John Kirschner named WHS girls varsity basketball head coach
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats varsity basketball program will have a familiar face in a new role for the 2014-15 season with John Kirschner being named the new head coach of the program.
Kirschner, who was the assistant coach the past three seasons for the Lady 'Cats and the JV coach this past season, takes over a program that won one postseason game a year ago.
WHS finished last season at 2-19, losing in the Division IV sectional finals to the Peebles Lady Indians. Their lone postseason win was against Glenwood New Boston by a 49-40 score.
The new WHS head coach, replacing Mike Cooper who led the Lady 'Cats for three seasons, is no stranger to the players on the court as he also coached some of his varsity players when they were in the seventh and eighth grades.
"I've coached what will be the sophomore class since they were in the seventh grade," Kirschner said.
Kirschner, a Georgetown High School graduate, also spoke about becoming the new head coach.
"I knew this team was on the cusp of turning things around," he said. "After three years of being an assistant here, I felt there was some unfinished business left here, and that was hard to walk away from.
"So far, since I'm familiar with the girls here, it has been an easy transition."
The Lady 'Cats will still be a defensive-minded team first and foremost, but the offense will have some changes.
[[In-content Ad]]"Since I know these girls already, they know we'll focus on defense, and they all bring something different to the table," Kirschner said. "Our goal is to increase our win total, and to do that, we must play defense.
"We have to dictate the game with defense, and defense is a passion of mine in basketball. As for our offense, we'll have some new strategies that will cater to our athletes. We'll build the offense around our players."
What has been the biggest challenge so far for Kirschner?
"The biggest challenge is finding a JV coach," he said. "Coaching 19 girls can be a handful at times, but we've bonded this sumer. We've held a youth camp and played in two shootouts, plus have held some open gyms.
"I have great support from the parents and the administration, but again, the toughest part right now is not having an assistant coach. I have a great group of kids, and I'm very happy about the turnout this summer."
Kirschner said he's spoken to other coaches who haven't had as many girls attend summer workouts like WHS has thus far.
"Having all 19 girls here at once, every day, shows me they are hungry and want to improve," he said. "They are a good group, and like I said before … we are looking to have better results in the win column.
"They are coming in with a good attitude and want to work hard, and they are right on the cusp of having better results."
Kirschner, who was the assistant coach the past three seasons for the Lady 'Cats and the JV coach this past season, takes over a program that won one postseason game a year ago.
WHS finished last season at 2-19, losing in the Division IV sectional finals to the Peebles Lady Indians. Their lone postseason win was against Glenwood New Boston by a 49-40 score.
The new WHS head coach, replacing Mike Cooper who led the Lady 'Cats for three seasons, is no stranger to the players on the court as he also coached some of his varsity players when they were in the seventh and eighth grades.
"I've coached what will be the sophomore class since they were in the seventh grade," Kirschner said.
Kirschner, a Georgetown High School graduate, also spoke about becoming the new head coach.
"I knew this team was on the cusp of turning things around," he said. "After three years of being an assistant here, I felt there was some unfinished business left here, and that was hard to walk away from.
"So far, since I'm familiar with the girls here, it has been an easy transition."
The Lady 'Cats will still be a defensive-minded team first and foremost, but the offense will have some changes.
[[In-content Ad]]"Since I know these girls already, they know we'll focus on defense, and they all bring something different to the table," Kirschner said. "Our goal is to increase our win total, and to do that, we must play defense.
"We have to dictate the game with defense, and defense is a passion of mine in basketball. As for our offense, we'll have some new strategies that will cater to our athletes. We'll build the offense around our players."
What has been the biggest challenge so far for Kirschner?
"The biggest challenge is finding a JV coach," he said. "Coaching 19 girls can be a handful at times, but we've bonded this sumer. We've held a youth camp and played in two shootouts, plus have held some open gyms.
"I have great support from the parents and the administration, but again, the toughest part right now is not having an assistant coach. I have a great group of kids, and I'm very happy about the turnout this summer."
Kirschner said he's spoken to other coaches who haven't had as many girls attend summer workouts like WHS has thus far.
"Having all 19 girls here at once, every day, shows me they are hungry and want to improve," he said. "They are a good group, and like I said before … we are looking to have better results in the win column.
"They are coming in with a good attitude and want to work hard, and they are right on the cusp of having better results."