Around The USCAA – 2/10/15 

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Fithians Balancing NHTI Coaching, Family, & Olympic Dreams

Concord, NH: Olympics, handball, basketball and family. The Jordan and Jennifer Fithian love affair is all wrapped up around sports and family. The Fithian’s coach the NHTI women’s basketball team, compete on separate USA Team Handball Olympic Development teams and are the parents of a beautiful little 2-year-old girl Charlotte Mae.

Jen Haubrich Fithian grew up in nearby Bow, NH earning Miss NH Basketball honors as a senior on the Falcon team. After high school, Jen earned a D-1 scholarship to play basketball at Binghamton University in upstate New York.

Jordan Fithian grew up in McPherson, Kansas where he earned Mr. Kansas Basketball and a scholarship to play basketball at Binghamton University as well. Thus the romance began with the Fithian’s meeting on the hard-court at Binghamton and continued into a long distance relationship when Jordan transferred back to DII Emporia State in Kansas after Jen graduated in 2006.

Jordan knew he had met the right woman when on a date early in their romance the car they were driving suffered a flat tire. Jordan couldn’t get the tire iron to work properly so Jen became the hero with a swift “this is how we fix the tire iron” kick to assist with the tire repair.

After college, Jen transitioned to Team Handball, first moving to Cortland, NY where the Women’s USA residency program was stationed.  When Jordan graduated from Emporia State, the two spent a year in Boston playing club handball before deciding to make the jump to Germany to play professionally. Jennifer earned multiple awards playing in the top divisions in Germany where Team Handball is the second most popular sport behind soccer. Jordan continued to learn the game and quickly rose through the divisions of German handball.

The two were married in 2010 and continued to play professionally in Germany, competing at the highest levels of competition around the world with Team USA, including the Pan American Games in 2011.  Handball provided the financial support for two very serious athletes whose careers started with basketball but continues with qualifying matches for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

In 2013, Jen gave birth to Charlie and their world changed. Jordan had been serving as an assistant coach for the NHTI men’s basketball program under veteran coach Paul Hogan and Jen had served one year at SNHU under Karen Pinkos. Jen made the move to NHTI serving as a women’s assistant coach for Kevin Gibbs. In late June of 2014, Coach Gibbs took the head position at Trinity High School in Manchester.

Thus the head coach position at NHTI was open and Hogan immediately sought out Jen for the position. Upon accepting the position in early July 2014, Jordan switched from the men’s program to the women’s program to assist his wife.

The Fithian’s are balancing the coaching and family schedule every day to meet the needs of both the team and their little girl. The Lynx women are enjoying a 12-9 season and the opportunity to be coached by two potential Olympic athletes.

Jen and Jordan work out feverishly individually and together to keep their fitness at peak condition in preparation for the next qualifying tournament this spring in Auburn, Alabama and Montevideo, Uruguay.  The two coaches demonstrate daily to the Lynx athletes the necessary ingredients to be successful on and off the court.

The dream of combining family, coaching, and the Olympics is the reality in the 24 hour life cycle of the Fithian’s. The family has settled into an apartment in Concord where Jen’s family can assist with baby-sitting “Charlie” on a regular basis while Jen and Jordan coach and work full-time jobs.

Jen works for the Harlem Wizards local office assisting in the day-to-day planning for charitable events and fundraising opportunities for local schools and groups. Jordan works in the sales department at Graphic Packaging International working the regular Monday through Friday 8-5 in their nearby Concord offices.

“The hours and schedule can be grueling at times, but we are really enjoying the NHTI experience with coaching and balancing our family time,” says Jen. “The ladies have been wonderful on and off the court. This has been fun and has allowed both of us to share our passion with the great game of basketball and sports with our team.”

Jordan adds that it was a natural fit for him to switch to the women’s program and serve as assistant coach to Jen when the time came. “This is something we had actually had many conversations about over the years. The transition to the women’s game while coaching alongside my wife has been incredible.”

With the many demands of college coaching, the Fithian’s started an elite training program for high school athletes, offering advanced training and preparation for college success. The “603 Elite” program is off the ground with a successful fall 2014 series of one day clinics. The Fithian’s plan to expand on this, offering more sessions in the spring to 7^th-12^th graders to help prepare them for high school and college competition.

Recruiting and building the NHTI women’s basketball brand are daily topics for the Fithian’s.  They are striving to establish a successful program built with local talent.  But not far from every practice or planning session are the Olympic dreams for Rio 2016.

The Fithian’s put themselves through daily workouts in the NHTI fitness facility, logging on Facebook their additional workouts or working on the specific Team Handball skills in the NHTI gym between practices.

The passion is real. The days are long for any coaching family especially at the collegiate level with recruiting, planning, traveling and working day to day with the NHTI team.

At the end of every day, the Fithians continue to manage and prioritize their family needs while chasing Olympic dreams and NHTI women’s basketball every day.