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wELYRIA HIGH’S girls basketball team celebrates after its 50-46 victory over Ashland in last Saturday night’s Sandusky High Class Regional Tournament. The victory earns the Pioneers a trip to the state tournament this weekend. They’ll meet Akron St. Vineent-St, Mary in the Class AAA semifinals Friday at 1 p.m. (C-T).A look at Margaret Cough, Elyria coachFROM PAGE B-3years ago, Margaret stepped in and soon assumed the duties of coach in girls volleyball, basketball and track.“I took a turn at coaching all of them, but when the position of assistant athletic director came along I had to limit it to one so I chose basketball,” Cough explained.Margaret credits the men’s cage coaching staff at Avon for influencing her most in her coaching career, “Norm Irwin, Don Burkin and AI Weir all were a big help to me. I had a son going to school there and I liked the way Al coached, his philosophy and just how he handled the kids overall.”Margaret was a “pioneer” in her field even then, eager to learn all she could about the roundball sport that up until that time had been dominated by men.“They let me come in and watch their practices and go to the basketball clinics. I have been doing that forseven years now. At that time no woman had set foot in a cage clinic. I just went and listened and kept my mouth shut. I also sat in on the coaches’ rap sessions,” she revealed.FROM THESE experiences Margaret has formed a basic philosophy. “In coaching right now women just have to learn from men. If women coaches are going to be knowledgeable they have to go where the men are, she was not ashamed to admit. “Of course it is important that the men you talk to have the right kind of attitude. You have to know who you are dealing with. The best are the coaches that understand and are not anti women. I was fortunate to be in a community where I could get help,” stressed the Avon resident.“I try to encourage other women to get with the men coaches and talk basketball.”How does instructing girls differ from coaching boys on the fundamentals of the game? Girls, for me, are easier to coach in many ways,” the Elyria mentorNo classes for those going to ColumbusArrangements were still being made this morning for the Elyria High girls basketball team’s trip to the state tournament Friday.According to Athletic Director Russ Doan, those students purchasing tickets for Friday’s 1 p.m. Class AAA semifinal game against Akron St.. Vincent-St. Mary will be excused from classes on Friday. If the majority of students arrange to attend the game, all classes will be called off.Here is other information on arrangements concerning Elyria High’s trip to Columbus.TICKETS — Tickets for Friday’s game are available at the Elyria High athletic office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets will be sold until Thursday at 10 a.m. They will also be available at St. John Arena. All tickets are $3 reserved seats. Should Elyria win, tickets for Saturday's 3 p.m. championship game will be sold at St. John Arena. There will be no local sale.PEP RALLY — A pep rally is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the high school.DEPARTURE/RETURN — The Pioneers will leave Thursday afternoon and will stay over in Columbus both Thursday and Friday nights. They will return Saturday evening.BUSSES — Bus transportation to Friday’s game is being looked into. However, final plans are dependent on the number of tickets sold and the requests for transportation.RADIO — WOBL of Oberlin will be the only area radio station broadcasting the Elyria game locally. Arrangements were made late Monday. Pregame broadcast will begin at 12:40 p.m. WOBL is located at 1320 AM. Mike Snyder will do the play-by-play. If Elyria wins, WOBL will also broadcast Satuday's championship game.Elyria girl cagers fail to crackAP Class AAA all-state team picksFROM WIRE REPORTSEven though Elyria High School’s girls basketball squad is headed for the state tournament this weekend in Columbus, the Pioneer girls failed to receive even an honorable mention honor in the Associated Press all-state Class AAA team announced today.In fact, only one area girl managed to gain recognition as Berea’s Ann Carroll was an honorable mentionaverages — 31.5 points, 22.3 rebounds and five assists this winter. Murphy, 5-7, scored 1,045 career points, and sports a 26.lpoint average this season.The 6-foot Ferrett matched 25-point and 25-rebound averages. Lewis, a 5-7 standout on Barberton’s semifinalists, rates as a major college ball-handler and scored 15 points per game. Henry, 5-7%, posted a 22.6-point norm. Armstrong, 5-6, has a 14.6-point scoring average, but played only about one half in each game. Emanuel.stressed. “Girls haven’t come from a background where I have to undo things they have learned. They have a strong desire to prove they can learn things. They areenthusiastic and work hard and don’t take teaching forgranted. They appreciate it and work harder for it.“I have always wanted to work with girls in sports-1 enjoy it immensely. And I’m so glad to see how things have opened up in girls sports in order to give women a better education,” Cough went on.“Athletic competition makes a student stronger mentally. There is a lot of psychology and character building qualities involved in coaching. A coaches prime requisite should be to instill ideas and psychology for her charges to believe in. If we fail to do that we are not doing our job as coaches.”THE PIONEER boss has never had a losing season in her four years of cage instruction at EHS, improving from 6-6 the first season to 11-6, 20-1 and her current 23-1 squad which is headed for the state playoffs in Columbus.“My very first game I ever coached we lost 61-16 and I vowed from that point on I was going to learn as much about the game of basketball as I could absorb. It was like going before a firing squad. I felt so guilty. I said it would never happen again,” she revealed sheepishly.And it hasn’t. But what has she learned over the past few seasons—what are her secrets for successful teams like the one she currently heads? “Unity and self-disi-pline. First of all the girls have to get along. There is no way we could have gone as far as we have unless we had unity within the team. You can't have eonficts and you have to keep together,” Cough pointed out.“Also, any team sport takes a lot of self-discipline. You can’t have criticism among the players. They all have to help each other. One person can’t be the loser in team sports. You have to help your teammates as much as you can in order to be successful yourself.”'WE HAVE an outstanding group of girls this season but six will be graduating and I’ll miss them when the season’s over,” Margaret admitted, smiling. “I always say Til never have a group as good as that again, but they just keep on coming. You find out that there are a lot of super people out there. It’s tremendous just knowing that you’ve been a part of their lives.”What does the future hold for the Pioneer coach who will be receiving her Masters degree in physical education from Akron University within the next few months. “I love basketball and I’d like to maybe move up to the college level in coaching sports. But right now, with my family still at home, I want to stick around thearea.Still a tomboy at heart, Margaret Cough has contributed greatly to girls sports at Elyria High and with her ever-growing knowledge, drive and enthusiasm only good things are in store for the lady Pioneers.
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Tue, Mar 27, 1979
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
OH, USA 19 May 2021
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