Oswego hires former Oswego East star Venita Parsons as new girls basketball coach

Venita Parsons is one of the best girls basketball players to wear the uniform at Oswego East.

Now she hopes to bring success crosstown.

Parsons, a 2014 Oswego East graduate and the first player in that school’s girls basketball history to score 1,000 career points, has been hired as the next girls basketball coach at Oswego High School.

Parsons was previously the Oswego head freshman coach for one season. She is in her third school year as a substitute teacher at Oswego’s Traughber Junior High.

The opportunity to lead a program in the town she grew up in is indeed especially meaningful to Parsons.

“I know what the community likes and needs and how much sports means to the community,” Parsons said. “I want to embody the Oswego spirit and bring more energy to the girls basketball program. I feel like we have been missing that.”

Parsons graduated Oswego East as that program’s all-time leader in points, steals and 3-pointers made. She led the Wolves to a conference championship as a sophomore, was honorable mention All-State as a senior and went on to play collegiately at Benedictine University.

She’s coached with the Pink Elite AAU program since 2019.

Parsons takes over an Oswego varsity team coming off a 14-18 season. Oswego has not had a winning season since winning back-to-back regional championships in 2019 and 2020.

“We are excited for what the future holds under Coach Parsons’ leadership,” Oswego athletic director Dan Arntzen said in a statement announcing her hiring. “She brings energy, passion, and outstanding communication skills that will elevate our program and positively impact our student-athletes on and off the court.”

Parsons looks forward to coaching girls that she has built relationships with as a freshman coach, and as a teacher at the junior high level at Traughber.

“Coming from being a freshman coach and being able to jump to the varsity position, it’s such an honor for me,” Parsons said. “I think I have got to build some great relationships with girls coming through Traughber that are now freshmen, and getting to be part of their journey. It’s not every day coaches get to do that and get to see kids grow which is at the end of the day what this is all about.”

Parsons admitted that coming from the other side of town is a little different, but the culture and the community is the same.

She noted that many of the girls at Oswego and Oswego East play club together, and loves to see them build their inner community.

One of Parsons’ best friends and a former teammate at Oswego East, Brittany McWaine, just completed her first season as head coach at Plainfield North.

Parsons will be the first female head coach of the Oswego girls basketball program in 41 years.

“We are the first group of girls to come through this community and surrounding towns and become the coaches to continue on this legacy,” Parsons said. “It does mean a lot to trail blaze and build that culture.”

Parsons worked coaching younger girls in a junior league while an upperclassmen at Oswego East, but she did not necessarily think she would become a coach. Over time her love for the game made her want to give back, and coaching was the easiest route.

She connected with Chelsea Herron of Pink Elite right out of college.

“I had to make a quick transition from player to coach. She helped me get on my feet,” Parsons said. “Viewing the game on the court and on the sidelines, understanding how different players think and work and how to teach them. Going into teaching, too, helped me learn how to communicate with younger girls.”

Noting the success that Oswego girls programs like volleyball and softball have enjoyed in recent years, Parsons is hopeful that the rise in popularity of women’s basketball nationwide will inspire more girls to try out for basketball.

As for the identity Parsons hopes to build at Oswego?

“I want my team to be disciplined, energetic,” she said, “and have a large skill set.”