Among the best

Pat Ferdinand has been the girls’ basketball coach at Watertown High for four years and has been working at the school for two. In the fall, he was honored by his fellow coaches as being one of the best in the state.

“It’s still a team award,’’ he said. “You can’t achieve that without players, assistant coaches, and people who help out at the door.”

Pat is an instructional aid and assistant to Ms. Boudreau in the ISP program. He played basketball during high school and planned play at UMass-Boston, too, but a leg injury forced him to stop.

Pat stayed involved with the team and friendly with the coach. Pat used to coach his younger sister at the YMCA when she was a senior in high school. Some of her friends saw her improvements and wanted to join a recreational team that Pat coached. While at the YMCA, a parent saw Pat’s coaching ability and suggested he get in touch with the Cambridge School of Weston for one of its assistant coaching positions.

On Pat’s first day on the job, the varsity head coach quit unexpectedly and Pat was given the job.

Pat’s coaching technique was very creative in how he ran his practices and dealt with limited space. Pat ended up coaching at the school for four years, really turning the program around. During his four years at the Cambridge School, he won two conference finals and twice made it to the New England tournament.

From there, Pat began his coaching career at Watertown High. Through his intense coaching program, the girls have gone to the state tournament every year. Because of his amazing abilities, he won the Massachusetts Basketball Coaching Award for Division 3 girls in the 2012-2013 school year.

“I thought it was nice to get acknowledged by your peers for something you like doing,’’ he said.

–Feb. 15, 2014–