Solebury School welcomes four new fall sport coaches

“I’ve been playing soccer since I was about 4 years old, so it’s held a big place in my heart throughout the years,” said Lisa Bernardini of Langhorne, Solebury School’s new girls’ soccer coach. “I played on a serious premiere soccer club team for about 8 years, which led to my matriculation at Old Dominion University to play Division 1 soccer. The experience I gained at ODU playing, being a leader, and simply dedicating my life to soccer, were all keys to me choosing to become a soccer coach,”

Lisa is one of four new coaches who started at Solebury School this fall and they have already added much depth to the school’s sports program.

“As a coach, I’m able to pass on many skills in addition to the many life lessons that I’ve learned throughout my years playing sports,” continued Bernardini. “I think it’s important for kids to experience commitment, dedication, teamwork, improvement, and practice. These are all things you get out of being part of a team, as well as learning the basic soccer skills, concepts, and mentalities. It’s been great working with the girls and watching them improve both individually and as a team.”

With a distinguished soccer career that started well before high school, it is no wonder that Bernardini was awarded a scholarship to play Division 1 women’s soccer at Old Dominion University (ODU), where she also made the Division 1 women’s lacrosse team as a walk-on. In her first year, Lisa helped lead both her soccer and lacrosse teams to their first top 25 and top 20 national rankings, respectively. From All-Rookie honors as a defender, to All-CAA Second Team, to a career that culminated her senior year with her being named Old Dominion University Alumni Association’s “Female Athlete of the Year” and recipient of the “Rufus A. Tonelson Endowed Scholarship”, which is based on “outstanding athletic abilities and academic achievement,” Lisa has made her mark in the soccer arena.

Mike Brennan of Feasterville has signed on as Solebury’s Assistant Boys Soccer Team coach with an impressive record as well. Mike Attended St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia and was a three year starter, two time All-Catholic selection, and captain in his senior year. As a four-year starter at The Catholic University of America, Brennan led the team to two Landmark Conference Championships, two NCAA Tournament berths, and two top-25 rankings. He is a two time captain, Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year selection, two-time All-Landmark Conference selection, and two time All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection.

Terri Miller of Washington Crossing accepted the position of head coach for the Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams, with three years under her belt as the team’s assistant coach. Terri has helped coach track and field for the past two years, where in 2012, both girls and boys were Penn-Jersey League champions, and in 2013, the girls again won the league championships while the boys were runners up.

Miller has previous coaching experience in the UMYBL baseball and softball league. She coached various levels of softball for five years, and served on the UMYBL board of directors for three years, including one as the Director of Softball.

Although Miller has played an array of sports since a very young age, running has been the one constant in her life. Terri continues to run several times a week and participates in 10k’s, half-marathons and extreme running events such as Warrior Dash and RunaMuck.  What Terri enjoys most is sharing her love and knowledge of running with others.

Dave Camiolo of Doylestown, Solebury’s new Assistant Cross Country coach, grew his coaching experience as an assistant coach for the Region 20 CYO Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cross Country and Track Teams. Dave has enjoyed the sport of running and has actively participated in races throughout the years.  He has completed ten Philadelphia Half Marathons and finished multiple 5k races and 10k races along the East Coast.