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Jen Rilli, who led Cresskill to a sectional title in 2008, was approved as the new head girls basketball coach at Pascack Valley by the district’s Board of Education on May 18.
Rilli will become the second coach in the history of the program, taking over for Jeff Jasper, who retired earlier this year after 53 seasons.
Rilli called it a "unique situation" taking over for the iconic coach, and said she used to model a lot of what her Cresskill teams did in the offseason on lessons she learned from Jasper.
“I have nothing but the utmost respect for Jeff Jasper," Rilli said. "I played against him when I was at Old Tappan, I coached against him when I was at Cresskill, he was one of the first phone calls I made when I got that job. I would have loved to play for him, so if nothing else, I said let me learn how to coach from him.”
After graduating from Old Tappan in 1996, she played at Caldwell University until a knee injury derailed her career. The 48-year-old has been a math teacher in the Northern Valley school district for the last 24 years.
“I always wanted to do something with basketball after college and when my knee was not in good shape, I went into coaching,” Rilli said.
She started as an assistant at Old Tappan working alongside Brian Dunn, then took over for Danny Brown at Cresskill in 2006. She spent three years there, leading the Cougars to a North 1, Group 1 sectional title in 2008.
Rilli left Cresskill to take care of her family, and now has two sons in high school whom she coached for years at the recreational and travel level. It was her first experience coaching boys, but she enjoyed it.
“I loved it, I wanted to coach,” Rilli said. “It was a great way to be with my kids and with their friends and do something I was passionate about.”
When the opportunity at Pascack Valley came open, Rilli was intrigued. She missed coaching in high school.
“I was going to take a backseat the next couple of years and watch my kids, but a job like this doesn’t come along that often," she said. "I knew if I didn’t throw my hat in the ring I would regret not trying because this is a job that if you get it, you stay for a while."
Rilli had two rounds of interviews before she was told she got the position. She said she was excited but worried that it’s already late to start making offseason plans. She plans to meet with the team officially for the first time May 20.
“I am going to introduce myself and give them a history of me and tell them my hopes and goals and plans and what I am hoping we can accomplish in the next couple of months before the next season kicks and what we can do,” Rilli said.
Pascack Valley had a tremendous amount of success under Jasper, and Rilli said she’s hoping to build on that through her own coaching methods and style.
“I think there is pressure regardless of any program that you take over,” Rilli said. “This is a unique situation in the sense of the legacy that Jeff created being the only coach the school has ever had. I hope I can continue the success that he’s had year after year.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jen Rilli hired as Pascack Valley NJ girls basketball coach
Continue reading...
Rilli will become the second coach in the history of the program, taking over for Jeff Jasper, who retired earlier this year after 53 seasons.
Rilli called it a "unique situation" taking over for the iconic coach, and said she used to model a lot of what her Cresskill teams did in the offseason on lessons she learned from Jasper.
“I have nothing but the utmost respect for Jeff Jasper," Rilli said. "I played against him when I was at Old Tappan, I coached against him when I was at Cresskill, he was one of the first phone calls I made when I got that job. I would have loved to play for him, so if nothing else, I said let me learn how to coach from him.”
After graduating from Old Tappan in 1996, she played at Caldwell University until a knee injury derailed her career. The 48-year-old has been a math teacher in the Northern Valley school district for the last 24 years.
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“I always wanted to do something with basketball after college and when my knee was not in good shape, I went into coaching,” Rilli said.
She started as an assistant at Old Tappan working alongside Brian Dunn, then took over for Danny Brown at Cresskill in 2006. She spent three years there, leading the Cougars to a North 1, Group 1 sectional title in 2008.
Rilli left Cresskill to take care of her family, and now has two sons in high school whom she coached for years at the recreational and travel level. It was her first experience coaching boys, but she enjoyed it.
“I loved it, I wanted to coach,” Rilli said. “It was a great way to be with my kids and with their friends and do something I was passionate about.”
When the opportunity at Pascack Valley came open, Rilli was intrigued. She missed coaching in high school.
“I was going to take a backseat the next couple of years and watch my kids, but a job like this doesn’t come along that often," she said. "I knew if I didn’t throw my hat in the ring I would regret not trying because this is a job that if you get it, you stay for a while."
Rilli had two rounds of interviews before she was told she got the position. She said she was excited but worried that it’s already late to start making offseason plans. She plans to meet with the team officially for the first time May 20.
“I am going to introduce myself and give them a history of me and tell them my hopes and goals and plans and what I am hoping we can accomplish in the next couple of months before the next season kicks and what we can do,” Rilli said.
Pascack Valley had a tremendous amount of success under Jasper, and Rilli said she’s hoping to build on that through her own coaching methods and style.
“I think there is pressure regardless of any program that you take over,” Rilli said. “This is a unique situation in the sense of the legacy that Jeff created being the only coach the school has ever had. I hope I can continue the success that he’s had year after year.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jen Rilli hired as Pascack Valley NJ girls basketball coach
Continue reading...
