The 2025 Shaler Area Girls’ Varsity Golf team had a successful rebuilding year competing in a new division. The team built new connections with one another, making this year something to remember.
The team had to replace three athletes who graduated, but then welcomed four new members.
“The new members of the team were able to contribute to the team’s success immediately,” Coach Anthony Prodente said.
Even with some members being new to golf, they felt as if they belonged on the team thanks to leadership from senior Izzy Sciulli.
“Isabella led the way with an impressive season average of 42. Her year was highlighted by powerful drives and clutch putting in key moments. As the team’s number one player, she set the standard through her commitment, work ethic, and determination to excel in golf,” Coach Prodente said.
The team came together by doing some team building to make sure every member felt comfortable. Every athlete contributed to the team’s success.
“Together we worked for everyone to improve their skills. I think we did a pretty good job,” Sciulli said. “For the first match, we got the lowest total score that we had in a while. I think everyone on the team came really far with their skills and improved with everything.”
With Sciulli’s leadership and continued support for her teammates, the team consistently improved.
“Our record wasn’t the best, but that’s okay because we were strong together. Everyone got to try a bunch of new experiences, whether that was playing new courses or just supporting team members,” Izzy said.
The key to success, especially as a new team is support. Even on rough days, it is important to uplift your team and your opponent. Everybody has bad days, so supporting everyone, especially your own teammates is what creates the team, and family environment.
“That’s what I think is one of the most important things about a team — trying to bring each other up when we’re down. When you get down on yourself, it becomes a lot worse than it already is. You never want to get in your head because you can go down a rabbit hole, so you always want to try to be positive,” Sciulli said.
In addition, the girls had a new assistant coach who helped strengthen the team with extra help.
“It was nice seeing more drills to help the team. Different techniques, and also ways to strengthen our mental game which helped because a big part of golf is having strong mental games,” Sciulli said.
Even with having her most successful season after being on the team for four years, Sciulli knows about mental challenges.
The change of sections meant playing more challenging courses against more talented players, and she started to doubt if she was good enough to compete at that new level.
“I went through a very big rough spot. It was definitely the most down I went in golf ever. It was really hard, it made me feel really, really down,” she said.
Izzy worked all summer long in preparation for the upcoming season to gain the mental game back.
“I worked hard throughout the whole summer to bring my game up in practice, whether it was going to the range a bunch, even if I was disappointed,” Sciulli said, “I would go to the range, I’d play, I would do lessons, everything I could do to help my swing get better again. I got into this blank mess. What was even harder was during this time when I was really down in my swing and golf was really, really challenging for me.”
Luckily for Izzy, the extra hours of practice paid off. Gaining the best average score of the team- she was able to qualify for WPIALS the second year in a row.
Having a successful senior year, Izzy was able to meet with the golf coach from Westminster College and was offered the opportunity to play for them this upcoming fall for her freshman year of college.
“He reached out to me to help me with my swing, whenever that whole thing was going on. He’s a really, really great guy,” Sciulli said.
The Westminster coach and Izzy got to meet together for coffee previously, where he then was telling her how good her work ethic was, and how excited he was for her to join the team.
“It’s the fact that everyone seems very nice and connected there. I’m excited to make more connections, and have a team I belong with. It’s a good start to college and I’m excited,” Sciulli said.
With new changes and having to learn how to adapt to a different environment, the girls created something new. The team connected in a way other teams thrive to do, the connections with each other is more valuable than a official record.
“The season brought its share of ups and downs, but the team continued to grow, compete, and support one another every step of the way,” Coach Prodente said.
