Gloucester City: From a backyard Basketball Court to Commissioner of the Altantic 10
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
“Somehow a fire gets lit under you,”
Bernadette McGlade
By John Schmidt
Gloucester
City native Bernadette V. McGlade was named the new Commissioner of the
Atlantic 10 Conference on Tuesday June 3, in Philadelphia. McGlade is the daughter of the later Peter
(former City Postmaster) and Theresa McGlade, and grew up in Gloucester City with her nine siblings.
McGlade started her
track to a career in athletics playing basketball at St. Mary’s Grammar School
and Gloucester Catholic High School.
“Gloucester City is a
community that really rallies around the schools and sports teams,” McGlade
said. McGlade remembers the support she
received from the community during her time at St. Mary’s and Gloucester
Catholic. “It is a unique place,” she
said.
During her time at
Gloucester Catholic, McGlade played with three of her sisters, Mickey, Agnus
and Theresa for legendary girls basketball coach the late Bert Nolan. During her time as a player McGlade helped to
guide the lady rams to three state titles in 1973, 1975 and 1976.
McGlade first starting
playing basketball when her father built a basketball net in the backyard. She remembers playing all summer long. “Somehow a fire gets lit under you,” McGlade
said.
Although McGlade’s
professional career has taken her too many places but never back to where her
love for basketball and athletics started. “It’s
great to be coming back to the Philly / South Jersey area,” McGlade said. McGlade said she is looking forward to it.
McGlade’s first day as Commissioner of the Atlantic 10 will be on July 15. “I am looking forward to starting a working relationship with a brand new set of individuals, administrators and coaches,” McGlade said.