Basketball - Girls

Courtney Gomez took over the NFA girls program in 2019 after serving two seasons as an assistant under Hall of Fame Coach Bill Scarlata. Her overall coaching record for her first three years is 37-24 with back-to-back ECC league and divisional championships in 2020 and 2021. Coach Gomez and her staff continued the tradition of NFA girls being a powerhouse in the state as the 2021 team went undefeated at 14-0 and finished number one in the GameTime State poll. Gomez graduated from NFA and had a storied career as a player which included four conference titles and two consecutive state championships in 2001 and 2002. She earned all-state honors twice, all-conference honors three times, and was named the player of the year in both 2003 and 2004 by The Day and the Norwich Bulletin. The New Haven Register also crowned her 2004’s top player. She captained three teams her senior year (basketball, softball, cross country), earned 10 letters and was awarded the Shearer-Curtis Cup as the school’s top female athlete. She then played four years at the University of Hartford where she helped the Hawks to three America East Conference championships, three NCAA appearances and two first-round victories. Coach Gomez earned her Bachelors of Health Science in 2008 from the University of Hartford and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2010. She currently holds a CT State PT license and works at NFA as a substitute teacher. 

Anne Zinn joined the girls basketball coaching staff during the 2019-2020 season as the freshmen coach. She moved into the JV position during the 2020-2021 season. Zinn, who is a school counselor at NFA, has also coached boys volleyball and field hockey at NFA. She also coached girls volleyball and basketball at Woodstock Academy, where she also played, graduated and was an integral part of the girls program. Zinn played basketball at Western Connecticut State University for a short time before transferring to the University of Connecticut, where she graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in English. She then received her master’s degree in school counseling and psychology from Boston College. 

Kevin enters his fourth year as an assistant with the NFA girls basketball program and head coach Courtney Gomez. Ericson graduated from Springfield College in 1990 where he played baseball for four years and earned All Northeast 10 and All New England Honors. Upon graduation, Ericson started teaching and coaching at Lyman Memorial High School, leading the boys team from 1993-1999 and then the girls program from 2000-2002. In 2001, Ericson took a job at EO Smith High School as Dept. Head of Physical Education and Health and where he still works. In addition to his bachelor’s from Springfield, he holds a master’s from Eastern Connecticut State University.

Jay Berard became the Girls Freshman Coach in the 2022/23 season.  Berard has also been a school counselor at NFA since 2017.  In addition to coaching basketball, he also coaches soccer and tennis at NFA.  Prior to joining the NFA girls basketball staff, he coached sub-varsity basketball teams at RHAM and Berlin High Schools.  Berard played basketball at Lyman Memorial High School before enlisting in the Air Force, where he played on several squadron tournament teams.  He earned a Bachelors of Economics at ECSU and his Masters in School Counseling from CCSU.