It’s nice to see change. Growing up, sports have been male-dominated for way too long. For years, Ms. Dimaio has coached Soccer, Basketball, and Tennis at The Jemicy Upper School. She not only takes on the role of coaching, but also Head of the Science department.
During the pandemic Ms. Dimaio realizes just how much after school time coaching took up.
But, she also realizes it is worth it. “The relationships with the students are a lot deeper when you can constantly talk back and forth.” I agreed with this, and missed being with my friends out of class, but also at school. Ms. Dimaio classifies herself as a ‘relational coach,’ rather than a ‘transactional coach.’
She is also very honest with her students, which I think is a big part of being a relational coach.
When asked if having Ms. Dimaio as both a coach and teacher has built a better relationship, Olivia Green, a senior at Jemicy who played multiple sports and has Ms. Dimaio as a teacher said, “For sure, no doubt in my mind… I think it makes her classes a lot more fun, even if they’re hard like Neuroscience.”
Both roles Ms. Dimaio has, helps each other in their own special ways. From seeing students of the field and the classroom relationship become effortless.
To some students like Olivia, Ms. Dimaio doubles as a science teacher and a coach. She mentions that even if they are not winning in the class, students may have a win on the field. It must feel good to celebrate something good with the students. During the pandemic she added that being online made it hard to create the relationships she was used to making with students.
A lot of girls go out and play Jemicy sports in order to make friends, which also helps them start doing other school related activities. Not everyone really wants to play the athletics offered, but once you see other people having a good time it makes you want to join. Since my freshman year (now a senior) I have noticed the growth in Jemicy Athletics.
Drawing by Lindsay Knupple ’20
Ms. Dimaio went to an all girls high school and played four sports including, lacrosse, swimming, indoor, and outdoor soccer. She was coached by multiple “awesome” female coaches. She is now an amazing coach that learned from other amazing women coaches.
“Well, I think the main thing is that it’s important that other women know that you can be an athlete and not be male, right? …It’s been a male-dominated field for a really long time. And I think one of the things I was super thankful for in 2020 was it was the rise of the woman coach and woman refs, the first time I saw it was in basketball, then football and in Major League Baseball.”
“They were at the head coaching positions, or even assistant coach or head ops. And that didn’t happen in my entire life, right, which is really sad, I thought, but also like, you know, it’s something that women should be aspiring to. I’m not the world’s best athlete. But I don’t think that really matters, right? Because you just need to see people in those positions to be like- I can do this.”
Although Jemicy may not be an A conference high school, that is not what’s important. Some schools are known more for the athletic programs, while Jemicy is known for their amazing teachers and students being advocates. The reason for that is because of the amazing teachers and coaches, like Ms. Dimaio.
MOOSE PRINTS 
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