Gloucester High School varsity girls’ basketball coach Amy O’Neil is stepping down from coaching at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.

O’Neil became the head coach of the varsity team in 2013 after the basketball program had seen numerous coaches in a short period of time. She wanted to create a family environment for her players where everybody loves and supports each other, much like the one she experienced when she played basketball for Tabb High School in Yorktown.

She began to build the team by getting them to do competitive drills and teaching her players the fundamentals of the sport. She and the coaching staff also tried to build up the players’ confidence. This year, her team made the regional tournament for the first time in 17 years.

For O’Neil’s team, academics always come first and athletics second. O’Neil said that part of the reason she is so tough is because of her own experiences.

In 1986 she graduated from Tabb High School and was going to attend Cle...