As Jack Dempsey, former American boxer Heavyweight Champion, used to say, “The best defense is a good offense.” This is the mentality Jen Fulcher has brought to the Williston Girls Varsity Basketball team in her first year as head coach of the team. She has taken over a squad that was previously led by Williston English teacher Kevin Kudla. He left Williston at the end of last year after nine years as head coach of the team.

About defense, Fulcher says, “In basketball, I believe that the best defensive teams and the best rebounding teams are ultimately, in the long run, the best teams.”

 Coach Fulcher in the huddle. Photo courtesy of Williston Flickr.

Fulcher adds, “We’ll work hard to find ways to score points, for sure, but we better be the most intense and hardworking defensive unit. Not individual defense, team defense.”

 

 

 

Janine Whipple, the team’s assistant coach, who also teaches in Williston’s Math Department, says about Fulcher, “She has emphasized controlling what you can control: fitness and mental toughness. These two points of emphasis have helped to elevate the team to a high level of play. They never let up their intensity and that has kept them in many games. “

Whipple adds, “Coach Fulcher’s expectations are clear. She expects 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.  We have a great team chemistry that allows the girls to push each other daily.”

As senior co-captain of the team Liz Calderone says, “Coach Fulcher’s ‘You’re not tired’ and ‘No regrets’ are the cornerstones of how we practice and play. It’s a new mindset, which has positively pushed us through the entire season. She is an extraordinary leader who every single girl on the team looks up to.”

Fulcher, who is also the Director of Williston’s Middle School, has coached and played basketball at the college level. She played for Connecticut College and has coached at Middlebury and Elms Colleges. Also, from 1989-92, Fulcher coached Williston boys basketball teams.

About coaching a Williston basketball team again, Fulcher says, “Given the school’s needs and other responsibilities, this was the first opportunity [for me] to get back into the basketball program.”

Fulcher says her only worry about taking the coaching position was how it would affect her schedule. “My concern was only if I do something, I want to put my all into it, and do it well. So, I wake up a little earlier, I go to bed a little later.”

What makes it all worth your time, Fulcher says, is the student-athletes she gets to work with. “At the end of the day, it comes down to who you’re working with.  I love the sport, I love coaching the sport, but for me, it’s about the kids.”

Fulcher adds, “Even on the craziest days, when you take the whistle and go down to the gym and work with a great group of kids, [you realize] it’s worth the extra energy. It’s worth the extra time.”

Posters made by Baum’s teammates celebrating her 1000th point. Photo courtesy of Williston Flickr.

So far this season, as of February 7th, Fulcher’s team has a record of 8-8. The team is led by junior co-captain and point guard Natalia Baum. On Thursday, February 7th, Baum became the fifth girl in school history to score 1,000 points.   According to statistics updated at the end of last season, she has averaged the most points per game (16.8) in the history of Williston Girls Basketball.

About Baum, Fulcher says, “I’ve got some terrific individuals. Obviously Natalia’s a joy to coach, talented on both ends of the floor.”

Fulcher’s daughter, Madison, an eighth grader, is also a member of the team. Fulcher says, “Coaching my daughter has been very special and something both of us will always remember.  I don’t know how she feels about spending every afternoon with mom but I consider it a gift.  Lucky for me she is a terrific kid who is an extremely hard worker so she is a joy to coach.”

Baum takes a shot over two Loomis-Chaffee defenders. Photo courtesy of Williston Flickr.

Fulcher also led Williston’s Girls Varsity Lacrosse last year to an undefeated season. In the past six seasons, Fulcher’s lacrosse teams have lost only three games.

Fulcher has a similar coaching strategy with both basketball and lacrosse. “My philosophy is very similar in terms of trying to be the absolute best defensive team, keeping teams off balance, getting in lanes, double teaming, and to be the hard working, fittest, most competitive team on that field or on that court.”

Fulcher says she has yet to think about her long-term plan with the team. She says, “As everything at Williston, it will depend on the needs of the institution. I haven’t even thought about not being out there with them.”