Over the 20 years of her WNBA coaching career, NY Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello has been famous for the way she coaches. Be it a win or a loss, the NY Liberty has been following its mantra, “Never too high, never too low.” And this was something that drove Liberty toward the championship title last year. But it ain’t just the players who admire her—even her assistant coach Zack O’Brien describes her as “the most consistent person” he’s ever met. But do you know who’s helped her to make this kind of image for herself? Of course, it’s her parents!

Who is Sandy Brondello’s Father?

Brondello’s approach to coaching is often called “yeoman’s work” in the W, but it’s ironic that it’s exactly who she is. Historically, a yeoman is someone who owns and works on their land. That’s exactly what her father, Dino Brondello, did as a sugar cane farmer, and now Brondello is just following in his footsteps. But while he ploughed sugar cane, Brondello’s working on hardwood.

But the beginnings were surely from the sugar cane farm itself. The youngest of four children, with two brothers and a sister, Brondello realized her passion for basketball at the age of nine. But her parents were mostly busy crushing sugar cane, so it wasn’t easy for her to commit to practices. “My dad’s a sugar cane farmer, and in the crushing, it gets busy, so he couldn’t really take me to practice and the commitments I would have in the city,” she once shared about the hardships she faced early in her passion for basketball.

But her father never really stopped supporting her. While she worked on her father’s farm—where she’d lift 20-foot-long water pipes, rocks, and sometimes drive tractors—her father built a court for her. “So he decided to put it up outside on the backboard, on the water tank,” she added. Meanwhile, her father also passed hard work and toughness as traits to help her.

And then came her father’s improvising of the hoop, which helped her transition into one of the good jump shooters. “I’m a pretty good jump shooter, that’s what I’m known for in basketball,” she reasoned. “It was a grass court, so I could take a one-bounce pull-up, which was my money shot, or I could just catch and shoot because that’s all I could do. If I did a layup, I was going to be knocked out by the water tank. There were rocks on the ground, so I couldn’t take more than one dribble because I’d lose the ball. It’s just what we did because we were from the country.” So, you know why a part of Brondello’s success goes to her father. Though her mother’s no less!

Who is Sandy Brondello’s Mother?

While Brondello’s father taught her toughness, her mother, Estelle, passed on her empathy and emotional intelligence. Her mother always kept her mind open and tried to understand the people around her. So, when Brondello was growing up, she saw her mother’s example.

“There’s people who are born with it,” Olaf Lange said about Brondello and her mother’s emotional intelligence in an interview with Next Hoops on September 13. “Some have learned it, but you have to have some affinity to that. You can’t learn something if you have no base level of empathy and affinity [for] this. But it can be learned to some extent, but not for everyone.”

But while Brondello’s mother guided her throughout, almost watching all of Brondello’s games that she coached miles away, she unfortunately passed away in late December 2024 due to a stroke. So obviously it’s been tough for her, as she’s had moments when she just wanted to call her mum.

“You have regret that you weren’t there [in Australia] enough,” Brondello said through tears. “My mum is the coolest person you’ve ever met.” But that doesn’t stop Brondello from celebrating Mother’s Day, though.

“Remembering my beautiful mum Estelle today on Mother’s Day. This is our first year without you, and while we have the happiest of memories, it’s tough not having you here for a chat. In the words of Tina Turner, you were ‘simply the best.’ Miss you, mum,” she penned on Instagram this Mother’s Day. So, she knows she’s somewhere listening to her every day and feeling even more proud.

What is Sandy Brondello’s Parents’ Nationality?

Both Dino and Estelle lived in Australia all their lives as sugar cane farmers and are Australian nationals from Queensland. But Brondello has had multiple places to call home. She’s mostly been traveling internationally, and her pro sports just add to the mix.

While Brondello’s Australian, her husband Lange’s German, and they’re both parents to Brody and Jayda, who have well-worn American passports. But still, Brondello and her husband manage to get some time and go for impromptu vacations, as the family did in Indianapolis, where her oldest son—playing basketball in Australia—and teenage daughter Jayda, living at their Phoenix home, joined them.

“I’m a mother, No. 1,” she told raisingarizonakids back in 2016 “I take them to dance and gymnastics. After they go to sleep, I do my work. … I love being a mom.” So, while she’s working hard, she’s never missed giving time to her family—just like her parents did when she was young, helping her grow in basketball.

Sandy Brondello’s journey from a small sugar cane farm in Queensland to becoming one of the WNBA’s most respected coaches is a testament to the values her parents instilled in her. Dino’s grit and hard work shaped her relentless drive, while Estelle’s kindness and empathy molded the steady, compassionate leader players and colleagues admire today. Even as she commands the bright lights of New York’s basketball stage, Brondello’s foundation remains deeply rooted in the lessons learned on that grass court by the water tank. Her success isn’t just about championships; it’s a living tribute to the love, sacrifice, and wisdom of two Australian farmers who raised their daughter to stay “never too high, never too low,” no matter where life takes her.