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Tampa Catholic Coach Is Loud And Clear

Tribune photo by KATHERINE SMITH

Tampa Catholic girls basketball coach Nancy Kroll talks with her team after practice.

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 24, 2009

Updated: 02/25/2009 12:12 am

TAMPA - Nancy Kroll's voice booms above all others during Tampa Catholic practices and games.

The squeak of sneakers and the bounce of the ball on the hardwood don't stand a chance against Kroll's constant barking.

The Crusaders' girls basketball coach is an equal opportunity yeller, though. She'll sprinkle in "finish, finish, finish" and "good pass" with the occasional "girls, what are you doing?"

"I think she yells to push us," Tampa Catholic leading scorer Colette Eule said. "She gets our attention."

Tampa Catholic has the attention of the Class 3A basketball world. The Crusaders 28-2 face Miramar Parkway Academy 30-3 today at 2:30 p.m. in the first Class 3A state semifinal at The Lakeland Center.

Kroll has been to the state tournament before, as an assistant on late husband Craig Keeler's Academy of the Holy Names team. This is her first trip as a head coach.

"This is awesome," Kroll said. "I think it's a tribute to perseverance, actually the four 'P's' - passion, practice, patience and perseverance. I find this very rewarding. There's a saying that a teacher's footprints last forever, and I see a lot of myself in my players."

Kroll made her way to Tampa Catholic three years ago following stints at Freedom, Fairleigh-Dickinson University and Hillsborough Community College. She has built a winner in every program she has coached, because she knows how to read people and bring out their best.

"She knows how to talk to each of us, like what we need," senior captain Annie Dziagwa said. "I'm not very good when someone is yelling at me, because I know what I'm doing wrong, so she knows how to talk to me. But there are other players, she yells at them because that's what they need to get out of their funk.

"She knows how to talk to each individual player and get them to play their best game."

While each personality requires catered motivation from Kroll, there is a common bond between them.

"They all love to play the game of basketball, and I love to coach it." Kroll said. "If it's their passion, then I'm going to push them as hard as I can. We want to win as a team."

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860.

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