Current Head coach of the Neshaminy boys’ varsity basketball team, Mark Tingle, took up his position just six months ago following the removal of his predecessor, Jerry Devine, who was removed from his position on the coaching staff as a result of a physical confrontation with a referee at a basketball game on Jan. 5, 2016.

Tingle and his new team have been working since August, when Tingle began his position as head coach, toward what they hope to be the team’s first winning season since the 2010-2011 school year.

“Our new coach has really just got us conditioning all the time, and in the summer, and he just got us all in shape and we’re starting to finish out games,” said varsity player and Junior, Chris Arcidiacono.

The boys’ varsity basketball team is currently ranked 231 in Pennsylvania, and 5314 in the United States.

“The energy of our team has picked up since Coach Tingle took over,” said V=varsity player and junior, Zachary Tredway. “More people are starting to come to our games and travel with the team which helps us greatly. We are becoming more focused on our goals for the season.”

Tingle is a 2001 Neshaminy alumni with 10 years under his belt as an assistant coach at his alma mater. His senior year, during which he played basketball for the same team for which he is now the head coach, was the last in which the Neshaminy boys’ basketball team won a league title.

“…Anytime a former player comes back to their school it is beneficial to a program,” Tredway continued. “He knows the area and the teams to help us succeed and having that input from someone who was in your shoes years ago helps gain an understanding between the sides.”

Following his senior year, Tingle shot hoops at Bucks County Community College until 2003 when he began his coaching career under coaches Joe Blair and Devine. Tingle declined to coach during the 2013-2014 season, working at Council Rock South instead, according to Bucks Local News.

“He knows everybody’s strengths and weaknesses from being an assistant for Neshaminy and then from also being an assistant within the area at Council Rock South,” Tredway said. “It was [an] easier transition for us even with a new coach and he puts us in position to win games.”  

Although the team is focusing on the future, some still regret the loss of their former coach.

“Coach Devine was a really good coach… he just got put in a bad situation,” Arcidiacono said.  

Despite mourning, some players still look forward to the rest of their time on the team.

“We’re not looking at the past,” Tredway said. “We’ve been stressing a new era and a new team for Neshaminy for this year and beyond. We expect to win every game we play and we are a tough group of guys so I don’t see why we can’t have a winning season this year.”