Volume 6, Issue 1 - Williamson County Schools

Sports
12 October 2010
Nachand takes control of IHS girls basketball
By Ashley Garcia
Staff Writer
This year Independence High School
has a new girls’ basketball coach, Lee Nachand.
He had previously worked at Heritage
Middle School as the girls’ basketball coach
where the majority of the girls on the IHS
team have played. Nachand proclaimed, “I’ve
coached a lot of these girls before and both
Coach Montgomery and myself respect how
hard they work.” This year’s goal for the girls
is to win, work hard, and to connect as one
unit. It takes a lot of effort from both the
athletes and the coaches to make a team.
Nachand states, “The girls are working hard.”
This season looks to be a rewarding one for
the Lady Eagles.
To make it a rewarding season it takes
long hours and hard work. Coaches get a lot
of their teaching styles, usually from their
old mentors, when they used to play in high
school or college. Everyone has a different
reason on why they picked the job they have.
Nachand shared, “Almost everyone in my
Girls soccer team kicks the competition
By Ashley Garcia
Staff Writer
The Independence girls soccer team
has been working hard and conditioning
since mid-July, with 2-a-day, and even 3-aday
practices. These grueling practices and
hard work show up in their stats and performance.
Miranda Charro, a sophomore on the
team, claims “Because of the conditioning we
did, we have improved our defense. Getting
conditioned so early really gives us an advantage
because our fitness and endurance
levels are high.”
The varsity girls are on a fast track to
do well in the district tournament, and the JV
family coaches and I’ve always wanted to
coach. Basketball is a big part of growing up
in Indiana and honestly I’ve never thought
about if I always wanted to be a basketball
coach or not, it’s really just what most people
there do.”
Before working at Independence,
Nachand previously coached Olympic weight
lifting, track, and football. The majority of
Nachand’s life though has revolved around
basketball. He mentioned, “I taught and
coached in Virginia Beach, Virginia for four
years after I graduated college.” He has
dedicated almost all his life to playing and
teaching the sport of basketball. A superb
coach does need many years of experience to
instruct players on the game and the attitude
they need to excel as teammates. Nachand
explained, “I’ve been coaching for seven
years and till I moved to Tennessee it had
always been boys’ basketball. And I don’t
prefer coaching girls or boys, Coach Montgomery
and I just want to coach athletes.”
Coaching basketball and working at
Heritage Middle takes up a lot of time during
the week and on the weekend. When asked,
Nachand said that outside of school at work,
all he does is sleep. He also voiced that his
favorite movie is “Hoosiers,” he enjoys watching
College Football, and he likes listening to
whatever is opposite of what the girls in the
weight room are listening to. He mentioned
that he had interesting stories from past
girls are expected to do well in their matches
that are going to be hosted by IHS. “The
competition this year is very high, but I think
it is making us play better as a team. We have
to learn each other’s weaknesses and help
each other out. I think we are improving with
the competition,” says sophomore midfielder
Lauren Robertson. Many players are looking
forward to the upcoming tournaments,
and they hope to see many Eagles out there
cheering them on. “I’m looking forward to
the districts,” stated assistant and JV coach
Jennifer Reynolds, “The team is looking
good.”
Last year the team had an outstanding
offensive team, but this year, their defense
is the more prominent factor. They are playing
shutdown defense, which means the ball
rarely gets past the defenders. “Our weakness
right now,” explains Charro, “ is getting
the ball in the back of the net, but we are
improving.” Although they are excelling and
have a great defense, the girls want to continue
to play hard so they can beat their rival,
Franklin High School. “We are much better
Photo by Elizabeth Johnson
Nachand is the new Independence girls basketball coach
schools he has worked at. When asked which
specific one, Nachand smirked and said,
“There is a story on how we found a kid on
top of the press box one afternoon but that’s
a long story.” Nachand is looking forward to
a great season and watching the girls mold
together as a team.
than last year,” declares Robertson, “We have
improved greatly on our defense, and we are
working on improving our offense.”
With these improvements this season
the team is looking to go far in the district
tournament. They all have different
ideas about what they want to accomplish
throughout the season. “My hopes for this
year are to get to know the girls better, and
to see them get better as the season goes on,”
reveals Reynolds. Getting to know the girls
and understanding their personalities defines
Reynolds’ style of coaching. This makes
a great impact and means more chances of
excelling in tournaments. “This year I hope
to win districts and go to state,” proclaims
Charro, “as well as bond with the team.” Winning
districts is a major team goal.
The girls soccer team is thrilled about
the season. They have the defense they need
to stop any striker from shooting on the goal,
and the offense to put the ball into one of
corners of the net. This is a season filled with
excitement and hopes of going far.