Appointment of VFMC Women's Basketball Assistant Coaches

(TAKEN FROM THE VFMAC WEB-SITE):

Announcing New Assistant Coaches

Valley Forge Military College Athletic Director Dominick Lorusso and Women's Basketball Head Coach Richard Pomerantz are very pleased to announce the appointment of Marilyn Benedict, Paulette Branson and Brian Hunter to serve as Assistant Coaches for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. Each brings a background that is both unique and relevant to the VFMC Women's Basketball program:

Coach Marilyn Benedict attended Cardinal O'Hara High School (Springfield,PA) following which she graduated from Immaculata University (Frazier, PA) and is currently in the Masters in Education Program at Widener University, Chester, PA.

After working in Management in the Nutrition/Food Service Industry for 20 plus years including for the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles, she has been a Teacher with the Upper Darby School District where she is involved in many clubs and services including student mentoring, homebound tutoring, basketball coach, organizing dances/ formals, etc., and was recently chosen to serve as an Executive Officer for the Upper Darby Education Association. Coach Benedict's coaching experience includes Head Coach of the Upper Darby Summer Tennis Program (current) prior to which she coached Lower Merion and Cardinal O'Hara Girls' Tennis along with Rosemont College Women's Tennis and Beverly Hills Middle School Girls' Basketball.

As an athlete she was the captain and MVP (senior year) of her high school basketball team and while she swam competitively for her college's swim team, basketball was always her preferred sport:

"I was fortunate to attend Immaculata College, a small girls college. The Immaculata Mighty Macs were the cinderella team of the 1970's that put women's basketball on the map capturing three back to back national titles and were in the final four six consecutive years. Until recently, UConn is the only school to ever repeat. My role models were the players, who for extra money would referee my high school games. I attended their games when I could and saw firsthand how hard work, discipline, determination and heart poured into every game. So, it's easy for me to say that I take my own coaching philosophy after the Macs coach, Cathy Rush in that the fundamentals, a huge work ethic, and strong leadership are necessary components in coaching today."

Coach Paulette Branson is from Philadelphia where she played four years of varsity basketball, volleyball, and tennis for the Philadelphia High School for Girls (2000-2004), and was chosen was chosen “All-Public” in volleyball and basketball (2004).

She earned a Bachelor Degree of Science in Recreation and Leisure Management at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (2004-2008) on a full-academic scholarship where she played 3 years of D-II volleyball and 2 years of D-II tennis, was named Tennis - MVP (2007), and earned the school's Director of Athletics - Academic Excellence Award (2006 & 2007).

Upon graduation she worked as a Sports Director/Sports Program Instructor for the Rocky Run YMCA in Media, PA, and is currently pursuing a Master of Education Degree in Sport and Recreation Administration at Temple University (2008-2010) where she is a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Sport and Recreation Management at the Temple School of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

Coach Branson's coaching philosophy is most patterned after famed University of Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summitt:

"I have a competitive spirit to win, but I understand that how you win is more important than the win itself. The object of the game is very simple - to make shots, and stop the other team from making more shots. Smart decision-making wins games, but more importantly, players must know how to make smart decisions off the court in order to be an effective team on the court."

Coach Brian Hunter graduated from Downingtown Senior High School (1998) where he played two years of basketball and three years of football for Downingtown Senior High School,and he starred as a receiver on Downingtown's 1996 Pennsylvania State Championship team. After which he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Accounting from West Chester University, for whom he played football for three years on an athletic scholarship.

Among his Athletic Awards are Fab85 Selection, and All-Area Wide Receiver (by the Philadelphia Inquirer). Coach Hunter is presently serving simultaneously as an Assistant Coach for VFMAC's Varsity football team, and as Head Coach of the JV team. Outside of his coaching duties he is a proud Member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and is the CEO of a privately owned construction firm.

“My coaching philosophy comes from a collective group of well-respected coaches. I use their expertise as learning tools for my coaching development.”