“It was such a hard decision but I have two young boys at home and I was missing out on so much time with them,” Mangan said. “They are only this little for a short amount of time and I’m looking forward to pouring all of my energy into them.”
The thing Mangan will most about coaching is the rapport she had with her players.
“There’s so many different aspects that I’ll miss but I think the best part about coaching is the connections I got to build with the girls,” Mangan said.
What cushions the blow for Mangan in leaving her coaching position is that her assistant for the last seven years, Shawn Sullivan, will be taking over as head coach.
“We have some of the best talent Lakeland has seen in a long time coming up over the next few years,” said Mangan, who said she could see herself coaching again, maybe when her boys are in college. “The girls are lucky to be coached by Shawn. It makes leaving a lot easier knowing that they are in good hands.”
Sullivan said that his favorite part of assistant coaching was working with the players on a daily basis and watching them make steady improvements in their game.
“I also enjoyed collaborating with coach Mangan, in creating strong practice and game plans,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan now is looking forward to being the Hornets’ head coach.
“I believe we have built a solid foundation at Lakeland and I want to keep improving the program with the good players returning,” Sullivan said. “The girls are fantastic to work with and I want to help them to continue to grow as people and players.”
Sullivan feels that being the assistant coach will be a tremendous benefit to starting the upcoming season as head coach.
“I have coached all the girls and know their strengths and weaknesses,” Sullivan said. “We will continue with a lot of the same offensive and defensive concepts, so the transition should be smooth.”
Sullivan’s short and long-term goals are straightforward.
“We want to be a competitive team and have a legitimate shot at getting to the County Center year in and year out,” Sullivan said.
While this will be his first year as head coach for the Lakeland girls, Sullivan is no stranger to being a head varsity basketball coach. Before being an assistant coach for Lakeland, he was the head coach for the Walter Panas boys squad for 14 seasons.
The highlight for Sullivan at Panas was winning the Section 1 Class A title.
“Winning the title was a huge accomplishment for our program,” Sullivan said. “That title was for all the guys that played in the program. We prided ourselves on being the hardest-working program in Section 1 and it paid off in 2014. That was the best team I had coached in terms of playing hard, playing for each other, and not caring who got the credit. I hope to bring those ideals to Lakeland girls basketball.”
Mike Sabini is a contributing writer for Yorktown News
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