From graduate, to teacher, to coach – Ms. Dara Schieler bleeds cardinal red.
Ms. Schieler is a former Grizzly who graduated in 2007. And now, five years after being hired as a science teacher at Granite Hills, she has decided to take on another challenge – coaching the Grizzlies varsity softball team.
“I really enjoyed playing softball for a million years when I was younger. And I wanted to bring the joy of the game to the students here,” Schieler said.
Schieler brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the job. She has played softball since she was ten years old on a club team out of Fresno.
She then played at Granite for all four years on the varsity team, and once she graduated, she went on to play for Fresno State until she blew her shoulder out and had to get surgery.
“It was hard because I was always so involved in sports and so involved in a team, but I think it was good for me to kind of move on at that point,” Schieler said.
Eventually, Schieler earned her credentials to become a science teacher, which she currently teaches at Granite Hills.
Since the softball team needed a new coach, Schieler took charge to take over.
Schieler’s objective as the new coach is to win games and make it to the playoffs.
“My top priority is really to teach the girls the game and have them play it the right way,” she said. “Then, obviously, our objective as a team is to win some games and go to the playoffs.”
Schieler mentions that all coaching styles should have players focus on fundamentals.
“If you can’t do the little things right, then you can’t do the exceptional things right,” Schieler said.
Schieler says the team has a lot of potential since the season has started, and there is still room for growth and improvement.
Right now, both the varsity and junior varsity teams have 34 players total.
Katarina Burd is a player on the varsity team. She says she is excited that Schieler is taking over.
“I’m really excited that we’re going to be practicing with Schieler, especially since the past years have been just a little wacky, but I know she’s going to put us back into place and really help out our team,” Burd said.
The Grizzlies’ first game was on March 3. Though they had a rough start against Farmersville with a final score of 10-5, the Grizzlies bounced back against Ridgeview and won 11-4.
That game was Schieler’s first win as the new coach, and she says it was great to win.
With more games coming up, Schieler’s overall expectation for this group of girls is to keep building.
“My expectation is to kind of build a culture around the team where we’re supportive of each other, but we win, and we play well because that culture is there. We’re having fun,” Schieler said.
What’s next for this Grizzlies softball team?
March 17 is the Grizzlies’ first home game of the season, so show up and show out to watch them play.
