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Varsity Head Coach - Phil Vesel
Varsity Head Coach - Phil Vesel
Coach Phil Vesel has been the varsity coach at Southridge for 19 years. He has lead the program to 2 Metro League Titles and multiple trips to the State Tournament; finishing 4th twice. Coach Vesel has lead Hawk basketball to consecutive Final 8 appearances at the Chiles Center the last two seasons. His teams have made the play-offs 12 straight seasons with 10 2nd round appearances, & 6 Final 8 appearancs. Including a school record 25 win season in 2018. Many of Coach Vesel's former players have moved onto to play college basketball . Coach Vesel has spent countless hours building a vertically integrated program spanning from 5th grade to high school. Hawk basketball & its' players are part of his family.
Phil Vesel is married to his beautiful wife Tara & has 2 children; Opal (13) & Julius (17).
Steve Naylor- Varsity Asst
Coach Naylor is one of the top girl's varsity coaches in the state. He led the girl's Tigard program to multiple league titles and state tournament appearances. Coach Naylor coached in the Southridge youth program during his tenure at Tigard. Steve begins his 4th season as a varsity assistant/associate head coach.
NeJuan Thompson-
Varsity Assistant
Contact at: Southridge@portlandenergybasketball.com
Coach Thompson is entering his 4th of coaching on the high school staff. This will be his 18th season working with youth athletes. I preach communication to our players. Verbal and body Language are the two most important aspects we consistently talk about during the season. I believe communication is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of sports. With constant communication, you build trust within your team by helping each player to become 5 acting as 1. Trust then turns into confidence, which is what separates good players from great players. How a coach interacts with his players is very important. Giving positive feedback is an important belief of ours. Even if we feel the need to point out a negative, we will always follow up with a positive statement. We believe players are more likely to fulfill their potential when you tell them how good they can be. My expectation of players is to have the same interaction amongst themselves. Talking down to players will not be tolerated and our expectation is there will be constant communication among the players on and off the court. Our job as coaches is to transcend basketball lessons into life lessons. By focusing on these values, we insure that our kids will receive lessons that will exceed the hardwood and overflow into life. On and off the floor, communication is a key aspect of life.
Zeke Quinlan-
Varsity Assistant
Coach Zeke is in his 5th year as a varsity assistant and player development coach for the Skyhawks. Coach Zeke coaches the 8th grade youth team as well as assisting the varsity.
Contact at:
Kelly Christensen- JV Head Coach
Coach Kelly has coached the frosh team for the last 4 years. This season he will be the JV head coach. Kelly played two years of basketball at Linn Benton Community College. He went on to work as a manager for the Oregon State Basketball Men's Basketball team. In college, he began working for the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis. He found he had a passion for working with youth. Kelly started his coaching career at Woodburn High School, while also working in the district as a Special Education Assistant. He is now in his second year at Southridge where he also coaches football and baseball. Kelly works as our High School Graduation Mentor at Southridge. Go Hawks!
Daren Kalish-
JV Assistant
Coach DK is entering his 4th season on the high school staff. Coach DK has extensive coaching resume as an AAU coach, college assistant, and youth coach.
Contact at:
Denny Groenig- Frosh Head Coach
Contact at:
Josh Gray - JV2 Head Coach
Coach Gray begins his Skyhawk basketball coaching tenure as the JV2 head coach. Prior to Southridge, Coach Gray coached the frosh team at Cleveland High School for the last 4 seasons. Coach Josh works at the high school and is available to help players through out the day. Hawk basketball is excited to have him on staff.
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