A new school year means new sports seasons, and oftentimes, new coaches. This year, numerous sports coaches have joined and are new to the Palo Alto High School athletics department, with each bringing a new approach to coaching with them to Paly students.

Varsity soccer coach Luiz Lodino, a seasoned soccer veteran who’s played both at the collegiate level in the United States and professionally back in his home country of Brazil, ushers to the Paly boys’ varsity soccer team an unrelenting passion for improvement.

Varsity cheer coach Helene Gurewitz, a high school cheerleader who cheered in college at Berkeley, continues to pursue her sport in adulthood at Cheer San Francisco. She adopts a dual-personality approach to coaching, one that’s equal parts strict and compassionate.

Finally, JV field hockey coach Paige Hsieh, a newcomer to the sport who’s never played field hockey before, wields her previous knowledge of soccer, which she’s played for her entire life, showing that while different sports vary in play style, they may still hold a common ground tactically.

While the coaches may come from vastly different backgrounds, have incredibly different approaches to coaching, and coach entirely different sports with different rules and skill sets, all the three coaches share one objective—mentoring Paly’s latest athletic talent.

Luiz Lodino

Luiz Lodino, Paly’s new boys’ varsity soccer coach, exemplifies Paly athletics’ devotion to continuous improvement.

Born and raised in Brazil, Lodino began playing soccer at 5 years old, facing future stars like Lucas Moura and Casemiro on the youth stage.

At 21 years old, after playing professionally in Brazil, Lodino came to America to play for Cowley College in Kansas before transferring the following year to Menlo College.

As a coach, Lodino has mentored Stanford Strikers Soccer Club, an after school club team for local youth, as well as the Los Altos and Mountain View high school soccer teams.

Paly sophomore and boys’ varsity soccer player Koji Silverberg Shirota, who’s trained under Lodino extensively outside of school for the Stanford Strikers, said Lodino’s optimistic mentality is one of his key coaching attributes.

“He never dwells on losses,” Shirota said. “After losing, he will immediately start taking initiative to help us improve.”

According to Lodino, one of the reasons he chose to coach at Paly is because of the school’s support of athletes.

“The facilities, the structure, the staffing, all the support the school gives to the student athletes—that’s amazing,” Lodino said.

“I just want to give opportunities for more players to keep developing their skills and use high school to develop their games.”

Helene Gurewitz

It didn’t take long for varsity cheer coach Helene Gurewitz to fall in love with Paly.

“I found Paly through a Facebook post,” Gurewitz said. “Once I interviewed, I knew it was a great place to be.”

Gurewitz chose coaching because she said she felt it was more fulfilling compared to other jobs.

“I’m thrilled to be back in the coaching sphere after working with labor unions, tech recruitment, and human resources,” Gurewitz said. “They don’t have the same energy coaching does.”

Gurewitz grew up in Long Beach, where she was on the varsity cheer team all four years of high school, before cheering at the University of California, Berkeley for both the competition and sideline teams. She now cheers with Cheer San Francisco, an adult, all-volunteer charity organization that cheerleads to raise funds for people with medical conditions.

Gurewitz said her first experience coaching was in high school, coaching the middle school cheer team.

Gurewitz said she has been impressed with her team’s work ethic so far this season.

“Tryouts are usually in spring and we didn’t hold them until the first week of school, so we are running behind,” Gurewitz said. “I’ve communicated this to the team and they’ve been stellar at stepping up.”

Paly varsity cheerleader Cailey Quita finds Gurewitz’s coaching style both endearing and, but when needed, firm.

“She knows when she should push us, and she always pushes us to the best of our abilities,” Quita said.

Gurewitz’s goals for the team don’t just focus on athletic performance, however.

“I strive to have a team full of people that anyone at Paly can strike up a conversation with and walk away feeling a bit better than they did before,” Gurewitz said.

Paige Hsieh

JV field hockey coach Paige Hsieh had an unconventional path to coaching. According to Hsieh, she has minimal experience with the sport of field hockey.

“I was primarily a soccer player,” Hsieh said. “I played right wing.”

Hsieh previously helped with the Paly soccer and track and field teams.

“I was just like a helper,” Hsieh said. “I was technically an assistant coach, but watching them [the soccer and track coaches] has definitely helped me.”

Hsieh said that many of the skills she learned in soccer helped her in coaching field hockey.

“A lot of it, honestly, for JV level, is field positioning,” Hsieh said. “A lot of the field positioning translates from soccer.”

Despite this, Hsieh says she is still learning more about coaching field hockey.

“Obviously a lot of the stick stuff is probably the stuff that I’m just the least knowledgeable about,” Hsieh said. “I have learned more about all the stick skills, just from the athletic director and the head varsity coach, and so I’m able to use some of that knowledge.”

According to Paly sophomore and JV field hockey player Laila Joshi, Hsieh brings knowledge from her soccer career to the field hockey team.

“I think she has a lot of knowledge from coaching soccer prior,” Joshi said. “When Paige is alone, I think that she really has to make the most of her skills that she has.”

Hsieh says her goals for the team go beyond winning.

“I’m less focused on wins,” Hsieh said. “What I want is to have a strong, connected team.”