Upper Dublin coach Vince Catanzaro notched win number 200 on Tuesday night. His record is 200-75 since taking over the program in 2001.
Vince Catanzaro wasn’t sure how long he’d be around when he took over the helm of the Upper Dublin girls’ basketball program before the start of the 2001-02 season. His singular goal was to turn around the struggling program.
“The only thing I was really thinking was getting the program back on track to the way it was when my sister played,” the veteran coach said of Upper Dublin’s glory years during Jane Catanzaro’s playing years. “I watched my daughter (Nicole) play there, and they had no chance of winning anything.
“I didn’t know how long I would be here – I didn’t know if it would be five years or 10 years. We talk about it now and laugh – it’s amazing that anybody like me could last that long.”
Catanzaro is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and the program is definitely back on track.
On Tuesday night, the veteran coach earned win number 200 of an outstanding career when the Flying Cardinals defeated Lansdale Catholic 53-38. His record since he took over the program is 200-75 with the first of those losses coming in his very first game at the hands of North Penn. Upper Dublin’s loss was then coach Jim Crawford Jr’s 300th win.
“It wasn’t a good way to start your career,” Catanzaro said. “It just started from there.”
Since taking over the helm, Catanzaro’s Flying Cardinals have developed a classic rivalry with Cheltenham as the American Conference’s elite programs.
“There was a real big rivalry years before he came back, and then it went through a slump where they didn’t have coaches who were committed to making a real basketball program,” Cheltenham coach Bob Schaefer said. “Then Vince came in, and he’s doing a great job of bringing in the younger kids, and either he or the community has done a great job of developing a terrific community program.
“They have tons of talent, and he works them hard. He’s a man of principle, and he’s definitely a tough competitor as far as I’m concerned. We get along well although we are very competitive. It’s a good, friendly rivalry we have, and the kids do too.”
The Flying Cardinals experienced immediate success under Catanzaro, capturing the SOL Freedom Division crown during the 2003-04 season and then – after the SOL’s realignment - breaking Cheltenham’s string on SOL titles by winning the American Conference championship in 2004-05.
“That’s what made those kids better – they were the first group to beat Cheltenham,” Catanzaro said. “I bet we were one of the first teams to beat Bob in his place in 10 years.”
Upper Dublin tied Cheltenham for the conference title in 2006-07. The Flying Cardinals captured the District One AAAA title that year as well. Lisa Harchut was the cornerstone of the Flying Cardinals during a four-year span that, ending with the 2006-07 season, saw Upper Dublin win 100 games.
Upper Dublin has been to districts every year since Catanzaro took over.
“We’ve had some good years,” he said.
Ask Catanzaro what he enjoys most, and he doesn’t mention any of his team’s titles.
“The best part is each year I find different kids that excel for the team – they worry more about the team than they worry about themselves,” Catanzaro said. “I always preach the team first. It’s not about individuals – it’s about working together.”
Catanzaro – whose teams have advanced to the state tournament four times - points to last year’s squad that advanced to the state tournament as a prime example.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of height, but you can see it on the floor when we played together – we didn’t do anything out of the ordinary where someone is taking control and doing it by themselves,” Catanzaro said. “It just wasn’t like that, and we preach that all the time. I love it when they play together as a team. That tells me I’m doing something right.”
In addition to winning games, Catanzaro is deriving a lot of enjoyment out of his role of coach.
“I have a lot of fun,” he said. “I have a lot of fun on the bench. I’m always cracking jokes with the kids. Even when we’re having serious problems, I still manage to laugh a little bit about it.”
Catanzaro has his own unique coaching style, and Taylor Bryant smiles as she describes the Flying Cardinals’ coach.
“You can’t get mad at him – even when he’s criticizing you, you know it’s right, so you can’t be mad at him,” the senior captain said. “He always makes a joke about it afterwards. You know he’s only doing what’s best for you. Everyone loves him.
“Even today at practice, he was basically getting on all of us about what we need to do better. He was trying to make an analogy that had nothing to do what we were talking about, but it made us all laugh. We all knew everything was going to be okay, and we knew he was trying to help us. I couldn’t imagine playing basketball at Upper Dublin with another coach.”
According to Bryant, Catanzaro is effective at bringing his players together as a team.
“Some people play together when they’re younger, but most of us just come together in high school,” she said. “Even before the season, he has the open gyms, and we’re working together. He’ll pull you aside and tell you what you can do better to help the team. He makes sure we all know what our roles are.”
Bryant goes on to recount some classic Catanzaro moments.
“I always remember back when we were playing Council Rock North and we lost terribly,” she said. “During halftime, somehow ice cream and cake came up, but I don’t know how. He said, ‘It’s all ice cream and cake.’ What does that have to do with the game?
“When he’s telling us a criticism, he’ll say, ‘I’m airing out your sneakers.’ Or he’ll say, ‘You tomahawked her.’ Now we know what it means, but we never knew what it meant before.”
Under Catanzaro, the Flying Cardinals have established themselves as one of the SOL’s top programs.
“For the last (11) years, I’ve been calling Upper Dublin the ‘new Cheltenham’ because in many ways what is happening in Cheltenham is now happening in Upper Dublin,” Schaefer said. “He certainly has a great program. Every year they’re right there on the edge. Every year they think it’s their year to nip us again, and who knows – this could be the year. They have a wonderful team. Vince has done a really nice job of bringing up kids and running his offseason program, and he’s a good friend.”
Schaefer reluctantly admits that Catanzaro has been beating him consistently on the links. The Upper Dublin coach would happily trade those wins on the golf course for a win over Cheltenham on the basketball court. As a matter of fact, he insists he would trade in his 200 wins for a win on Friday night when the teams square of in the SOL opener for both squads.
“I would give it all up in a heartbeat,” Catanzaro said. “I was thinking about bringing that into my speech to the kids at practice. I’d give it all up for that win in a heartbeat.
“I look forward to these games. We might not beat them a lot, but we compete against them. Bob knows when we come there we’re going to do the best we can to try and win the game. I live for that game. We do as a team. We know you have to take it one game at a time, but we know we have to prepare for Cheltenham.”
Friday night’s showdown pits a pair of 3-0 teams. It promises to be another battle between the neighboring rivals.
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