‘Worked together well’: Complementary styles spell Riverview success

In the world of Riverview School District sports, Sara Kirsch claims to be the yin to Jill Catanzaro’s yang.

Or maybe it’s vice versa.

Whatever the case, the two women bring leadership styles that turned out to be complementary as they combined to coach almost all the female athletes at Riverview this school year.

“I knew Sara as the volleyball coach here, and I saw how she coached volleyball. And then I saw how Jill coached basketball, and they were like polar opposites,” district athletic trainer Isabel Satler said. “But they worked together really well.”

Catanzaro, who coached junior high hoops at Riverview for seven years — “B.C., before children” — and rejoined the ranks when her kids were older, strives to build a culture of positive reinforcement.

As for Kirsch, she described herself: “I was always that ‘tough love is love’ coach.”

Their joining forces, with Catanzaro at the helm and Kirsch assisting, resulted in the 2022-23 Lady Raiders advancing to the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League basketball playoffs despite having a young squad.

“We started one freshman, three sophomores and one senior,” Catanzaro, in her second year as head coach, said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would have a home playoff game.”

Satler also was somewhat surprised by the stellar showing.

“The first practice I watched of them, I remember going, ‘Oh, gosh. This is going to be rough,’” she said. “But they turned out to be a good team.”

Regarding volleyball, Kirsch had been coaching the junior high team, and prior to the 2022 season, Riverview athletic director Corey Thomas asked her to head the varsity squad, “because they weren’t going to have a season otherwise.”

He also asked, “Can you coach girls basketball as an assistant?”

It turned out that Catanzaro had lost right-hand man Buck Larry when he followed his son to Elizabeth Forward High School after Nolan Larry was hired as head coach there.

Kirsch agreed to take the elder Larry’s place, and she also wanted to ensure that junior high volleyball could continue:

“So we begged Jill to do it, and she agreed.”

Catanzaro starred in basketball at Montoursville Area High School in Lycoming County, scoring more than 2,000 career points and earning a full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh. But she hadn’t played volleyball at a competitive level, let alone coached the sport.

“She has one up on me, because she played basketball,” Catanzaro said about Kirsch, a 1,000-plus-point scorer at Northern Cambria High School.

Her volleyball skills, though, are what drew a scholarship offer from Slippery Rock University, where she went on to set a variety of school records. She had a lengthy stint as head volleyball coach at Fox Chapel Area High School, but never served anywhere as second in command.

“It was uncomfortable for me when I first took over as assistant,” Kirsch said. “I have always been in charge, so that was different. But it was a good thing. How many times are you challenged? You kind of get in the groove of your life.”

She also adapted to Catanzaro’s culture of encouragement, giving herself some perspective in the process.

“I would say I was more a constructive-criticism coach,” she explained. “I had an assistant who would say, ‘You can tell Sara starts turning into a different person the closer we get to the gym.’ I’d get locked in and serious. No so much anymore, but that’s how I used to be.”

Both coaches agree on the importance of serving as positive role models for their students in helping them gain self-assurance and leadership skills. In early April, Kirsch hosted an inspirational talk to reinforce a sense of confidence and hope for the future.

“I shared some of my former players’ success stories and even some quotes from my college coach,” she said. “Everyone grows. It’s a process.”

Although the impact of females in sports continues to grow, remnants of past attitudes apparently exist.

“Someone came into our gym and made a comment about, ‘You’re playing basketball like a girl,’” Catanzaro. “I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. She’s playing basketball like a girl who doesn’t know how to play basketball yet. But girls can play basketball.’”

For Satler, working with Kirsch and Catanzaro has been an enlightening experience during her first year at Riverview after graduating from Pitt.

“I saw you guys learn a lot from each other throughout the basketball season,” she told the coaches. “You kind of needed some of Sara’s tough love, and then some of Jill’s gentleness with the team. And it worked really well.”