For most coaches, one season means one sport. For Zachary Worswick, it means juggling three.
After arriving at WHS, Worswick began as the JV softball coach. He later joined the girls basketball program as a varsity assistant before being named the JV basketball coach. When the previous JV field hockey coach stepped down, Worswick was asked by head coach Corrine Varhley if he would take on the role.
His answer was simple.
“Of course.”
That decision resulted in Worswick’s first season coaching girls JV field hockey this fall, despite having never coached or played the sport before.
“The game’s new to me in a lot of different ways,” Worswick said. “Understanding the game, the strategy and how to go about practices.”
While learning a completely new sport presented a challenge, Worswick said he had help along the way, especially from the field hockey staff and his players.
“The first week was a little bit of an adjustment, the first scrimmage definitely was, but I think we’re in a good spot now,” Worswick said.
Junior Tatiana Solomatin said, “Even though he didn’t know the sport at first, you could tell he genuinely wanted to learn it, and really had interest. He would always ask [Coach] Varhley for help understanding the plays until he got the hang of it.”
The players themselves have also made the transition easier — and more entertaining.
“The team in general is great to be around,” Worswick said. “Especially JV, they’re social butterflies; they just don’t stop talking.”
Whether they are on the sidelines discussing the game or joking around with their coach, the field hockey players have helped create an environment that Worswick said keeps the experience light.
Although softball, basketball and field hockey each have their own rules and strategies, Worswick sees more similarities than differences between his three teams.
“Each one has the cultures created by everyone, but I think the kids, the way they go about things, are a little bit different,” Worswick said.
For Worswick, however, coaching is about much more than teaching players how to execute a play. Across all three sports, his biggest priority is getting players to function as a team.
“It’s not so much about coaching the actual sport,” Worswick said. “It’s sometimes about getting your team to play as a team.”
Worswick believes that a team’s chemistry is just as important as its talent.
“If they can enjoy coming to the field or the court and enjoy hanging out with one another, your team will be more successful than other teams who have more skill or more talent,” he said.
That emphasis on relationships has also changed Worswick’s role. Sometimes, he said, he feels more like a counselor or a therapist, rather than a coach.
While building a team, Worswick also tries to teach his players lessons that extend beyond the field or court — especially how to respond to mistakes.
“You can make a mistake, and it’s just how you recover from that mistake,” Worswick said.
Whether a player misses a shot, loses a game or struggles on a test, Worswick encourages his athletes to focus on what comes next rather than dwelling on what already happened.
“If we come back and play them again, we want to be in a better spot than where we were that day,” Worswick said.
He carries this mindset with him across all three sports.
For Worswick, the season does not simply end when the final whistle blows. While his players may go home after a game and move on the next day, the losses tend to stay with him longer.
Still, he hopes his players do not carry the losses with them for too long. Instead, he wants them to acknowledge what happened, learn from it and move forward.
After working across softball, basketball and now field hockey, Worswick has found himself enjoying the JV level more than he originally expected.
“When I came out of college, I was like, varsity coach all the way,” Worswick said. “Then you kind of get into the JV lifestyle, and it’s pretty nice.”
For now, Worswick is embracing that lifestyle — three sports, three teams, countless practices, games and conversations later.
His philosophy can be summed up in three words: “JV for life.”
