Girls basketball: Rappa to lead Eagles

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Tammy Rappa, who guided Charter Oak High to the CIF

Southern Section Division II-A girls basketball playoffs the last three

seasons, was named girls basketball coach at Estancia High Monday, said

Nancy Ferda, the Eagles’ girls athletic director.

Rappa, hired recently to teach reading at the school, will replace

Paul Kirby, a walk-on who resigned after 10 years with the program, the

last six as head coach.

Rappa takes over an Estancia team that welcomes back most of its

players from last year’s 16-11 season, which included a share of the

Pacific Coast League title. It was the program’s first league crown since

1991.

Rappa’s Charter Oak teams were a combined 47-38 the last three seasons

after enjoying little success before Rappa’s arrival, she said. The

Chargers reached the second round of the playoffs the last two years,

losing to eventual II-A champion Redondo Union in last season’s second

round. Charter Oak, in Covina, finished third in the Miramonte League in

2002, tied for second in 2001 and third in 2000, posting a cumulative

league record of 18-12 under Rappa.

Rappa, 28, also coached boys and girls varsity tennis at Charter Oak,

but Ferda said any tennis coaching responsibilities at Estancia had not

yet been discussed. Her girls tennis teams won league titles in 2000 and

2001, while she guided the boys team to the league crown in 2001.

Rappa inherits a lineup that includes point guard Trisha Wase, the PCL

Co-Player of the Year last season as a sophomore, as well as first-team

all-league performers Xochitl Byfield and Tisha Gray, both of whom will

be seniors when Estancia moves to the Golden West League this season.

Rappa will meet with the team for the first time today and hopes to

quickly line up some summer competition for the Eagles. She said her

coaching philosophy is based on two principles.

“No. 1, I emphasize that this is a team sport,” Rappa said. “We could

have the best player in the league, but if she isn’t willing to give the

ball up and trust her teammates, we’re not going to win league. Until my

girls understand that we’re a family and we win and lose together, we

won’t have success.

“No. 2, I like to instill basic fundamentals. If my players don’t know

the basics, I can’t move on to teaching strategic offenses and defenses.”

Rappa also said she stresses academics with her student-athletes and

reported all three of her teams at Charter Oak had at least a 3.5

combined GPA.

“Coaching makes me a better teacher and, I think, athletics makes

students better students,” Rappa said.

Rappa, who played basketball and tennis at St. Lucy’s High in Glendora

and was recruited to play both sports at the University of La Verne, said

she left Charter Oak due to a dispute with administrators over the use of

district facilities for her fund-raising summer leagues.

She said she plans to add an assistant coach soon.