stephen Toth.

Kinder, a former standout athlete for the Blue Raiders, knows that when Nowak leaves his office at the end of the normal work day, her duties for Tamaqua High School usually aren’t finished.

“If you attend a Tamaqua sporting event, you know Joan Nowak,” said Kinder. “Whether keeping score, acting as a game manager, selling tickets or even putting away the equipment, Joan is a fixture at our athletic contests, and her name is synonymous with Tamaqua sports.

“Her involvement is not only evident, but it is appreciated enormously by those in the school community. The Tamaqua Area School District is fortunate to have Joan as a part of our athletic family.”

Toth is another member of the Tamaqua administration well versed in athletics. A former standout three-sport athlete at the now defunct Cardinal Brennan High School who followed his scholastic career up with a solid collegiate playing career as well, Toth knows the value of Nowak to the athletic programs at the high school.

“You will be hard-pressed to find many people as dedicated as Joanie Nowak,” Toth said. “Her passion for helping out in multiple capacities demonstrates her true nature as a person who gives of herself for the betterment of all.

“She is a pillar at our games and events, and surely embodies the true essence of what defines a Blue Raider.”

Teamwork

While Nowak in involved in just about every sport that Tamaqua participates in, it’s girls basketball where she got her start and for which she is best known.

Her teammate at Tamaqua girls basketball games is Jolene Barron. The pair operate the scorer’s table so efficiently that it runs like clockwork.

“We’ve known each other for a very long time,” Barron said.

When Barron was asked to work beside her friend and operate the scoreboard clock for both the boys’ and girls’ games, she jumped at the chance.

“Joanie is amazing to work with,” said Barron. “ She not only keeps the scoring, but she keeps all the other stats - she does rebounds, assists, turnovers. She does it all.”

The appreciation and praise is mutual.

“Joanie is the best announcer I’ve ever heard,” said Barron. “It’s not uncommon for fans from the other team to come up to the table (after a game) and compliment her for doing such a great job and they appreciate her - and she is so humble.”

Barron, who is a teacher in the school district, has been at the table since 2011. She says she would not have been doing it as long as she has if it weren’t for Nowak.

“It’s so much fun with Joanie. We just have a knack of communicating,” Barron said.

For the kids

A love of sports is an obvious must when it comes to doing what Nowak does for as long as she has done it.

But that alone isn’t enough.

The reason Nowak first got involved, and why she still is involved is for the student/athletes she works with and interacts with on a regular basis.

Whether it’s little things like sharing candy or gum with the players at the scorer’s table, or bigger things like being a friend to talk to or to share highs and lows with during the season, Nowak is appreciated by Blue Raiders past and present.

“She’s amazing, and she’s always there for us,” said Tamaqua senior basketball player Lorelei Plasha.

“She is so much fun. We all love the way she treats everyone on the team,” added teammate and classmate Makayla Bartenope,

Cadi Fannock, a junior member of the team, knows what Nowak means to the squad. “She’s so supportive of our team. She’s there for all our games - away or home. We love her.”

Tamaqua head coach Erika Barron Davis has known Nowak since her playing days at Tamaqua, where she was a 2,000-point scorer.

“Ever since I’ve known Joanie as a player in junior high, she’s been such a big supporter for us,” Davis explained. “You know she’s the glue to our team. She keeps score, she has the candy-stash, she’s our No. 1 fan ... I can’t say enough about what she means to the team. We’re very blessed to have her.”

Nowak said her ties to the players in the program is what she enjoys most, and those ties don’t end when they graduate.

“I’ve developed great relationships with so many girls over the years - many of them who I keep in touch with even though they’ve graduated,” she said.

That’s not surprising to anyone who works with or knows Nowak.

Because for more than two decades, they have watched Nowak do what she does for the love of the game, the love of her school, and the love of ‘her’ kids.

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TIEBREAKER GAME ... The Tamaqua and Panther Valley girls’ basketball teams will have a play-in game to decide the final Division 1 wildcard spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs. The winner of the game advances to the league quarterfinal against Minersville on Saturday.

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3’S FOR A CURE ... The Schuylkill League has enlisted the help to raise money for charity during its upcoming league playoffs. Fanelli, Evans & Patel, P.C. will donate $10 for every three-point shot made from the first round through the championship games of both the boys and girls playoffs. Donations from Fanelli, Evans & Patel, P.C. will be shared between the Schuylkill League and the fight against pediatric cancer.

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STEPPIN’ TO THE LINE … Three area girls’ basketball players have displayed a keen ability to get to the free-throw line and convert their opportunities this season. Panther Valley’s Maddison Maynard (92-for-121), Lehighton’s Charli McHugh (90-for-130) and Northern Lehigh’s Aubrey Pollard (83-for-138) have not only made more free throws than any other girls in the area, but they have all made more free throws than the entire Jim Thorpe girls basketball team combined (77-for-162).

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DOUBLE DIGITS FROM DOWNTOWN … The Marian and Northwestern girls’ basketball teams have both been lethal from three-point range this season. The Fillies lead the area with 149 threes, while the Lady Tigers have drained 126. Four times this season, Marian has connected for at least 10 three-pointers in a single game, while the Tigers have had double digit three-pointers twice. The teams share the area high for threes in a game this season with 11. The Fillies have done it twice (against Lourdes and East Stroudsburg North), while Northwestern hit for 11 once (versus Northern Lehigh).

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THEY’RE IN … The Tamaqua boys and Lehighton girls each clinched spots in the District 11 basketball playoffs this week. The Raiders earned a spot into the District 11 4A playoffs with a victory over Panther Valley last Thursday. The Raiders finished the regular with an 11-11 record. Meanwhile, Lehighton needed to win one of its final two games to earn a berth. The Indians punched their ticket with a win over Pine Grove on Friday, and then followed it up with a win over Pnmther Valley on Monday to finish the regular season 12-10.