Link between coaches Castelamare and Nohra
By Kyle LoJacono
It seems John Castelamare and Karim Nohra really like Wildcats.
Both coached at Wesley Chapel High for the 2009-10 school year, Castelamare for football and Nohra for girls basketball. The similarities do not stop there as the two both took over the same position at Academy at the Lakes this season.
Nohra, a professor at the University of South Florida, led the Wesley Chapel girls basketball program the last two years, guiding the squad to back-to-back regional finals appearances. However, Carin Nettles became the school’s principal for the 2009-10 school year and put a new emphasis on coaches being teachers at Wesley Chapel. He was not retained.
Castelamare, a physical education teacher, started the Wesley Chapel football program when the school opened in 1999. He was forced to retire before last year, which was his fifth in the deferred retirement option program. The academy was waiting with open arms to welcome the two veteran coaches.
“What we’re trying to do is get the best coaches we can find,” said academy athletic director Tom Haslem. “We have coach John Castelamare for football, coach Nohra for basketball. We’re a small school and those guys have a lot to offer to our programs. As an AD it’s a no brainer for me.”
Nohra and Castelamare both express thanks to Haslem for giving them an opportunity to coach at the academy.
Castelamare coached for 38 years in Pasco County public schools, working with Ridgewood High’s program before Wesley Chapel. During that time he compiled a 108-126 record, 63-50 at Wesley Chapel including two 10-0 regular seasons and three district championships.
Coming to the academy Castelamare had to get used to coaching six-man football.
“The rules are very different and it took some time to get them all down, but in the end it’s still football” Castelamare said. “A lot of the players didn’t really know anything about football and we had to teach them drills I’d used at Wesley Chapel for years.”
The academy went 6-5 and reached the playoffs in Castelamare’s first season, but he has more than just winning on his to-do list.
“The goal is to get the program to 11-man football,” Castelamare said. “We’d need at least 25 good football players to do that. Just 25 bodies isn’t enough. We need football players. I think the excitement in football is up here at the academy and I hope our numbers will be up next season.”
There were about 15 players on the academy football roster last year. The program moved up to 11-man football for one season in 2007 and went 1-9.
Nohra did not have to worry about new rules when he came to the academy, but he did have to work on many of the basics with his new squad as Castelamare did.
“The first thing I saw is they needed directions as far as skill work,” Nohra said. “I immediately made them start doing some weight lifting and running, and that scared quite a few of the girls away. They’ve never been asked to do a lot other than let’s roll out the balls, put on the uniform and go play. Now I’m demanding more of their time and effort. It’s a really big culture change.”
One player who wasn’t scared off is sophomore Andrea Mauger, who played for Nohra at Wesley Chapel last year and transferred to the academy. She said she enjoys playing with Nohra’s high-tempo style.
“He runs the same system no matter where he’s at and I like what he runs,” Mauger said. “It stops a lot of people and the pressure is just so high that it confuses people. You have a job and if you do it right everything is fine, but if one person doesn’t it just falls apart. Coach breaks down everyone’s job and gets you to understand what to do and why you have to do it that way.”
Last year the academy girls basketball program went 0-15, but have turned that around fast for 9-1 start including Nohra’s 400th win as a high school coach.
“We have coaches who are really good at turning programs around and both teams are flat out working harder than they did last year” Haslem said. “They have everyone at the school talking about athletics here and I’m hoping for many more years with them leading the programs.”
