Welcome To the Team Coach Belle

Hey, Hola, Salut, Aloha, Ciao, Olá, Hallo!!!

Coaches lead, teach, and inspire. Their position amongst a team is essential for success, as they are like a compass pointing the way to a desired goal. Frequently in athletics, players don’t care how much coaches know until they know how much they care. Coach Belle understands this concept well, and will lead the Dartmouth Women’s Basketball with her passion, preparation, and positive energy. We are thrilled to welcome our new bright spark, Coach Belle, to the Big Green family.

In our initial meeting with Coach Belle during the interview process, I was immediately impressed by her respect for Coach Wielgus, our previous coaching staff, and Dartmouth women's basketball's tradition of excellence in the Ivy League. Coach Belle’s kindness was projected through her appreciation for Coach Wielgus and all she has done for collegiate women’s basketball. As the meeting with Coach Belle proceeded, we developed a sense of her core values (which she expressed were respect, attitude, and preparation), observed how her kindness and positive energy would motivate our team, and acquired an idea about the basketball style (up-tempo, high intensity) she hopes to implement within our team. Daisy’s (Jordan) first impression of Coach Belle was that she has “high energy,” while Sofia (Roman) said that “she is very positive and friendly—it’s comfortable to have a conversation with her.” Kasey (Crockett) asserted that she seems to “definitely have a plan.”

Coach Belle, since the announcement of her hiring, has been able to spend a week on campus. Changes have already been made within our strength program-- they are “much faster” (Lauren Taiclet) and “very efficient” (Kamala Thompson). In our first small groups workout with Coach Belle, we were able to pick up the intensity. “Our first skills workout with her was high paced with high energy,” claimed Milica (Toskovic). Jordyn (Turner) added that the session was “also fun.”

The team is thrilled about the potential for next season. “There’s going to be a definite positive change, and I’m excited about it,” said Tia (Dawson). Incoming seniors Eve (Zelinger) and Nicola (Zimmer), despite being off campus this term in Washington D.C., also have positive things to say about our new coach. “Although I haven’t yet met Coach Belle [in person], I am excited by her energy and passion--I am really excited for a great last season,” commented Eve. Nicola shared, “she has a contagious energy and I’m super excited to be coached by a former point guard.”

As we continue with the remainder of our “pre-pre-season” (a term Coach Belle used to describe our current workouts), we are looking forward to what is to come for our Dartmouth women’s basketball family. We have "growth opportunities" (another term Coach Belle uses in replacement of “weaknesses”—she doesn’t like negative words) that we are working to improve. With higher intensity, an increased accountability toward positive attitudes and respect, a new vision of preparation, and a giant spark of energy from Coach Belle, we have begun our journey back to a tradition of success. Ivy League Championship No. 18… we are coming for you!  

                                                                                                                  Tah Tah For Now,

                                                                                    Kaitana Martinez #21 (Hailey, Idaho)

Don't Cry Because It's Over, Smile Because It Happened

Basketball has taught me a lot, namely patience, discipline and humility. Over the course of the last week basketball has taught me more about those three things than ever.

You see, when I interviewed for my position I met a lot of people during a very short period of time. I was grilled, for lack of a better term, and the one person who really made me feel at home was basketball coach Chris Wielgus. We sat in her office and chatted about basketball and my credentials, but she also asked me about ME! My likes, dislikes, my family, dreams and all of that, it was a welcome conversation in a very hectic day and is one that will always stick with me.  For full disclosure, she did her fair share of “grilling” after I was on board, but it never lasted long:)

Coach may not be sitting in her office anymore, but her legacy will live on. From the young women that currently occupy the locker room in Leede Arena, to the banners and Ivy League Championships, to the TONS, and I mean TONS, of Dartmouth women’s basketball alumnae, parents and former staff members that show up in droves when we’re on the road and at home. Coach has impacted Dartmouth and the community in ways that can never be expressed. Coach will always have a home at Leede Arena, because it truly is the house that Chris Wielgus built.

Thanks Coach!

Jess Poole

Here is a link to the Farewell Letter Coach Wielgus wrote in the Valley News  

What A Ride

What a ride this season has been!!!   We are the second youngest team in nation and we introduced our “newbies” to college basketball by skipping the proverbial frying pan and throwing them directly into the fire.   We have played an unbelievably tough schedule.  Our competition was over the top and that is our style. --we played the best to get better. Unfortunately, our reality is that there is little or no tangible reward for our efforts, except more challenging games and more of hours travelling.   It has been tough.

Our team never gave up and continued to work hard in the belief that they were good, but needed time to grow, and grow they did.  Not to fruition, but to a very competitive level of play.   They compete and fight and they don’t back down.

We are only a short distance along our journey to becoming a great team.  There will be bumps in the road and that goes with the territory, but as long as the players continue to work hard and persevere they will be fine. 

Most importantly they are fun to watch.  There is NOTHING like fun basketball to put a smile on anyone’s face and we are all smiling because our best basketball is yet to come.

Until next time,

Chris

The Start of the 14-Game Tournament

The best thing about working with a basketball team, in my opinion, is the March Madness. Lucky for those of us that work and play in the Ivy League, every game carries the weight of a March Madness game.

For those that don’t know, the Ivy League doesn’t have a conference tournament and the winner of the regular season gets the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. That being said, every game in the Ivy League is a tournament game.

For the Big Green women’s basketball team, the rivalry with Harvard is just that, a rivalry. Head coaches Chris Wielgus and Kathy Delaney-Smith are the longest tenured coaches in the league and not surprise here, Wielgus has 12 Ivy League Championships and Delaney-Smith has 11. Let’s just say, this is always a GAME from the head coaches right on down to the players.  

Round one of the GAME, took place on Jan. 26 in Cambridge and served as the Ivy League opener for both teams.  It was a grudge match as was expected and the Crimson took the win, 88-66. Due to a new scheduling format, the teams will meet again, just 15 days later on our home turf for round two. While I personally enjoy beginning and ending the season with Harvard, I don’t expect the new scheduling to take anything away from the series, this rivalry will always be a good one!

There will be plenty of good games throughout the Ivy League slate this season. I fully anticipate the league to be a grudge match night in and night out for the next two months and I can’t wait. I can wait for those LONG bus trips to Cornell and Philly but hey you can’t win them all:)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, look out for the youngsters from Hanover, H.H., because when it starts coming together, they are going to take off! You have been warned!

Until next time,

Jess Poole