Student Athlete Spotlight Podcast is Sponsored by The Dorsey Law Firm
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LEONARDTOWN, Md. – Local Coach Aaron Brady talks with St. Mary’s Ryken High School Girls Basketball Coach Toyja Somerville about her coaching style, what it takes to be a basketball player, and tips for parents.
Somerville has been a basketball coach at Ryken for six years. Her players better know her as ‘Coach T.’
Brady started the podcast by asking Coach T if she had a secret to building a program at St. Mary’s Ryken.
“The biggest thing is being fluent and flexible,” Coach T expressed. “Kids from ten years ago, little bit different from kids five years ago, little bit different from kids now. So learning to adjust and not be so stuck in what I want to do. It’s just like parenting, right? You don’t parent the same way for every kid. You give each kid what they need.”
During the episode, Coach T spoke highly of her senior players Mekhia Chase, Lourden Banks, Kya Cook, Trinity Chambers, and Soleil Kennedy.
She also spoke on the dedication it takes on and off the court to be a successful basketball player.
“I am big on academics. My non-negotiable is you got to be top academic. You got to be a good person, someone that we are proud you wear SMR and represent us. And you got to do well on the court. So first is academics. It’s non-negotiable because if you can’t do that, you can’t go on to the next level, and our job is to prepare them for the next level if they so desire,” Coach T explained.
To end the podcast, she gave insightful advice to parents for best helping their athletes.
“Every parent thinks that their kid is the best. They are supposed to, right? You love your kids unconditionally. What we hear with kids is they tell us a lot, ‘you don’t know how sometimes the car ride home after a game is.’ So I would implore parents to let the coaches coach, and you be their parent,” Coach T told Brady.
“Because the sports and athletic part will take care of itself. Your relationship needs to be whole as well. Coaches are always, we’re going to coach, and we are going to get on them, and we’re going to do all of those things. And they need to have that balance of going home to that unconditional love,” Coach T continued.
See hear more advice from Coach T, view the full episode here: https://youtu.be/FDC4o6AdqgM
Find all the podcast episodes here: www.thebaynet.com/podcasts
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Student Athlete Spotlight features interviews with local high school sports coaches and students.
ABOUT THE HOST: Coach Brady has been coaching since 1999 after a brief cup of coffee with the NY Giants in the NotForLong League. During the last 22 seasons, he has spent 8 years in the college ranks at Duke, Georgetown, Mansfield, and Clarion University, respectively, and has been a head high school coach for 14 seasons. As a high school scholar-athlete, he garnered 10 varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball and was All-State in two sports. Over the years, Aaron has coached baseball, basketball, girl’s soccer, women’s football, and men’s football.
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