J.R. Moberly returns to HHS courtside as new coach of Lady Indians
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
By STEPHEN FORSHA
The Highland County Press
J.R. Moberly has returned to the basketball court to lead a group of Hillsboro Indians once again.
The difference is this time he will not be leading the boys varsity team in 2010, but the former boys head coach will be leading the girls team,
trying to help a program regain its glory days after winning a handful of games in recent years.
Moberly coached the HHS boys varsity team for seven season, starting in the 1996-97 season, a team that included current HHS boys varsity basketball
coach Tim Davis. During his tenure as boys coach Moberly had an overall record of 108-56 and won four Southern Buckeye Athletic Conference titles.
In his first season, he helped lead the Indians to the regional final where they lost to Columbus Mifflin.
Moberly said the turnout this summer for the girls team has been good, with 20 girls showing up at 9 a.m. for summer practices.
"I want the girls to enjoy the game and have fun," he said. "It will be a lot of hard work, and a huge commitment, but we want the girls to look
forward to playing games and practicing.
I don't know if that's been the case before, but one of our goals is to make it more enjoyable."
Basketball isn't the only sport Moberly has coached in the past. The 1988 Lynchburg-Clay graduate was the JV girls soccer coach last season for
HHS, along with coaching JV baseball, softball in past years. From 1994-96 Moberly was the boys varsity soccer coach in Hillsboro, coaching varsity
basketball and soccer in 1996.
While at LC, Moberly lettered in basketball, soccer, baseball, golf and cross country.
But in the sport of basketball, the new HHS girls coach, who was selected to lead the Lady Indians at the end of May, wants his team to not
only have fun, but also learn lessons from the sport they can use for the rest of their life.
"I want the girls to learn the value of hard work and how to work together," Moberly said. "I like to think sports are an extension of the
classroom.
"As for playing basketball, I want us to play defense and to play hard. One of the things we can control is how hard we play and how well we play,
defensively. Playing good defense will be a trademark of our team.
Moberly told The Highland County Press there isn't much different in coaching boys or girls, but each team and the way they are coached changes
every season, due to the type of personnel on the team.
"Basketball is the same, but we will do some things different than before just due to what kind of players we have on the team," Moberly said.
Teaching is a big part of the way Moberly coaches, again stating the importance of lessons learned on the court that can be used in everyday
life.
"I like competition and I enjoy working with kids," he said. "I want to use sports to teach there is more to it than putting the basketball through
the hoop or gaining a base hit."
Moberly himself has used lessons learned from sports in his life, as he is married to his wife, Katie, and they have three children (Taylor, 15;
Trey, 13; and Riley, 10), who are all involved in athletics.
"I've learned how to build relationships through sports," he said. "I teach math and science at Laurel Oaks and I like to use the way I teach
sports in the classroom to provide my students examples of ways to achieve success in the classroom.
"I also use sports in parenting. Katie is the Southern State softball coach and all of our kids play sports. So sports have a big influence in our
family."
The HHS girls program has received a lot of support from the community and Moberly wants that to continue into the future as the team looks for a
turnaround after winning a handful of games in the past three seasons.
"The girls have a lot of support within the community and we want the fans to be excited for our team," Moberly said. "The process of building a
program will take a while and we will need patience as we turn things around. I want to get this back to a great program like it used to be.
"I hope we continue to get the community's support and everyone encourages the girls this season."
Moberly is replacing Herb Mihalik who coached HHS for the past two seasons. Mihalik helped the girls program rebound from a winless season by
breaking a losing streak that went through parts of three separate season with a win over Madison-Plains in January 2009.
J.R. Moberly has returned to the basketball court to lead a group of Hillsboro Indians once again.
The difference is this time he will not be leading the boys varsity team in 2010, but the former boys head coach will be leading the girls team, trying to help a program regain its glory days after winning a handful of games in recent years.
Moberly coached the HHS boys varsity team for seven season, starting in the 1996-97 season, a team that included current HHS boys varsity basketball coach Tim Davis. During his tenure as boys coach Moberly had an overall record of 108-46 and won five Southern Buckeye Athletic Conference titles.
In his first season, he helped lead the Indians to the regional final where they lost to Columbus Mifflin.
Moberly said the turnout this summer for the girls team has been good, with 20 girls showing up at 9 a.m. for summer practices.
"I want the girls to enjoy the game and have fun," he said. "It will be a lot of hard work, and a huge commitment, but we want the girls to look forward to playing games and practicing.
I don't know if that's been the case before, but one of our goals is to make it more enjoyable."
Basketball isn't the only sport Moberly has coached in the past. The 1988 Lynchburg-Clay graduate was the JV girls soccer coach last season for HHS, along with coaching JV baseball, softball in past years. From 1994-96 Moberly was the boys varsity soccer coach in Hillsboro, coaching varsity basketball and soccer in 1996.
While at LC, Moberly lettered in basketball, soccer, baseball, golf and cross country.
But in the sport of basketball, the new HHS girls coach, who was selected to lead the Lady Indians at the end of May, wants his team to not only have fun, but also learn lessons from the sport they can use for the rest of their life.
"I want the girls to learn the value of hard work and how to work together," Moberly said. "I like to think sports are an extension of the classroom.
"As for playing basketball, I want us to play defense and to play hard. One of the things we can control is how hard we play and how well we play, defensively. Playing good defense will be a trademark of our team.
Moberly told The Highland County Press there isn't much different in coaching boys or girls, but each team and the way they are coached changes every season, due to the type of personnel on the team.
"Basketball is the same, but we will do some things different than before just due to what kind of players we have on the team," Moberly said.
Teaching is a big part of the way Moberly coaches, again stating the importance of lessons learned on the court that can be used in everyday life.
"I like competition and I enjoy working with kids," he said. "I want to use sports to teach there is more to it than putting the basketball through the hoop or gaining a base hit."
Moberly himself has used lessons learned from sports in his life, as he is married to his wife, Katie, and they have three children (Taylor, 15; Trey, 13; and Riley, 10), who are all involved in athletics.
"I've learned how to build relationships through sports," he said. "I teach math and science at Laurel Oaks and I like to use the way I teach sports in the classroom to provide my students examples of ways to achieve success in the classroom.
"I also use sports in parenting. Katie is the Southern State softball coach and all of our kids play sports. So sports have a big influence in our family."
The HHS girls program has received a lot of support from the community and Moberly wants that to continue into the future as the team looks for a turnaround after winning a handful of games in the past three seasons.
"The girls have a lot of support within the community and we want the fans to be excited for our team," Moberly said. "The process of building a program will take a while and we will need patience as we turn things around. I want to get this back to a great program like it used to be.
"I hope we continue to get the community's support and everyone encourages the girls this season."
Moberly is replacing Herb Mihalik who coached HHS for the past two seasons. Mihalik helped the girls program rebound from a winless season by breaking a losing streak that went through parts of three separate season with a win over Madison-Plains in January 2009.
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