From left Connor Kempton, Coach Charlie Noonan, and Hugo Al-Homsi share a laugh after Bromfield won the district title in March. (Photo by Ellen Harasimowicz)
Charlie Noonan, the varsity boys basketball coach, prefers to quit while he’s ahead—which is why he’s comfortable leaving Bromfield after one season, having brought the team to the state final-four.
“I like to turn things around,” Noonan said. “And Bromfield is fine.”
So when Anna Maria College in Worcester asked him to coach its women’s basketball team, he was intrigued.
“The program has been horrible for years,” he said, commenting on how they won only five games in the last three seasons. But he likes their vision, which includes improving athletics, academics, and outreach.
The coach said leaving Bromfield was a difficult decision.
“Everyone’s been very supportive; Principal Jim O’ Shea, Assistant Principal Scott Hoffman, and Athletic Director Pam Alexander have been great.”
Noonan also enjoyed coaching at his sons’ alma mater.
“Dan was a 1,400-point scorer, and Brendan had 900 points; to have them sit in the stands and watch me coach their team was a real pleasure.”
One thing Noonan didn’t like about coaching in Harvard was the lack of financial support from the town.
“There’s no athletic budget, so everything comes from user fees. With what these kids accomplish athletically and academically, to make them pay $350 to play basketball just drives me crazy.”
—Charlie Noonan
Noonan likes challenges, though.
“It’s in my nature to flip things around and make them work. I did it with my business, Boston Color Graphics, which I bought out of bankruptcy to save 20 people’s jobs, and now it’s doing well.”
He did the same with the Ayer High School girls basketball team, which he coached for five years before coming to Bromfield last year.
“They hadn’t won the league in 25 years. When I took the job, they were 6–17; the following year we were 14–6. We then won the Mount Wachusett tournament and took two games in the district playoffs,” Noonan said. “It was a lot of work, but we turned it around.”
Before Ayer High School, Noonan was heavily involved with Harvard basketball. He coached his sons on their Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams, and was president of the Harvard Athletic Association for 10 years. He also coached the middle school and junior varsity teams at Bromfield, and assisted Scott Hoffman when he was the varsity coach. So when he replaced Hoffman in 2007, Noonan was no stranger to the program or the players.
“I coached many of the kids in AAU, so I knew what they could do,” he said.
After the second practice he felt confident: “I told a reporter that we were going to be in the finals, and nobody believed me.”
But he was a little concerned when the team started the season 1–4.
“I almost never yell at the kids,” Noonan said. “But I caught myself after a game in early January, and decided it was time to get everyone together.”
So he took the players to Pizza Bella for a team-building chat.
“To their credit, we talked it out and they realized what we needed to do to win.”
The team had a 500 record by the middle of January.
Whenever the coach thought the team needed to be pulled together, they’d meet away from the gym. They went out for pizza three or four more times in the season, and several families had pasta nights. He now attributes the success of the season to defense and pizza.
An eight-game winning streak at the end of the season brought the team to the final-four at the University Of Massachusetts Mullins Center.
“I ordered a coach bus to go out to Amherst and we watched a movie. It was great hearing these boys with high MCAS and SAT scores laughing and having a wonderful time as they watched Dumb and Dumber.
“We get there and everyone’s loose, and we’re beating the pants off Frontier Regional.” The Trojans had a 13-point lead after the first quarter, but couldn’t hold on. Frontier Regional won that game and the finals to become state champions.
“I was so proud of everybody and how we played,” Noonan said. “I took them into downtown Amherst for pizza.”
