The new girl’s varsity basketball coach at Seymour High School said he hopes the “underdog approach” turns things around for the team.
“I want the program to go back to its winning tradition and we’re going to do that by going back to fundamentals and out work the other teams,” new coach Brian Cleveland said.
Cleveland, 27, a Seymour grad, accepted the head coach position in May.
He was a junior varsity coach for the girl’s team and helped coach the boy’s team before that. He was also an assistant men’s soccer coach at Western Connecticut State University. Currently, Cleveland teaches at Seymour Middle School.
Cleveland heard about the position in March. When his predecessor, Mike Collins, resigned, he began to think whether he wanted to apply for the position. It wasn’t until April when he decided to “do it up.”
“I wanted to be able to work in the same school district as teaching,” Cleveland said. “The more I thought about it the more I realized it was something I wanted to do regardless.”
The hiring process was slow, according to Cleveland. Eventually, he received a call to be interviewed by a panel of administrators at the high school: Ed Rostowski, athletic director; Cathy Federowicz, girl’s volleyball coach and teacher; and Cathy Goodrich, principal.
Rostowski said they had about 10 to 12 applications sent in to them. The interview team narrowed it down to three, Cleveland being one.
“It was fun. A lot of good people applied,” Rostowski said. “He was above the crowd. Our experience with him working both at the high school and middle school…he’s just a great fit for us.”
Cleveland got his undergraduate degree at WestConn in history and got his master’s degree in education at University of Bridgeport.
Being a former soccer player for Seymour and WestConn, Cleveland has a strong background in athletics and coaching.
With a strength and conditioning plan already in place and summer leagues underway, Cleveland is hoping that the girls can learn to play fundamentally sound basketball while having fun at the same time. He emphasizes hard work and out hustling opponents.
“Going into it I just want the girls to work hard,” Cleveland said. “I want them to start caring about the game again. If we get some wins out of it and get to the state tournament that makes everything better.”
Amber Martinez, a senior at Seymour, said she thinks the administration made the right pick with Cleveland.
“I think it’s a good move. He’s young and he has that go-getter attitude,” Martinez said. “We have a lot of work to get done and he’ll be the right person to do it.”
Cleveland said he could see himself coaching at Seymour for the next 30 years. Coaching is his passion, he said, and that he could certainly call Seymour home. As much of a challenge as it will be, Cleveland is ready to turn the program back into the powerhouse that it once was.
“I think we have a tough job ahead of us, the coaching staff and team,” Cleveland said. “But if the girls believe in me and in themselves we’ll see some success.”
