In June 2022, Mike Glackin started as the girls' varsity basketball coach at Penn Manor High School. The Solanco High School graduate and Millersville resident previously served as the team's assistant coach last year, a position that his cousin Gillian took over at the beginning of this year's season.

Mike's journey with basketball began when he was a student at Solanco, where he played on the varsity basketball team for three years. Mike's family has always been heavily involved in the sport; his uncle was the head coach of the basketball team during his senior year, and his father was the junior varsity coach. "It's always been a part of our family," said Mike. "From a young age, I wanted to play basketball for a living. After growing up, I realized that if I wanted to keep doing it, I would need to become a coach."

Immediately after graduating from Solanco High School in 2001, Mike became involved with coaching the school's boys' team and the girls' team as he attended college. After coaching at Solanco for 12 years, Mike took a position as the head coach for Dayspring Christian Academy's varsity boys' basketball team. "Just seeing the improvement of players and the impact of their progress makes being a coach rewarding," said Mike.

When Mike was the assistant coach of the Solanco High School girls' team, his uncle was the head coach and Gillian was a player. Mike credits Gillian with introducing him to girls' basketball. "It's really cool to share the experience of coaching with her," said Mike. "It's her first time coaching and it's cool to be a part of it."

One of the things that Mike values the most about the basketball program is its ability to help kids develop skills that will serve them in other areas of their lives. While on a team, students learn how to get along with other people, how to confront adversity and disappointment and how to respond quickly to obstacles with positivity. "(Players) make a huge impact individually, but it's still a team sport," said Mike. "In other sports, you might be able to specialize in one area of the field, but in basketball you're involved with every play."

Mike describes his coaching technique as personal and individualistic. Instead of focusing on the technical aspects of playing the game first, Mike prefers to adjust his coaching methods to fit each player on the team. "It's all about the people," said Mike. "You have to approach the people in front of you and tweak your techniques to them."

Mike hopes to build up the basketball program moving forward and looks forward to coaching alongside Gillian. "The plan is to keep getting the kids excited about basketball," Mike said.