Familial Bond: Critchley’s Relationship Strengthens on the Basketball Court

GLYNDON, Minn. – Every dad dreams that his daughters will grow up to be best friends, have each others back and form a deep bond. That is not always the case with these two… at least when they’re on the basketball court.

“Sometimes at practice we’ll actually end up like wrestling, and my dad will be like, you guys can not guard each other anymore,”junior guard Rae Critchley said.

The lucky coach who gets to enforce this rule at practice would be their dad.

“We have a rule: No siblings guard siblings,” DGF Head Coach Tom Critchley Jr. said. “Yeah, we don’t let them guard each other.”

This is a relatively new rule for the Critchley sisters. For the longest time, they had no other option.

“When Allie and I were younger my parents didn’t take us to daycare after school,” Rae Critchley said. “We would just go to the gym with our dad.”

“Yeah so after school every single day when we were in elementary we’d just go watch my dad’s practice and we’d play together one-on-one,” Sophomore guard Allie Critchley said.

Those games of one-on-one turned into so much more for Allie and Rae as they began their young basketball-playing careers. When their dad took the girls basketball coaching job at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School, their family moved from Marshall up north. Their love for basketball never left. If anything, it grew stronger knowing that they would get to step on the court with their dad as their high school coach. If this seems like something that would work, maybe it’s because it’s not the first time for their family. Tom’s dad was his high school basketball coach too.

“I think my dad was very progressive in how he built relationships,” Tom Jr. said. “My whole coaching career has been about building relationships with my players. Right now it is pretty special that the relationships that I’m building with my daughters is able to be at home and on the floor.”

“He sometimes compares himself to us I feel like,” said Allie. “Saying what grandpa would have done to him as a coach, he’s going to do with us now.”

“He definitely knows what it is like to be a coaches kid,” Rae said. “He knows the ups and he knows the downs, so he can be like, you know this might happen or this might happen. It’s nice having that guidance too, knowing that someone has been there before.”

One thing that coach Critchley carried on from his dad’s style of coaching was always treating his team like an extension of his family.

“I don’t see them any different than any of the players on our team,” junior guard Natalie Steichen said. “We are all like his daughters. He treats us fairly the same. He’s harder on them than anyone else on the team, but they’re probably the three most positive people in the gym.”

“It’s definitely harder I think to be a coach’s kid, but I don’t think I would want it any other way,” Allie said. “You get to spend something that you love with your family.”

With all the time Tom Jr. spends with his daughters on the basketball court, their shared love of basketball continues to strengthen the bond between them.

“Most kids don’t get to go to practice with their dad for two-three hours, or get to go to away games with their dad,” Rae said. “It’s definitely extra time with him which is nice.”

“Not only do we get the joy of going and watching them, we get the pregame,” Tom Jr. said. “It’s like we are in reality television. You have the pregame meals and the bus rides home. We have a strong relationship no doubt about it.”

“Playing with Allie by my side is just a really cool experience,” Rae said. “We wouldn’t trade it for anything. I think that’s one of the reasons why I like basketball so much is the fact that I get to play with my sister, and my dad coaching me makes it really, really special.”

“Like I’ve always told people, I wouldn’t have changed my like growing up,” Tom Jr. said. “Hopefully these girls don’t wish for anything different, because it is special. It is a very special time. Our lives are going to be a lot different when it’s over, so we just have to make sure that we stop, slow down, enjoy it, and not take it for granted.”

The three still have another season to spend with each other after the conclusion of this one. The Rebels are 17-9 on the season, with a 12-5 record against teams in their section. Both Allie and Rae said it has been their dream to be on one of their dad’s teams that goes to the state tournament and even win it.

A dream that is still within their grasp.