Lady Eagles head coach defines keys to winning

The Fort Belvoir Lady Eagles women’s basketball team, under head coach Sherman Sherin, is nearing the culmination of another successful season as contenders in the Washington Area Military Athletics Conference.

WAMAC is the highest level of military sports competition, sponsoring several military installations in the Washington, D.C. area, and Fort Belvoir athletes have consistently earned high rankings in the league and finished several seasons with playoff slots and title wins.

The Lady Eagles went undefeated in the playoffs of the 2010-11 WAMAC season and clinched the championship title by defeating Walter Reed National Military Medical Center-Bethesda 72-57. The 2011-12 season is unfolding as a similar success story, with Belvoir currently holding a second-place position and setting their sights on securing a slot in this year’s Capital Classic tournament Feb. 17-20.

Sherin, who began his military coaching career in 1991, leading the Fort Bragg Lady Dragons post team, is no stranger to the winner’s circle.

"In my 22 years of coaching, I have only gone one year without placing in the tournament," he said.

He attributes part of his success on the court to a number of challenging experiences he had in the athletics department at Fort Bragg.

"Scrimmaging the All-Army, All-Navy, All-Marine and All-Air Force teams was a good experience for me because the coaches and their staffs were very good and the players were terrific. Also, when I coached the Fort Bragg ladies we played a 12-game college exhibition schedule for six years straight. To coach against a college coach is an experience in itself."

Sherin was originally drawn to the game when he began playing post basketball while serving in the Army.

"I played post ball for a long time and enjoyed the game through most of my early days in the service," he said. "I was a gym rat and I couldn’t get enough. I love the game."

Sherin said that becoming a coach has been a rewarding experience both professionally and personally and has been a strong motivation to continue each year.

"The many players and coaches I’ve met over the years have been very rewarding," he said. "I started out coaching the men’s team and I know both sides of the game, with three WAMAC championships with the men. In the three years I’ve been coaching the women, I have been the WAMAC champion once and runner-up twice."

The real key to succeeding as a WAMAC-level coach, however, lies in carefully blending a commitment to sportsmanship and a sense of teamwork with developing positive individual attitudes and physical fitness, Sherin said.

"Commitment from everyone, including the coach, is the key, because how can you build on something you’re not committed to?" he said. "I tell my players to keep their heads up when they win and keep their heads up when they lose, and to always shake their opponent’s hand. It takes a team to build a good team, and you win and lose as a team. Teamwork is the most important building block. An attitude on a team can ruin a good unit because it can become contagious. You must always talk to your team about attitude and then lead by example."

Sherin added that his efforts at maintaining a sportsmanlike atmosphere benefit his players in terms of creating a deep sense of military camaraderie as well as a lasting positive outlook.

"The impact is that the players get to continue doing something they love to do," he said. "It brings the different services together as a team — a lot of teams have all four services represented.

"Then they see that they can go further than post basketball and we help them to do so. We have some of the best coaches in the military in the WAMAC."

Additionally, Sherin noted that he takes onto himself a large measure of responsibility for ensuring that his players develop along lines of excellence on and off the court.

"As a coach you should always see progression—that’s part of your job, to help players get better," he said. "I look at them in the beginning, the middle and at the end of the season. I think every coach has a player not quite so good in the beginning but was the most improved at the end of the season. That’s a good feeling for a coach. You’re responsible for giving the best coaching you can give, to never give up on your team as every year is not going to be the same. You must instill discipline as well as reward to those who do very well. You’re understanding and you’re a good listener, and as your team gets to know you better they will confide in you many things going on in their lives and careers. Sometimes things you tell them will help shape their lives."

Sherin said that coaching can be a challenge at times, but that the effort is well worth the satisfaction that results from impacting a young person’s life.

"I would recommend coaching to others and let them know that sometimes the only reward is seeing how much your team has come together and become not only better players but good people," he said. "And volunteers are always needed. Without volunteers there’s no program. All of us are willing to give up our personal Family time to help others do what they love to do, and we enjoy doing it—to teach a kid to become something special and to become part of a team."

Sherin’s advice for anyone considering becoming a post-level coach is simple.

"Learn your sport and commit yourself to being the best coach for your players," he said.