When she was in the seventh grade, Megan Dellegrotti experienced her first big disappointment when she was passed over for a basketball team on which all her friends were playing.

Crushed, she was ready to pack it in, but her father gave her a dose of reality. Unlike her friends, she had been playing for only a year.

"When you're not practicing, someone out there is," he told her.

It's a message she took to heart and one that led her to become Berwick HS's all-time leading scorer. It led to where she is today, head girls basketball coach at Becahi. She shared her story at Notre Dame of Bethlehem's 45th annual CYO Banquet.

Dellegrotti told the grade school student athletes that she's no natural, either in sports or academics. But though she's only 5 feet, 4 inches tall, she played Division I basketball at the University of Delaware. Team captain for two years, she was selected to the NCAA East Regional Team. But she's most proud of her academic achievements.

"My commitment to academics made everything possible," she said, explaining that she learned to prioritize her time. Those days started with 6:30 a.m. workouts to compete with athletes who were faster and taller.

Those days ended with the books.

"Being smart is sexy," she insisted.

Before coming to Becahi, Dellegrotti coached at Southern Lehigh HS for five seasons, leading those teams to three Colonial League championships and a 104-28 record.

But instead of claiming that winning is everything, or the only thing, she surprised her audience by telling them that the most important lesson is learning to fail.

"Failure is part of success," she said.

Dellegrotti's speech, not the typical fare expected from a coach, was greeted with a standing ovation.

Notre Dame's CYO then went on to present its annual awards. The biggest honor, the 2014 CYO Christian Spirit Award, went to Grant Hershman, a three-sport athlete who has maintained high honors.

When it was announced, his grandfather, Lou, brushed a tear from his eye. He tried to hide it, but is proud of his grandson, and rightfully so.