Despite a love for his community and team, Dave Brogioli has resigned from his role as Wareham High School’s girls basketball head coach. 

“I have all happy memories,” Brogioli said of his eight years as coach. “I’m not leaving bitter at all.”

He explained that while facing pressure from dwindling school numbers, he  “couldn’t get the team to gel as a unit this year,” ending the season with a record of just 3-17. 

He said that when he started, the school had over 800 students but enrolment has dropped to 420. As one of the smallest schools in Division 3, Brogioli said it can be difficult to stay competitive. 

He said that additional difficulties arise when one player gets injured. Without enough depth on the bench, younger players who are not ready for varsity competition may have to substitute in for an older player with an injury. 

Despite the challenges that he faced as coach, Brogioli had no shortage of good memories on the court.

He recalled one game against Bourne a few years ago that he said “was like a movie scene.”

With two seconds on the clock, Wareham was down by two points. Amber Filkins stepped up to the free throw line, and sunk her 999th and 1,000th points to tie the game -- and reach a personal milestone at the same time. Breanna Muir won that game in overtime with her own pair of free throws. 

As a resident of Wareham,  Brogioli said he was proud of the way his team worked to benefit the community. 

From 2015 to 2018, the girls basketball team raised $29,366 for Wareham families in need with projects titled “Make room for Molly,” “Play for Trey,” “Maddie Strong,” and “Caring for Kerryn.” 

This season, the team held a food drive during a game against Bourne on Jan. 25. The food went to the STAGE Weekend Backpack Food program, which provides easy-to-prepare food for students to make sure they have food to eat over the weekend. The program helps to ensure that kids can come back to school on Monday well-fed and ready to learn. At the time of the drive, over 100 students from Minot Forest, and Wareham Middle School participated in the program.

Brogioli said he isn’t exactly sure what his future holds, but that he intends to “take a year off, and recharge the battery a little bit.” 

He said his advice for the next head coach would be to “build from the bottom up” by fostering participation in youth basketball programs to prepare future athletes for high school competition.