BYRD HIRES REBECCA “KAT” STANLEY TO COACH GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

The William Byrd girls have a new basketball coach and the school has
hired one of their own. Rebecca “Kat” Stanley, who played for the Terriers and
has been an assistant coach under Randy Bush, has moved from the assistant’s
chair to the end of the bench.

“I am beyond excited and truly blessed to be the head coach here at Byrd,”
said Stanley. “I can’t wait to continue to build this program up even more. The
future is very bright for Byrd girls’ basketball.”

Kat graduated from Byrd in 2017 where she was a standout player under
coach Brad Greenway. Brad has since moved on to coach the Byrd boys’ team so
she’ll be sharing the gym with one of her mentors’.

“Coach Greenway was my coach all throughout my high school career,”
said Stanley. “My favorite memory would have to be when coach Greenway
brought in all the dads for one of our practices and surprised us with a dad versus
daughter game. It’s a memory that I hold very near and dear to my heart since
losing my dad back in 2018. It shows that basketball is so much more than just a
game.”

After high school, Kat followed in her grandfather’s and mom’s footsteps
and attended Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, and played
basketball. She came back to Byrd right after college and helped with the jayvee
team, and the following year she was the head jayvee coach. Last season she
moved up to varsity assistant under Bush, who recently retired from the position.

“These past three years here at William Byrd have been beyond
awesome,” said Bush. “Everybody from the players, parents, the community and
administrators were nothing but great and supportive. However, I am retiring
from being a head coach due to the affects from the bout of pneumonia I
contracted last July. It really zapped my energy. With this program growing and
going in the right direction and with the talent here and the ones coming up I
thought I should turn it over to somebody who has the energy and can continue to
build this program. Kat in my mind is the right person to do that.”

Stanley is quite familiar with the girls after serving as an assistant, so
she’ll hit the ground running.

“Relationships are key in every aspect of life and even sports,” she said.
“Already having known these girls for the past three years is going to help
tremendously.”

Kat has learned from Bush but she plans to put her own stamp on the
team.

“Offensively, I want to push the ball and get up the court and utilize our
speed and length on the defensive end, as well as with pressure right out of the
gate,” she said. “These girls are very talented and we have even more talent
coming up on the middle school end as well.”

Stanley already has her assistant. Brian Bartley, who was one of her high
school coaches, will be the assistant coach.

“I am excited to work with him again and I know the girls will love his
positive energy, just as I did,” she said.

As a Byrd grad Kat has seen some of the former Terrier players growing
up, and heard about others.

“My future goals are getting Byrd basketball to where it used to be,” she
said. “We have had a lot of great athletes come through Byrd like Brandy Allen,
Andrea Gay and Jenny Mitchell, and they really set the tone during their time
here. I believe the girls we have and those coming up can do just that.”

Bush has no doubt he’s turning the program over to the right person.

“This program is a sleeping giant,” he said. “No doubt she has the energy
and the knowledge, and she already has the trust of the players to assist them to
that next level. She was instrumental in making sure everything ran as it should
this past season. I am very excited for her. She will do amazing things.”

There’s no doubt Kat bleeds orange.

“This job is more than just special to me, I truly am blessed,” she said. “I
have had great coaches in my life like Coach Pyzik from Lynchburg, Coach
Greenway, Brian Bartley, Sammi Webster, Miranda Carasco, Dave Kelly, my
AAU coach Renee Favaro (now Lord Botetourt head coach) who all inspired me
to pursue coaching, and more importantly be a positive influence to young girls.”