Connecting to Coach McArdle
Degrees of Separation: Coach McArdle Is Still Teaching
Coach John McArdle coached basketball and football at Chestnut Hill Academy for decades. He was a three-time Philadelphia Coach of the Year and won three Inter-Ac championships. When he stepped away in 2004, Ed Aversa took over the program.
That is real history, not hype. And a few years after his passing, I keep running into him.
"Excuses get you beat."
I was at Five Ponds Golf Course with my buddy Paul last week. Wet morning, heavy ground, plenty of complaining. Somewhere around the fourth hole, Coach McArdle's line came right back to me: "Excuses get you beat."
That is not a quote you hang on a wall. That is basketball. You show up. You listen. You compete. You think. You are accountable, and you make your teammates better. That is how good players grow and how good teams win.
What lasts
Preparation. Toughness. Basketball IQ. Leadership. Doing your job. Helping the group.
None of that goes out of style, and it is exactly what we teach at Matt Paul Basketball every day. Not just skills and drills, but better habits, better decisions, and better teammates. Better players who become better people.
The people carry it forward
Pat Whitworth played on Coach McArdle's last team. The Whitworth brothers — Tommy, Timmy, Pat, and Matt — could all shoot, and I coached Matt at Chestnut Hill Academy twenty years ago.
Then there is Colette at Fatty's. After a practice or a game, she had two beers on the table for Coach McArdle and the group before anyone said a word. That detail matters, and not because of the beers. It matters because people felt connected to him. He cared, and the relationships were real.
This morning Colette dropped off Olivia and Grayson at camp, and we reminisced about Coach for a few minutes in the parking lot. Pat's son Tristan was the first player at The Oreland Courts. Henry Latchet was right behind him. Henry's dad, Freddie, played on some of Coach McArdle's legendary teams, and now his son is part of the next wave learning the game.
And today I'm having lunch with Ed Aversa, one of Coach McArdle's closest friends. They coached basketball and football side by side for years.
Different generations. Same connection to one coach and the game he cared so deeply about.
The standard stays high
Coach McArdle left us a few years ago, but his lessons did not. His standards, his care, and his basketball keep moving through the people he coached, and through the people we coach.
Good standards get passed down when people are serious about the game. No shortcuts. No fluff. Just work, just teaching, just doing the little things right.
That is what Coach John McArdle still teaches us.
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[Read more about our fall programs in Center City, Chestnut Hill, and Springhouse — basketball opportunities seven days a week.]
Better ball this fall with Matt Paul.
