http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
The Allentown School Board made this decision a few weeks ago, but I finally had a chance to talk to Cathy Piston this weekend about her returning to the Dieruff girls basketball coaching position.
I thought it was one of those deals like Al Pacino in the movie, The Godfather III. Pacino says in a famous scene: "Just when I thought I was out ... they pull me back in."
But this was hardly the case with Piston. She applied for the job after the sudden resignation of Tyrone Wright during the summer. Wright felt the Dieruff parents were too difficult.
No one I know loves Dieruff more than Piston. I've known her for a long time and her family.
Her maiden name is Schulte. She bleeds blue and gray. She saw this has an opportunity to get more involved and help her alma mater.
Piston is a 1985 Dieruff grad and coached in the girls program for 13 seasons. She worked as an assistant with Foo Belfield and Linda Cruttenden and then she was the head coach for nine seasons from 1995-2004, posting a record of 76-149.
When she left the post, she had a growing family,
NIne years have gone by and that young family has grown up to an extent now.
Oldest daughter Abbey is a high school senior; Emily is a high school freshman and Adam is a seventh-grader. All three are in the Parkland School District and all are involved with sports. Cathy's husband, Steve, is a teacher and a football coach at Whitehall.
So you've got the kids going to Parkland, the father going to Whitehall and the mother going to Dieruff every day. Talk about a busy and diverse household, but Cathy is determined to make it work.
"If I didn’t think I could make it work, I would never have expressed an interest," she said.
She is a math teacher at Dieruff, which is a good thing because she knows the kids and the kids know her and she can closely monitor them throughout the day.
She says there's a positive vibe in the building this fall. Part of that is the new school uniform policy and part of it is that the Dieruff football team has generated some positive publicity by winning four games.
Her position is considered an interim situation for one season.
She won't limit herself to one season, however. She wants to see how it goes. And of course, the Allentown School Board will have a say as well.
The Dieruff girls showed some potential during the summer at the Stellar and SportsFest tournaments. It will be interesting to see how it goes. The official start of practice is now just four weeks away.
I have written a column about Cathy that will hopefully run in the print edition of The Morning Call sometime soon.
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