New Assistant Girls Basketball Coach Stephen Maciejewski is looking to change the culture within the program.

From a young age, Maciejewski grew up playing sports and would spend every spare second immersing himself into the game. 

Maciejewski has been coaching for the past 30 years in a variety of roles. 

Working with both middle and high school levels as well as girls and boys teams he has found his love in all positions, no matter his role. He even had the opportunity to coach both of his daughter’s in prospective youth programs when they were growing up. 

Specifically, in the last two years, Maciejewski was head coach of the girl’s junior high program at the middle school. 

While he loved his time there, when Varsity Head Coach Aaron Eaton asked him to join the high school team, he was happy to accept. 

“I’ll do whatever is best for the program and whatever will make the program the most successful,” said Maciejewski. 

Some of his typical duties as an assistant include watching game film and going over game plans.

He is alleviated of some of the cumbersome daily responsibilities of a head coach but still gets to put in his input and help Eaton make decisions. 

“Maciejewski has been a real asset to our program this year. We are really lucky to have him with us,” said Eaton.

He loves getting to interact with the players and form meaningful relationships with them.

“It’s more just talking about how kids’ days were at school than the actual coaching part,” he said. 

Past and present coaches helped to instill Maciejewski’s love for the sport and coaching.

“Growing up, if you wanted to be a coach, you had to go into education,” said Maciejewski. 

He knew his passion and dream was to coach, so he decided to earn an elementary education degree from Bloomsburg University so that he could set himself on that path. 

He currently teaches fifth grade at our Intermediate school which keeps him involved with children of all ages. But nothing compares to the thrill and excitement that comes with coaching. 

“You never know what’s going to happen from day to day,” he said. 

As a coach, he hopes to make a lasting impact on his players and adequately prepare them for each game. 

He often gives them the advice, “play hard and work hard, because these are life lessons. But most importantly, have fun. If you’re not having fun, you need to do something else,” he added. 

Maciejewski brings a fresh perspective with new plays, new knowledge, and new ideas to the program. 

The Rams are looking to improve toward a winning season this year, but Maciejewski ultimately hopes they take away something bigger than that. 

“I hope they learn some lessons that they can take when they get out of high school and into the real world,” he said. 

From winning district championships, to making relationships with colleagues and players, coaching has a special place in Maciejewski’s heart.