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Nancy Walling

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By Kelsey Wilkinson Friday, 03 July 2009

The sounds of the final buzzer, a bouncing basketball, squeaking rubber sneakers on a slick gym floor and a spirited crowd have special meaning for Nancy Walling. She remembers the moment when the Pflugerville High School girls’ basketball team claimed a 56-49 victory over the favored San Antonio Wagner girls in the third round of play-offs last season.

Nancy Walling • photo by Kelsey Wilkinson

Walling is the women’s athletic director and has coached in Pflugerville ISD for 23 years and led the PHS girls’ varsity basketball team to the play-offs 14 times, winning seven district championships. The 2009 season had its fill of stunning victories and final-second nail-bitters, including a 3-point tournament win over the eventual state champions, Mansfield Summit, and a meaningful triumph over Walling’s Alma matter, Canyon High School near Amarillo.

“It’s harder to be a coach on the sideline than a player in the game,” Walling said of the stressful play-off atmosphere. “I have no control over what they do. I just have to keep doing the things we’ve been doing all year long and hope they bring it to the court. It’s really nerve-racking.”

Nerves have yet to get the best of Walling. Last spring, her consistently successful record caught the attention of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The organization named her the 2009 District Coach of the Year, and Walling finished third in the voting for National Coach of the year. The distinction qualified her to coach one of the All-American High School Basketball teams in March.

“It’s a huge honor to be nominated by your peers,” Walling said. “Third in the nation is a huge honor. It’s crazy.”

Crazy or not, coaching is a family tradition in the Walling household. She began playing basketball when she was in first grade, under the influence of her father, also a basketball coach. She continued to hone her skills on the court through college, and her siblings followed suit, with four of the five children in her family also going into coaching. Though coaching is her livelihood and in her blood, Walling said it has yet to feel like work.

“To me it does not feel like a job,” she said. “I am still wondering what I am going to do when I grow up. It’s fun.”

Many of her students look up to Walling, not just as a coach, but also as a mentor.

“It’s not just about basketball, but the life lessons you learn and being a part of a team,” she said. “Every now and then, kids come back and say, ‘Thank you,’ and then go on to be coaches and teachers. To me, that’s the ultimate compliment.”

Walling keeps in touch with many of her former students and colleagues and said she deeply values the relationships she has built.

One of those relationships is with Larry Bradley, former principal at Pflugerville High School and Walling’s co-worker for more than 20 years.

“She’s not a high-pressure coach,” Bradley said. “She cares more about the kids than she does about winning.”

Walling coached both of Bradley’s daughters in high school. He said he has enjoyed watching her develop as a person and as a coach.

With more than 20 years of experience, Walling is often asked about coaching at the college level. But she said she is content spending her time in the blue and gold Panther gymnasium, teaching those fundamental skills she has practiced throughout her entire life: dribble, pass and shoot.