Varsity Golf
Broderick Named Coach of Year

By: Andy Pribulka and Derek Blodgett (October 5, 2006)

After a week long camp in South Boston, Virginia, toward the end of the summer, the golf team was prepared for a fantastic year. The only thing they were missing was a coach. The only sense of leadership the team had were captains Andy Pribulka and Sean Follin. The team also had veterans Derek Blodgett, Cody “Buffalo Soldier” Peebles, Mike Straub, Drew Davies, and Emron Japper. The team also had freshman Mike Wolfe and Mike “58” Duning who were on the practice squad the previous year. These players were confident and ready to enter their season with or without a coach.

The team was restive as practices started off a little shaky with no real form of organization. With no bus or adult to take the team to any sort of facility, makeshift practices on the softball field soon turned into games of field hockey.       

Nearing their first match of the season, the team was rescued by coach Bill Broderick. Coach Broderick brought leadership, organization, and his signature sunflower seeds to the team. Derek Blodgett commented, “I had coach B for three years as a baseball coach, and not once have I seen him without sunflower seeds. Two out of the three years we were together in baseball, we were champions. He’s the type of coach that can balance fun and discipline to bring a team together.” This was exactly what the golf team needed.

Coach Broderick led the golf squad to a district best 9-1 record, giving Mason its first-ever district championship in golf. At the award ceremony at the conclusion of the district tournament, Broderick was announced as the Bull Run District golf coach of the year.

“As a team we have a lot of talent. Coach Broderick was really able to utilize our abilities as a team,” co-captain Follin said. Broderick has not yet determined whether he will return next year as coach, although much of the team hopes for him to come back.