After spending 20 years in the world of corporate finance, Perry Harrop decided it was time for a career change.

"I wanted to teach so I could have a better impact on kids," said Harrop, who received his master’s in business education from Robert Morris University.

He doesn't want to have just a scholastic impact on students either, as he is taking over as Northgate's boys' varsity head basketball coach this season.

Harrop said he played basketball at Hampton High School, where he graduated in 1981.

The Penn State graduate has been coaching for 20 years, starting with eighth grade basketball at St. Rosalia's.

"We are always going to play hard," Harrop said of the "exciting, up-tempo" form of basketball he has planned for the Northgate boys.

Harrop said the Flames will be playing a lot of man-to-man defense this year. He wants them to be attacking their opponents, rather than sitting back and reacting, he said.

Harrop, who now is a teacher at City Charter High School in Pittsburgh, hopes that those strategies will help improve a Northgate team that has won seven games in each of its last two seasons.

The Flames lost four seniors from last year's team, starters Dan Webster and Bill Quinn, and T.J. Cobaugh and Doug Regrut.

Five seniors will lead this year's Flames. Josh Haney and Mark Wilson will be starters, while Josh Dunn, Dillon Winters and Chris Mangel will come in off the bench. Harrop noted that junior Josh Douglas will be a player to keep an eye on this season as well.

Although new to Northgate, Harrop said he already is familiar with the Flames’ basketball program, having scouted them while an assistant coach at Quaker Valley. He has spent time as an assistant at three other schools under head coach Mike Mastroianni: Bishop Canevin, Baldwin and Bethel Park.

But Harrop said that he has wanted to be a coach since high school, and after being an assistant for so long, he is ready to take the reins as a head coach.

He said that the team is working hard at practice and has been very coachable and adapting well to his coaching style.

The Flames start their season with a game against Avonworth on Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.