Pick and Roll: New Women’s Basketball Coach Monica Diaz

Monica Diaz has returned to her Redwood alma mater to coach basketball once again, this time as the head coach of women’s basketball.

By: Fabian Anguiano

Born and raised in Visalia, California, Monica Diaz played many sports, but basketball was her favorite to play.

As a player, Diaz was outstanding to say the least. During her time at Redwood, she was named MVP and best defensive player. She was so good that the men’s basketball coach asked if she could play for them.

On what she could have done better as a player, Diaz says, “Maybe a more weight training regimen, if the school had provided it, because the sports are a lot different now than when I played back in the day.”

What Diaz loved most about playing basketball was the team camaraderie. Team dinners, bonding, and doing things together outside of basketball brought her and her teammates closer together.

Diaz would play basketball for COS, under coach Tom Gilchrist; she would make it to the state final one of those years with her team.

The person who inspired Ms. Diaz to start coaching in the first place was her PE teacher, Miss McGinnis, “also my volleyball and softball coach when I first got to Redwood, and she did a lot; I felt like she helped me. She put her time away from her family to coach us kids. I feel like I’m paying it forward,” said Diaz.

Diaz’s first experience coaching basketball was at La Joya Middle School when it first opened eight years ago, and she really enjoyed it. She does not only feel like she is helping kids become better basketball players, but better people.

Diaz’s coaching philosophy has changed throughout the years. Diaz says, “You have to coach to your team personnel. So if we’re going to play to our strengths and work on our weaknesses, then I have to coach to our strengths and continue to work harder on our weaknesses. Once kids recognize that, I have to be able to teach it, to show them how to make us better.”

To Diaz, you can do the same drills over and over again, but it won’t teach your players personally. One year you can have great shooting guards, but the next year you can have not the best ones, so you have to figure out a different way to score.

This is not Diaz’s first rodeo with Redwood, “I coached at Redwood with Jason Black for three years, on the girls side. Then I had gone to co-coach softball at Tulare Union, and the kids were like, apply, apply,  because they knew I was a basketball coach at Redwood, and so I just applied, and I ended up getting a job and became the head coach at Tulare Union for the past 11 years.”

Being back at Redwood makes Diaz feel she is, “Home, that’s the only way I could describe it. When you’re home, you’re in a place where you’re comfortable; you don’t have to worry about outside pressures, and you know you’re going to be safe and be able to do things the way you like doing them.”

Diaz feels like her past experiences at clinics and team camps have helped her become a better coach.

The impact that Diaz wishes to have on the people she coaches is to have them not only work hard on the court, but also in life. Not everything is going to come easy, but if they push themselves to be the best they can, they will be champions in life.

Diaz already has the team working; they are lifting Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 6 a.m to 7 a.m. They are practicing twice a week at the moment; they would like to have three, but the gym is usually occupied by multiple sports.

The goals that Diaz has for the team are for them to be playing in March, which means that they are trying to go to Sacramento for the state championship. A smaller goal for Diaz would be to win East Yosemite League.

Tags: fabian anguiano, gigantea, Gigantea athletics, new coach, Redwood, redwood athletics, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood sports, visalia ca, Womens basketball