Nolensville Girl’s Basketball Q&A with Coach Ladd

by Chris Ladd

I have been the girls’ basketball coach at Nolensville since the school opened in 2016. This year is my 26th year coaching basketball in Williamson County. 2016 was also my first year transitioning from coaching boys to coaching girls. That first year we opened with only a freshman and sophomore class. We had 10 total girls in the program and had to hold summer practice at Sunset Middle School because our school building had not been cleared by codes. 

My expectations of this year’s team are the same as every team I have had at Nolensville, and that is to compete for a District Championship. We have been fortunate to win our District three times and our Region twice in our short history, and also to have some very talented players. This year’s team is no exception. We will be very young but should be competitive.

We only have one senior this year, Sara Kulkarni. This is her fourth year in the program, and we are going to lean on her leadership this year. 

Some of our top players to watch who are returning from last year are juniors Leilani Washington and Olivia Galloway. They are both returning starters from last year’s 21-win team. Sophomores Brennan Rigsby, Reese Mall, and Sara Brakefield will also play a big role in our success this season.

We have a very talented freshman class this year, and I expect several of them to make contributions at the varsity level. Nyla Johnson, Addie Harris, and Olivia Sacco are three freshmen to watch.

As I said before, this team is young, but I believe we have the potential to have a special season. The journey this year will be filled with ups and downs, but our motto is to try and get better every day and learn as much as we can from every experience. I think this will be a fun team to watch play, and I encourage the community to come out and watch them.