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Saturday May 21, 2022 | 2:31 p.m.
Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review
Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell shouts from the bench during the PIAA Class 5A State Championship game against Cardinal O’Hara March 25.
Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review
Chartiers Valley’s Megan McConnell celebrates with her father, coach Tim McConnell, in the closing seconds of the 2020 WPIAL Class 5A Championship match.
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The district basketball world was stunned earlier this month when one of the most decorated coaches in WPIAL history decided to make a change and leave the school where he had been for nearly three decades. .
Tim McConnell has resigned as Women’s Basketball Coach at Chartiers Valley to fill the vacant position of Men’s Basketball Coach at Bishop Canevin.
The move came less than a month after Gino Palmosina, who guided the Crusaders to a WPIAL and PIAA championship last season, took over as men’s basketball coach from Moon.
McConnell had spent 29 years coaching basketball at Chartiers Valley, the first 25 as a boys’ coach and the last four years as a girls’ coach for the Colts.
The Seton LaSalle and Waynesburg University alum was 552-146 in his quarter-century of coaching the boys at CV, and 110-7 in the last four years as a girls coach.
He has won nine WPIAL championships and a state title thanks in part to coaching his three children, TJ, Matty and daughter, Megan.
McConnell, 57, will keep his full-time job as transportation director in the Chartiers Valley School District.
Q: When you were hired by Chartiers Valley in 1993, did you imagine you would have coached the Colts for nearly three decades?
TM: I would never have imagined that I would be at Chartiers Vallée for 29 years.
Q: What are you most proud of when you look back on your 29 years coaching boys and girls basketball in Chartiers Valley?
TM: I’m proud of the impact I’ve had on so many boys and girls.
Q: When did you realize you wanted to coach boys basketball again?
TM: After the season was over, I thought for a bit and thought it was time to coach men’s basketball again.
Q: Will longtime assistants Shawn Sherry and Cate Gannon follow you to Bishop Canevin?
TM: Yeah, Cate and Shawn are going to Bishop Canevin with me. My son, Matty, is also with me.
Q: These two have been with you for a long time. What makes the three of you click?
TM: We get along so well.
Q: Will it make it easier to continue working in the Chartiers Valley School District, or will it make it more emotionally difficult next winter?
TM: I love my job and the people I work with at the bus garage. But I will miss the girls. I think girls are going to do great things in college.
Q: Why Bishop Canevin?
TM: It’s near my home, plus I attended a Catholic primary and secondary school. I thought it was a good choice for me.
Q: Do you expect an adjustment moving from a large public school to a smaller private school?
TM: I think there will be an adjustment at first, but once we get to know each other I think it will be great.
Q: Other than coaching your three kids and all the championships your teams have won, what are some of your fondest memories from the past 29 years?
TM: Wow, there are way too many to list. I have so many good memories of my 29 years at the Vallée des Chartiers.
Q: Have you ever seen yourself leaving the Chartiers Valley on your own?
TM: Honestly, I was thinking of retiring from Chartiers Valley. However, I thought Canevin was a great opportunity for me to come back to the boys’ side.
Q: What drives you to be a great coach?
TM: Just knowing that I have a positive impact on the young people I coach.
Tags: Chartiers Valley
