Hillsborough's Crawford ready to make history

Stephanie Crawford asked her players to form a circle, linked at the hand.

She looked into their eyes with sincerity.

"One wrong decision will change your life," she said. "Make the right ones when we're not together."

She motioned them in for a final huddle, their hands still connected in the center. The players, all boys, tower above their coach, who stands 5-foot-3.

"Tuesday, we're off to the races," she said with fervor. "Let the games begin."

On Tuesday, Crawford, 39, will officially become the first woman to coach a high school boys basketball team in Tampa.

This past week, she and her Hillsborough High School Terriers have been working four hours each day, except for Thanksgiving Day, preparing for the 2009-10 season, which begins with a home game against Alonso at 8 p.m.

It's Crawford's debut as a head boys basketball coach at the high school level. She's been here before with the girls. She's coached boys in the Amateur Athletic Union and has assisted on high school teams in Pinellas County.

This is different.

"There's the expectation," she said. "These are the Hillsborough Terriers. They went 21-9 last year."

Crawford is ready. So are her players. Gender? All that matters is winning and growing as a team.

Nonetheless, accepting a new coach, a woman at that, could have be a challenge for some teenage boys.

The Terriers, however, welcomed Crawford with open arms.

"We don't pay attention to" gender, said Hillsborough senior guard Oscar Henriquez. "We care about winning a state championship. She cares about us. She checks up on our classes."

The parents have taken a liking to her as well.

"She pushes them and that's key," said William Chow, a 1974 Hillsborough graduate whose son, Antonio, is a senior point guard. "She's all about finishing. They think she's cool and she demands their attention. I like her style."

When the administration hired Crawford on June 2, they saw a talented coach eager to guide their program. They weren't looking to make history.

"We feel a great about it," Hillsborough High principal William Orr said. "I don't know if it's history in the making. My grandmother was the head boys basketball coach in Alabama in 1912. She coached for about four or five years. But we're excited about our season."

Last season, Crawford coached the girls varsity team at East Lake High in Tarpon Springs. The Eagles finished 3-18 overall. Prior to East Lake, her high school experience included five years as an assistant coach at Countryside High School. A 1988 Countryside High graduate, Crawford starred at guard and went on to play collegiately and professionally, spending four years in the All-Armed Forces Women's Basketball League with the Air Force women's team.

Orr said there haven't been any problems introducing a female coach.

Crawford said 40 students showed up for the first day of tryouts. Her 15-year-old son, Travis Lyons, will play on Hillsborough's varsity team.

"We haven't had anybody question anything," Orr said. "From the very beginning, she's been in charge of the program. It never was an issue with me. (The Players) are thrilled to have a coach with the skills that she had."

"I love the Hillsborough High administration," said Crawford, who is a substitute teacher at the school. "They've been nothing but receptive."

Crawford will belong to a small sorority of women who coach male sports. According to an article by the Women's Sport Foundation, 80 percent of all coaches at the high school and college level are male. At the college level, only 2 percent of all coaches of men's teams are female while less than half of coaches of women's teams are female.

Experiences have led Crawford to believe the perceptions of female coaches being inadequate still exist.

"I heard a (AAU) coach tell his team during in a huddle 'I'll be damned if I lose to a woman,'" she said. "That's when I laid the smack-down on them."

Marcie Scholl has worked in the male-dominated field for years as Wharton's boys swim, golf and tennis coach since the high school opened in 1997. She's guided several athletes to a number of district, regional and state championships. Wharton's boys tennis team is the defending Class 3A state champion. She said gender isn't an issue if the coach is qualified.

"I was the only female coach at (boys golf) districts and regionals," she said. "I think I was the only one at state. I've never felt threatened. The boys knew where my heart was. I think they respect that I'm going to play by the rules.

"Everyone is allowed to have an opinion, but until they work with a coach, then they see the bigger picture," Scholl added. "I do my homework, I know the rules and I keep their egos in check."

Crawford said she belongs with boys basketball.

"I can be me, all the way me, with the fellas," she said. "I don't have to worry about personal feelings."

Today, her close friends will throw her a congratulatory party. She has supporters throughout Tampa, including Scholl.

First things first. Alonso on Tuesday in the season opener.

"I just want us to come out and play hard," Crawford said.