JOHNSTOWN -- There just might be a "Johnstown Girls' Basketball Night" at an Amsterdam Mohawks game this summer.
The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League's recently-promoted General Manager Megan Anagnostopulos was also named the girls' varsity basketball coach at Johnstown this season.
"That's what everyone keeps asking me," Anagnostopulos said with a laugh, while remarking on her plans to get the Lady Bills to a Mohawks game. "I'm definitely thinking about it."
The 2015 Johnstown graduate became the PGCBL champion's GM in September but her career with the summer collegiate baseball team began as an intern in 2018. She received her first promotion to director of group sales the next summer. In 2022, she was named assistant general manager before her most recent step up this fall.
"With the Mohawks, I'm the one making the final decisions on my own, which is cool," Anagnostopulos said of her new role. "It's something I've always wanted to do, and worked for."
While head coach Keith Griffin and team president Brian Spagnola split most of the baseball responsibilities, Anagnostopulos handles the bulk of the behinds-the-scenes tasks, ranging from sales and marketing, to sponsorships and season preparation.
Over the past few seasons, Anagnostopulos has also coached girls' basketball at her alma mater. Two years ago, she was named the modified coach, before taking over the junior varsity team last season. This year, she replaced Brandon Hillier after two seasons at the helm.
In Anagnostopulos' first game as head coach on Dec. 2 against Mekeel Christian Academy, Johnstown ended the program's 46-game losing streak, a stretch that included winless campaigns the last two seasons.
"Everyone was asking me about taking over and how things were going to be," Anagnostopulos said of getting the first win out of the way. "I really wanted it. The girls really wanted it for the program and for themselves. Everyone was on the same page, and we just wanted to get it done."
The drought also came to an end as Johnstown moves to a new league for the 2024-25 academic year, going from from the Foothills Council to the Western Athletic Conference.
The 43-24 win was just the beginning of a much-improved start.
Johnstown then defeated Schoharie 48-28 on Dec. 6 before beating Mekeel Christian again on Dec. 18, 37-34.
The Lady Bills are now 3-2 heading into their next game against Gloversville.
"The group I have is young. We have one senior and no juniors. The rest are sophomores and freshmen," Anagnostopulos said. "They're competitors. They want to win, and they really don't want to lose. I see that everyday in practice, they're pushing themselves and that makes my job easier. That's one of the standards we go by as a program, being competitive each and every day."
Anagnostopulos has helped instill a competitive drive in her players. She can often be seen jumping up and down on the sideline -- either in excitement or frustration.
"It gets our bench and everyone on the team hyped," said sophomore Peyton Nigro. "We love seeing her get excited. She brings so much energy to the team."
Nigro is part of a nucleus of players Anagnostopulos has coached each of the last three seasons, starting with modified, then JV, and now varsity.
"So, my core sophomore group, I started when they were in eighth grade," Anagnostopulos said. "I've seen them progress with their basketball skills, as players and as individuals. Seeing them grow up on and off the court has been the most rewarding part of this."
Despite the daunting task of ending a prolonged losing streak, Anagnostopulos' message to her players was that they belonged on the court.
"Coach is always telling us that we belong here and every day we set out to prove ourselves," Nigro said. "I know last season our varsity struggled. We have a new coach now and this is our team. We're coming up, we want to win, and we're going to prove ourselves that we can compete in this league."
Anagnostopulos does not take the opportunity to coach players who stand where she once did lightly.
"My high school coach Tim Derwin left a great impact on me," said Anagnostopulos, who went on to play at SUNY Brockport. "A lot of what I do now is based on his coaching style and when I was in college I always tried to come back and help. It definitely means a lot to give back to this team, and this program."
After graduating from SUNY Brockport in 2019, Anagnostopulos went on to get a master's in sports management at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
The 27-year-old is also heavily involved in working at her parents' restaurant, the Winner's Circle in Fonda.
"I'm a waitress there as well," she said
And when her parents go out of town, Anagnostopulos gets even busier.
"When they go away, I help run it," she said. "They go away pretty often."
Despite the whirlwind of balancing all her jobs and responsibilities, there isn't anything Anagnostopulos would change.
When she does finally get a break in the action, she'll be swarmed at home by a trio of dogs, a chocolate lab named Remme, a yellow lab named Mello, and a beagle named Molly.
"I don't see my family and my fiancé as much, or my dogs as much, as I'd like to. I just love what I do," Anagnostopulos said. "When people ask me if I like my job, I always say that it doesn't even feel like I go to work. I love it, and the hard work and long hours."