Chad Hamilton tapped as new Lady Lions basketball coach
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Chad Hamilton, a 1999 graduate of Fairfield High School, has been selected as the new girls varsity basketball head coach this week by the Fairfield Local Board of Education.
Hamilton most recently was an assistant coach on the 2012-13 district runner-up boys basketball team, is looking forward to the opportunity to coach the Lady Lions. He was an assistant coach at FHS for five different seasons.
"This position came at the right time and was the right situation for me," Hamilton told The Highland County Press. "This team has talent and good players to work with.
"I'm laid back and won't yell, but I will get my point across in practice. I expect things done a certain way, and we'll do it right."
Being the new head coach, Hamilton, who is replacing Matt Hodson, is taking over a team who has an All-Ohio player in Heather Cox, along with others who have been at the varsity level for at least two seasons.
Cox led the Lady Lions on the court this past season with 20 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game. She scored 440 points, with 319 total rebounds (125 offensive) in 2012-13.
This past season the Lady Lions went 5-19.
"My big thing is developing players individually," Hamilton said. "I'm not a huge x's and o's guy. My thoughts are if we can develop players individually, everything else falls into place.
"Being a head coach was never an ultimate goal of mine, but this opportunity came up, and I thought it would be a challenge, and I want this team to have success."
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Hamilton has met with his new team this week, saying he expects "dedication."
"I told them to expect to be in the best shape of their lives," he said. "I'm here to win. I want the girls to make the commitment and give the effort I'm looking for.
"I've seen too many times at different levels of basketball where players lose focus during the season. I want to work on things at different times of the year, and we'll be OK."
With new rules, players can have individual coaching, and that is something Hamilton wants to take full advantage of in his first season at the helm of the Lady Lions.
"This summer is a good chance to get to know the players," Hamilton said. "It will be good to see how they need to improve as players and watch how they react when they see the improvement.
"Again, we'll need the dedication to get better as players. Last year, I only saw a handful of games, and I saw the talent this team has."
Hamilton came back to talking about dedication and whether there was a difference in coaching the girls players instead of the boys.
"Dedication is important because of the potential this team has," he said. "I want them to show up with the right mindset, and if that happens, we'll see improvement.
"To me, coaching boys and girls is no different. I'll treat them the same, and we'll play the game the right way."
Hamilton also has played basketball in Spain with the World Sports Exchange, and worked as a scout for NetScouts Basketball, evaluating Division I players in the area to try and help them get contracts with professional teams overseas.
Hamilton most recently was an assistant coach on the 2012-13 district runner-up boys basketball team, is looking forward to the opportunity to coach the Lady Lions. He was an assistant coach at FHS for five different seasons.
"This position came at the right time and was the right situation for me," Hamilton told The Highland County Press. "This team has talent and good players to work with.
"I'm laid back and won't yell, but I will get my point across in practice. I expect things done a certain way, and we'll do it right."
Being the new head coach, Hamilton, who is replacing Matt Hodson, is taking over a team who has an All-Ohio player in Heather Cox, along with others who have been at the varsity level for at least two seasons.
Cox led the Lady Lions on the court this past season with 20 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game. She scored 440 points, with 319 total rebounds (125 offensive) in 2012-13.
This past season the Lady Lions went 5-19.
"My big thing is developing players individually," Hamilton said. "I'm not a huge x's and o's guy. My thoughts are if we can develop players individually, everything else falls into place.
"Being a head coach was never an ultimate goal of mine, but this opportunity came up, and I thought it would be a challenge, and I want this team to have success."
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Hamilton has met with his new team this week, saying he expects "dedication."
"I told them to expect to be in the best shape of their lives," he said. "I'm here to win. I want the girls to make the commitment and give the effort I'm looking for.
"I've seen too many times at different levels of basketball where players lose focus during the season. I want to work on things at different times of the year, and we'll be OK."
With new rules, players can have individual coaching, and that is something Hamilton wants to take full advantage of in his first season at the helm of the Lady Lions.
"This summer is a good chance to get to know the players," Hamilton said. "It will be good to see how they need to improve as players and watch how they react when they see the improvement.
"Again, we'll need the dedication to get better as players. Last year, I only saw a handful of games, and I saw the talent this team has."
Hamilton came back to talking about dedication and whether there was a difference in coaching the girls players instead of the boys.
"Dedication is important because of the potential this team has," he said. "I want them to show up with the right mindset, and if that happens, we'll see improvement.
"To me, coaching boys and girls is no different. I'll treat them the same, and we'll play the game the right way."
Hamilton also has played basketball in Spain with the World Sports Exchange, and worked as a scout for NetScouts Basketball, evaluating Division I players in the area to try and help them get contracts with professional teams overseas.