Coaching isn’t always easy but Dominique Ocello, who is in her eighth year of coaching high school varsity sports, has an approach that has proven successful.
Ocello, or as her students call her “Coach O,” joined Memorial High School last year as the head coach of the boy’s soccer team. With the revamp she’s already made to the program, most wouldn’t guess that she was new to the world of soccer.
“We didn’t get as many wins as we hoped and wanted to, but if you look at the bigger picture we actually did something really well. Something that no one ever thought we could do before,” Coach Ocello told Slice of Culture.
During her first season as coach, Memorial finished 15-5-1, displaying a major shift from the 1-14-1 record they had the previous season. This helped them move into a higher division for the 2023-2024 season, lighting excitement amongst the team.
MHS captain and midfielder Davis Diaz, who has played four years for Memorial, said Ocello has “brought back the passion and pride when it came to wearing that Memorial badge.”
Her focus on coaching the mental game of the sport, learning what the team’s goals are and holding them accountable, seems to be creating impact amongst the players.
“I used to go to every game thinking we already lost,” said Diaz. “She taught me that we could win, we could go all the way. Part of that winning mentality was also learning how to be organized, disciplined, and to show respect for the game.”
This year, Memorial finished with a 8-9-3 overall record and 4-4-2 in their division at .500, surpassing expectation by beating Saint Peter’s Prep for the first time in 14 years and holding former Hudson County Champions Kearny to one goal in two games.
Besides the coaching techniques that Ocello has brought to the team, the mutual respect that has formed between the players, the coaches and trainers has also been a major key in building a stronger program.
“You can have the best athletes on the field, but if they are not a family, if they are not connected, if they don’t genuinely love and respect each other, we are not gonna win anything,” Ocello said.
Win or lose, Ocello and her team are doing so much more than playing soccer – they are rebuilding a community in Memorial and West New York.
Ocello, who is still fairly new to the area, is amazed with the support that her and the team have gotten throughout the seasons.
“I just love the culture that is here because the community that sticks by you, the thanks and the appreciation that I have gotten from people that I don’t even know or work with is great.”
“There’s a stigma I feel like from the outside looking in, but when you are in it, it’s so much better and so much more beautiful than people realize it to be,” she said.
The support of the community has left Ocello very inspired to keep motivating her players to excel. She is constantly encouraging her students to play other competitive sports in their off season and checking in on them to make sure they keep up with their grades.
Although their season ended a couple of weeks ago, Ocello has already begun preparing for next season stating that, “the job is not done.”
She has started strategizing and working on a plan to help build her team’s cardio and muscular strength and, of course, team chemistry.
For Ocello and her team, she said this is just the beginning.
What she initially entered feeling nervous about has quickly turned into one of the best experiences she could have found herself in stating that her team has truly changed her life.
“People say all the time that I came and changed everything… but to be honest you did it [the team], you inspired me to do it for you.”
