Wunderkind Lady Rams VB coach has upbeat team believing the sky is their limit in new fall season
August 31, 2023 at 12:22 a.m.
Port Chester Lady Rams volleyball has had more than its share of ups and downs over the past decade, but there is a definite upbeat note, a new positive vibe reverberating throughout its practices leading up to its new fall season-opening home game next Wednesday (9/6) at 5 p.m. against up county powerhouse Roy C. Ketcham.
On the surface almost everything looks the same: The VB net is spread across half court so the basketball court looks like a tennis court on stilts.
The Lady Rams are using their arms and shoulders like tennis rackets to bat balls up, up and away so that what resembles a mini basketball is going over the net, into it or under it depending on the skillset of the hitter while the players on the other side of the net are moving into defensive stances so the volleying may or may not continue keeping that unpredictable ball in play.
The difference shows
But what happens every time illustrates the difference in practice this time around.
After ever play, hit or miss, the players are applauding one another, rooting for one another, moving through the rotation with a newfound spring in their step, a joyful hop, as though they are anxious to move on to the next step in mastering the choreography of intricate teamwork that looks deceptively easy.
And in the middle of all this controlled chaos that comes from following that ball in flight stands a new choreographer, a ringmaster of sorts, feeding the balls to the players with almost ruthless efficiency, like a talking machine, speaking words of praise, giving gentle instructions, making corrections when necessary, commanding respect without demanding it.
Aura of knowing
And this is all happening because she emanates an aura of knowing what she is doing because she does. Even as she looks like she could pass for one of the teenagers she is coaching.
Port Chester High School volleyball coach Stephanie CostabileCourtesy of Stephanie Costabile
Indeed, if you were watching the practice, she doesn't look like the coach, more like one of the Lady Rams albeit one with a college degree and a winning pedigree that sets her apart as the only new fall scholastic season Port Chester coach.
Her name is Stephanie Costabile. She is small, intense, experienced as a coach yet fresh out of Mitchell College in New London, Conn., where she majored in sports management and is a new teacher in the Port Chester School District. Her sports reputation precedes her although she doesn't talk about it because she has walked the walk and doesn't have to talk about it. Her record speaks for itself.
She was FAA and NEPSAC (Fairfield Athletic Association and New England Preparatory School Athletic Conference) All-League for four years in VB on a team that won four FAA championships and three NEPSAC championships as an integral part of a King School varsity that went 78-2. She also played varsity basketball and softball at the Stamford, Conn. high school. And she kept on playing at Mitchell where she was captain of both the VB and lacrosse teams, was named to the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) Academic All-Star team, was student government president and active on the Student Advisory Council. She was also named Mitchell's top female scholar athlete and won the Alumni Excellence Award for her athletic and academic achievements at graduation.
The record speaks
She doesn't say any of this during an interview held over a lunch break between the morning and afternoon VB practice in the high school gym.
But it is all there on her record. All she says is that she came out of a winning sports program and she wants the Port Chester VB girls to have the same winning feeling that comes from playing before packed gymnasiums in meaningful games.
"Sports have always been a huge part of my life," she says. And that role expanded in a high school where the belief is "King School unlocks the power of wonder. It begins with students becoming agents in their own learning. When students are exploring, questioning, making connections—and teachers are creating these moments of discovery—students are truly learning."
The coaching philosophy
That is what Stephanie is trying to do with her coaching. "My coaching philosophy is very much you should love what you are doing," she said. "I want the girls to get better and work hard to get better until they understand what goes into getting better to the point where you know what your teammates are going to do almost as soon as they do. Because you learn that it takes a team to win, not individual play. I want the girls to take lessons from what they learn from volleyball and be able to apply those lessons in their everyday lives."
She has applied those lessons to her own life.
"I got into sports because it was something that made me happy growing up," she said. "I was a very active child and sports helped more than just on the court. It taught me how to schedule, how to be responsible, and how to work well within a team."
And that led to various turning points in her career.
But the real turning point, she said, came from "making connections and bonds with my teammates, coaches, and administrators throughout my athletic career. All were huge parts of my life in different ways."
So is her family.
The familial influence
Her mother, for example, went to King School growing up, played field hockey, LAX and tennis, and gave her the athletic bloodlines that traced back to familial roots in England. Her non-athletic father, whose family comes from Italy's Campagna region, gave her the kind of supportive environment that made her a success athletically as well as in the classroom.
"And some of my favorite moments came from winning championships with my team as well as the bonds that were created throughout the seasons," she said. "And my love of sports carried through to my selecting sports management as my college major because I wanted sports to be part of my life after college."
Path to coaching
That, in turn, has led her into a coaching career that includes being assistant director at Chelsea Piers Volleyball Club in Stamford, Conn., where she coached the 15U National VB team and the 15/16U regional team.
Those credentials helped her become the new Lady Rams VB coach.
"I have been holding some open gyms as well as getting myself familiar with the team/community so I can best help Port Chester achieve a great season," she said.
She is dedicated and determined with an expertise beyond her years, so her practices have the Lady Rams exuding a “you gotta believe” attitude. And they are working hard to achieve what is potentially one of their best seasons in years playing for a coach who makes them believe they can do that if they work hard for it as a team, not a collection of individuals. And that is what the Lady Rams are becoming, a solid team with a talented roster that includes seniors Katherine Cano, Nataly Garcia, Cindy Laynes, Esmeralda Navarro, Yanairis Tejeda and Kayla Rodriguez, juniors Camila Nunez, Karah Provenzano, Nataly Suertegaray and Ava Ramos, sophomores Emily Garcia and Skylar Sams and eighth-grader Julianna Luzzi. Eleven of those players have previous varsity experience.
They all think the sky is their limit. And they believe their new coach can help them get there.
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