Coach’s Corner: Kim Penney

Reading girl's basketball Varsity coach Kim Penney, standing at 5'4", has an energetic spirit and petite figure that often gets her confused with just another high school athlete. In reality, this upcoming winter will be her thirteenth season coaching Rockets basketball.

"Kim pours her soul into this program and these kids," said Assistant Reading Memorial High School Varsity coach Jim DeBenedictis.

Penney played basketball for Tufts University, and went on to become the assistant coach at Revere High School. After a stint coaching at Salem State, she was hired as Reading's head coach in 1997, which allowed her to pursue a career in guidance counseling.

"People always say 'you don't even know how many wins you have' and, to be honest, I don't. I love to win, but it's more important to have student athletes, working together, and learning life skills. That's why I coach," Penney said.

The lady Rockets have a tradition of winning, nonetheless, and captured back-to-back Middlesex League Championships in 2009 and 2010. Before that, Reading hadn't earned the league title in 30 years.

Penney recently created her own business called One-on-One College Consulting. Her clients consist of female basketball players trying to find the right college fit, athletically and academically.

Penney prides herself on the Reading basketball program's involvement with Diane's Pay Pals, a non-profit organization that supports cancer research, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institution. At the start of every basketball season, the program holds a Shoot-A-Thon and donates half the proceeds going to Dana-Farber.

"It's really important for us to keep up the tradition of giving back," Penney said. "The money we raise goes directly to Dana-Farber in Boston for patient care and to cancer survivors and their families."