Basketball, Track & Field, Flag Football
Favorite athlete: LaMelo Ball
Favorite team: UConn
Best memory competing in sports: Going to Florida last year because it bonded our team so much, and I made some of my best memories there.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Probably when I was messing around with my teammate on how she airballed a free throw and then during that varsity game I airballed a free throw.
Music on playlist: Country
Future plans: Go to Arcadia and study either sports medicine so I can be a physical therapist or possibly switch to law
Words to live by: “Hard work and faith are going to get you where you need to be.”
One goal before turning 30: Own a house and be married with 1-2 kids
One thing people don’t know about me: I want to travel the world with my mom, and I love to fish and be outdoors.
By Mary Jane Souder
John Gallagher laughs when he recalls his first impression of then incoming freshman Alena Cofield when he took over the helm of the Neshaminy basketball program.
“I walked in the gym our first summer workout, and here comes Alena and returning players,” said Gallagher. “We’re going about our workout, and she is flying up and down the court. She couldn’t take two dribbles without the ball going off her leg out of bounds. She just kept looking at me for approval, and I’m like – ‘You’re okay, you’re okay.’”
No one could have predicted that the speedy freshman with little knowledge of basketball would three years later be named the Most Outstanding Player of the SOL Patriot Division, but that’s exactly what happened.
Cofield’s motives for going out for basketball underscore that it was never meant to be a serious commitment.
“I decided – okay, I’ll play basketball because I need something to look good on my college resume,” said Cofield, who measures in at 5-4. “Track was going to be my number one option, and basketball would keep me in shape in winter, no problem.
“I was horrible. I came to the first tryout – I didn’t even know any of the rules. I couldn’t even dribble a basketball. I think I traveled every single time I had the ball. It was so bad. I was like ‘I’m going to get cut from the team.’”
It was actually the beginning of an improbable but remarkable journey. This spring, Cofield is once again running track after a year away from the sport, but basketball is her sport of choice.
“It feels like a full circle moment,” she said. “It just feels so weird – yeah, I’m running track so I can stay in shape for basketball.”
Cofield will continue her basketball career next year at Arcadia University.
The journey begins
Cofield grew up in what she describes as a ‘huge soccer family,’ and it was soccer that she initially believed would be her collegiate sport.
“I played soccer up until my freshman year,” she said. “I did club soccer going into sophomore year.
“I played softball, and I loved softball, but I stopped playing in seventh grade. I think it was COVID, and it was hard to find a team, and I never really did, and that was the end of it.”
Heading into freshman year, Cofield tried out for basketball, and despite a less than impressive debut, she earned a spot on the JV - her speed and aggressive play outweighing her lack of fundamentals.
“Our first game – I remember it so much because I literally travelled probably 35 times,” she said. “I kept looking to the JV coach – ‘What am I doing wrong? How am I traveling?’ I was convinced – I’m quitting after freshman year.”
Those shortcomings on the court aside, Cofield made an immediate impression and impact.
“She was probably our best JV player as a freshman because she would just steal the ball and shoot layups,” Gallagher said. “Her layup percentage her freshman year was probably about 35 percent on the left side and, on the right side, close to 10 percent.”
In Neshaminy’s postseason game against Archbishop Carroll, Cofield had an unexpected opportunity to showcase her strengths.
“In our state playoff game her freshman year, we suited 15, and she was one of them,” Gallagher said. “We’re down 14 with two-and-a-half minutes to go, and I’m like, ‘All right, let’s see what you’ve got.’ I skipped what is typically our eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th players and went to Alena who was 12th or 13th.
“She went in there against Carroll, who had a portion of their starters still in. The game was decided, and both teams knew it. Alena had four offensive rebounds, two steals and a couple of defensive rebounds.”
A performance so impressive that Gallagher informed Cofield at her end-of-the-season meeting that she would be starting for the varsity the following year as a sophomore.
“She’s like – ‘What?’” Gallagher recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t have anybody who can defend other people’s guards like you can.’
“She said, ‘I can’t score.’ I said, ‘Let’s focus on what you can do,’ and it just took off. We had an end-of-the-season meeting with the team, and I said, ‘Some of you might want to consider AAU. It’s a big expense. I’m not forcing it on anyone because it is an expense.’
“I went home that night, and Alena texted me and said, ‘I want to get on an AAU team.’”
Putting in the work
Cofield got her first taste of AAU basketball with the Lower Bucks Lightening.
“Coach Gallagher) gave me a shot,” she said. “I’m like –‘Wow, he’s showing confidence in me.’ From then on, I was like – I can’t blow this. I’m going to keep going. I’ve gotta keep showing up, and I did.
“I really started working after my freshman season. I did workouts at my house, and I have a park that’s close, so I would go right after school, and I would work out because I couldn’t drive, and my mom’s a teacher so she wasn’t home.
“My shot was awful – I didn’t jump when I shot, so I would watch college games to see how people played. I put so much time into it. It was like a hyper fixation. I was like – all right, this is what I’m going to be good at.”
So committed to basketball was Cofield that she did not want anything to interfere.
“In her sophomore year, we were going to play in a fall tournament,” Gallagher said. “She said, ‘I have my sister’s christening on Sunday. I’m not going to be able to make it.’ I said, ‘No problem, you have to go to that. I understand’
“Her mom (Thadora Cofield) called me that night and she said, ‘I know Alena told you this, but I have never seen my daughter grab onto anything like she has with basketball.’ She was that into it. She just embraced the whole thing.”
As a sophomore, Cofield – as promised – was in the starting lineup for a team that went captured the SOL Patriot Division title. She gave glimpses of her potential in a district playoff game against Upper Dublin.
“We played Upper Dublin, and (coach) Morgan (Funsten) is not covering her, and she hit four 3s and finished with 20 points,” Gallagher recalled. “Morgan looked at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.” It wasn’t our game plan that she was going to take those 3s, but that helped her gain confidence.”
As a junior, Cofield excelled in a supporting role behind seniors Reese Zemitis and Lola Ibarrondo, who are now playing collegiately at Bucknell and Holy Family respectively. Neshaminy defended its SOL Patriot Division crown and captured the SOL Tournament title.
The fiery sparkplug earned second team all-league honors, but she wasn’t satisfied.
“I didn’t want to be known as a player – okay, she can just get rebounds,” Cofield said. “And for the longest time, people wouldn’t guard me because why would you guard me? I couldn’t shoot the ball.
“I can get a couple of steals, but people weren’t guarding me, and I took it as a sense of disrespect. All right, that’s only going to make me work harder.”
With the graduation of two 1,000-point scorers - Zemitis and Ibarrondo, Cofield entered the offseason with resolve.
“Sophomore year going into junior year, I was – I need to become a better player – offense and defense,” she said. “I did a little bit junior year, but going into my senior season, I took it as – this is all I’ve got. I’ve got to show people that Gal took a chance on me, and it was worth it, and I worked really hard.
“I worked like I’ve never worked before. I was in the gym constantly. It was stressful, honestly. I missed out on some stuff, but truly it was worth it for me because I have fun playing basketball. A lot of people can’t say that because when they put so much work in – then it starts to feel like a chore. Basketball never felt like a chore to me. This is something I want to do for fun. No one is telling me – ‘Alena, you have got to do this and this and this.’ I’m doing it myself. No one has ever pushed me. My mom was like – ‘If this is what you want to do, do it.’”
Cofield’s commitment was not lost on her coach.
“She spent so much time over the summer working on her ball handling and her shooting, and it just paid off this year,” Gallagher said. “We had open gyms in the summer, and she’s just dominating our players, and I’m looking at it like – is she going to be able to do that against other team’s good players, and she really did.
“She had ups and downs, but she was our best player in the league, and I was thrilled for her.”
In fact, in a preseason meeting, Gallagher suggested she set a goal of attaining MVP of the division.
“He had so much trust in me,” Cofield said. “I didn’t see it. I can’t even thank him enough.
“Our JV coach (Nick Reisig) runs the NAB (Neshaminy Academy of Basketball) stuff, so he always had an open gym at Maple Point. My mom would drive me to Maple Point. I would spend all day there working with the coach. Honestly, half of the reason I have any kind of skill is because of him. I still don’t understand what three seconds in the lane is – I don’t know if it’s offense or defense, but I do know how to shoot now.”
A leader
Elected captain by her teammates, Cofield was the lone senior and undisputed leader of a young team comprised of mainly freshmen and sophomores.
“It was a little scary in the beginning – okay, we might not be as good,” Cofield said. “A lot of people doubted us.
“I would work out with them in the summer, and I said, ‘Guys, you know people aren’t expecting us to be good. Reese and Lola are gone, and we’re going to hear it a lot. We’re going to hear it everywhere, but you’ve got to push past it.’”
Joining Cofield in the starting lineup this past season were four sophomores.
“Every single one of those starters put the work in, every single girl on the floor put the work in, and I know because I was with them in the summer,” she said. “You start to motivate each other – we were there for each other. Nick was there for us in the summer, and I know he was telling Gal what we were doing in the offseason.
“The fact that Gal trusted me to be a leader – I really didn’t have a choice. I just felt so much respect from every single one of them, and I honestly felt if I said something – they took it in, and they listened to it, and they proved everyone wrong. They’re going to be amazing next year. They really are.”
Led by Cofield, Neshaminy finished one game behind a veteran Council Rock South squad in the SOL Patriot Division standings. The team was 17-7 and earned a berth in the District 1 6A Tournament.
“Alena helped bring these younger kids along who were trying to feel where they fit in the program,” Gallagher said. “I just can’t believe what she came from as a freshman to this year being selected the best player in the division by the coaches. No one would have predicted it.”
A promising future
Basketball gave Cofield an unexpected bonus. Her third and final AAU team, Heat Hoops, resulted in close friendships with three members of one of Neshaminy’s rivals, Council Rock South - Lil Metrick, Kathryn O’Kane and Fiona Recker.
“They’re literally my best friends – I talk to them all the time,” she said. “The only practice in four years that I missed was to go to their Senior Day because I made them posters and stuff like that.”
Off the basketball court, Cofield – an excellent student– is involved with Athletes Helping Athletes, Unified Track and the ceramics club. She also helps her mother, a teacher who works with students who have autism.
“Whenever I have any free time, which recently hasn’t been too much, I’ll help her out with that,” Cofield said. “I’ll go after school – I love hanging out with kids with autism.”
At Arcadia this fall, Cofield is leaning toward a major in physical therapy.
“I want to be a physical therapist that works with athletes and their mental health,” she said. “Thankfully, I’ve been so lucky. I’ve never gotten seriously injured, but I know people who do get injured, and it completely messes with their mental health. I just want to be an advocate with them and help them through that kind of stuff because I’ve always been so intrigued by that. I can only imagine what they’re going through. I’d like to work with people who are on the road to recovery to get back to where they were.”
Gallagher, for one, believes Arcadia will be a perfect fit for reasons that go well beyond its basketball team.
“There’s no better physical therapy school around, and Alena is a very, very good student,” the Neshaminy coach said. “We would review marks, and she was all straight A’s for her fourth straight year.
“She really has her game together. Not only on the basketball court, but her social skills in bringing our team together. We lost a lot besides points but also the staples of the program that ran the program between herding the kids together and making them all go in the same direction. That was our biggest loss. It wasn’t 1,000 points from two players. It was filling that void, and Alena just stepped into it so willingly and just dominated. She was just fantastic.”
