Coach LaRose

Jamie LaRose   is a RI native with a passion for creating positive & challenging athletic opportunities for others. Her love of sports grew from a young age, due in large part to the influence of her mother, Kathleen Hazard who was a physical educator & coach at Ponaganset High School for over 35 years. 

Growing up in Foster, RI she attended Ponaganset schools. As an athlete on the Girls Basketball team, she won 2 State Championships in Middle School and 3 State Championships in High School. In 2003, Jamie was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame for being a member of the Ponaganset HS Girls Basketball Team of 1995-6. This team had an overall record of 25-2, ranked 4th in the “New England Top 10” on NESN. The Journal Bulletin named Ponaganset Girls Basketball from the 1990’s as part of the Top 100 Best of 20th Century in Local Sports for over 150 straight wins and 10 straight State Championships. She was inducted with this team into the Ponaganset Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. 

Jamie attended the University of New Hampshire where she competed as an NCAA Division 1 athlete in the sport of tennis for the America East Conference. She transfered mid sophomore year and graduated from Plymouth State University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. As the #1 tennis player at P.S.C., she earned Little East Confrence player of the week 7 times in addition to winning the Lydia Briggs Panther Award in 2002 and 2003. 

Her love for community motivates her to give back. She returned to the Foster Glocester Regional School District upon graduating college to accept a teaching position at Ponaganset Middle School and is presently employed there. Jamie has been coaching youth sports for the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL) and RI Principals Coalition on Athletics (RIPCOA) for 20 years in Basketball, Mens Tennis, Womens Tennis, Fast Pitch Softball, and Volleyball. As the head coach of the Ponaganset Middle School Girls Basketball Team between 2003 and 2018 she amassed 180 wins and only 55 losses for a 77% winning rate that included 5 Division Championships(2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018) and 1 RI State Championship (2010).

As the Girls HS Tennis Coach from 2010-2017 her teams were Northern Division Champions twice (2010 & 2011) and once crowned RI State Champions in 2011. In 2015 she worked alongside the former Superintendant, Dr. Michael Barnes to help plan & design the current 6 court tennis facililty on campus complete with lights and a coaches walkway. In 2016 and in 2017 the PHS Girls Tennis team she coached was voted by the coaches association as the Team Sportsmanship Award.

From 2012-2017 Coach LaRose lead the Boys Tennis team as the Varsity Head Coach at PHS. In her first season as head coach of this team, she coached Jared Donaldson who earned the title of RI Individiual State Singles Champion and went on to become an American Professional Tennis Player ranked as high as within the top 50 ATP rankings in the world (2018).

In addition to coaching basketball and tennis, Jamie has also served as the varsity girls volleyball head coach at Ponaganset High School  and the assistant girls softball coach at Ponaganset Middle School. She has two children and has coached them in AAU Basketball for the RI Knights & Breakers organizations.  Additionally, she assists in directing the Ponaganset Girls and Boys Basketball Associations while coaching at the recreational and travel team levels. Since moving to Glocester in 2015 Jamie has also volunteered for: a) the Burrillville Glocester Youth Soccer Organization; b)Glocester Little League; and c)The Glocester Recreation Commission.  

In the summer, Jamie LaRose enjoys leading group educational trips all over the world . She partners with Education First Tours to offer first hand learning experiences and help provide opportunities for students to: a)gain perspective on cultural diversity, b) foster empathy, and c) motivate youth to gain the confidence necessary to make postiive changes in the world. If you are interested in traveling with Coach LaRose on her next group trip to Italy & Greece in the Summer of 2025, please check out the slideshow linked above or email with questions: jlarose@fgschools.com. As the dba of Summer Sports, LLC. Coach LaRose enjoys her role as Camp director for Hoops Camp as well as Summer Sports Camp.

The philosophy developed in her experiences as an athlete and coach in a variety of sports is based on the idea that success is related to effort and found in the journey of hard work striving toward victory.  Coach LaRose believes that success is the equivalent of learning valuable life skills, finding enjoyment, forming positive relationships with others, taking healthy risks and learning from mistakes made along the way. Respect, team work, positive comunication, and conducting oneself with class are of the utmost importance in all of Coach LaRose’s teams, camps, trips, & tutoring sessions.