Every high school basketball coach dreams of taking a team into the fall with a rising dominant player within an established program.  Who wouldn't jump at that?

      Meet the head coach of the brand new Cambridge High School in Milton, Georgia:  Lesley Broadwell.

      As head coach of the Roswell High School Lady Hornets from 2008 to 2012, Broadwell had built an impressive program.  At a school which had not qualified for the state tournament in twenty years and had not won a region championship since Ronald Reagan was president, Broadwell's Lady Hornets accomplished both in her very first season as head coach.  Under her guidance, Roswell captured a second region championship (2010-11)  and went to the state tournament  in each of  her four seasons as head coach.  Her '10-'11 girls missed reaching the Final Four by the margin of an overtime loss. 

     Broadwell also had perhaps the most talented player in the region, Andreona Keys, returning for two more seasons, but the lure of facing a new, massive but enticing challenge was too much to resist for the tenacious Broadwell, who accepted an offer to start a girls' program from scratch at the not-yet-opened Cambridge High School.  Leaving what she had built at Roswell to start a new high school program is akin to running 25 miles of a marathon and stopping a mile from the end, only to return to the start and try again.

     "It is an immense challenge but one I wanted to take on with the help of my staff (assistant coach Pam Masinko came with her to Cambridge from Roswell)," Broadwell said.  "I like challenges and trying to make something positive happen."

     The people happiest about the Broadwell move undoubtedly were her fellow coaches in the area.  It will presumably take some time to build the Lady Bears up before she can start taking teams into the post-season again.  "She is a great coach," said Craig Bennett, her counterpart with the arch-rival Milton Lady Eagles' basketball powerhouse during Broadwell's tenure at Roswell.  "I really didn't want to see her in the playoffs!"

Coach Broadwell Leads Roswell to 2009 Region Championship

     Bennett had a front-row seat for one of Broadwell's biggest career wins.  Milton was the opponent when Roswell played for their first region championship game in February of 2009.  With a huge, electrifying crowd roaring, Roswell erased an 11-point deficit with four minutes to play to force overtime, where the Lady Hornets pulled out a two-point win.  Like Broadwell, Bennett left his girls' program behind to move to Cambridge, where he is the head football coach.  He has not forgotten their old battles.  "While we became good friends, it was very much a challenge to coach against Coach Broadwell.  She always had her team prepared to play."

     Stylistically, Broadwell is rarely the loudest or most demonstrative coach on the sideline, but she oozes intensity.  When asked about style, she invokes the name of Anson Dorrance, the highly successful longtime women's soccer coach at the University of North Carolina.  "He says that the true art of intensity is to blend it with composure.  I want my teams to remain calm in pressure situations so I realize that, as a coaching staff, we have to demonstrate that as well."

  BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE

     The first students did not darken the doorways of Cambridge High School until the fall of 2012, but Broadwell and Masinko were delighted with the facilities that awaited them.  Two sparkling gymnasiums are eye-catching, but the coaching staff is focused on finding the best tools available to help build basketball players.  That includes a top priority:  A first-class weight room. "The (weight room) will be so important to us moving forward.  We are truly blessed.  I want us to take pride in our facilities and the maintenance of them," Broadwell said.

     With the inaugural student population just barely over half the school's capacity, it will take time to build a roster which can compete in the ambitious level of Georgia's AAAAA  girls basketball.  Broadwell is taking very much of a "big picture" view of identifying and training girls basketball players.  She is looking for as many elementary and middle-school girls as possible to get interested in basketball. "It is important to get feeder teams aligned with how we want things done and things that are important to us as a staff.  I want girls to want to play basketball by the time they reach high school and be excited to be a part of our program."

 
Cambridge Varsity Bears Inaugural Team - 1st Victory against Johnson HS

     Perhaps the buzz surrounding the hiring of such a highly respected coach has seeped into the hearts and minds of area girls already.  Her inaugural varsity team attracted four seniors and a junior to a school with few upperclassmen.  The most important impact may be felt at the lower levels, where an astounding 25 sixth-graders tried out for girls' feeder basketball in an area where some schools have trouble finding enough girls to field teams.  Broadwell made her keen interest in young players very apparent with her presence at try-outs and her attendance at early feeder practices. 

     The Cambridge approach will not be to pressure middle-schoolers to focus on victories at the lower grade-levels.  Broadwell says she wants the kids' priorities to be learning to "catch the ball, pass the ball, dribble the ball, and shoot the ball.  If you grow up learning to do that, chances are there will always be a spot for you in our program at Cambridge."

     She adds, "I tell young girls to always remember to be a basketball player rather than a position on the court.  I see far too many young girls get locked into a position when they are 10, 11, 12 years old…and by the time they reach high school, they are not prepared for the changes in size and speed of the other girls."

     One of her former players is Shanteona Keys, sister of current Roswell HS junior star Andreona.  Shanteona, and now a sophomore at Georgia College in Milledgeville, was the 2012 Peachbelt Conference Freshman of the Year.  She says Broadwell prepared her to compete not only at the high school level, but also beyond.  "One of the most important things I learned from her is how to keep your game face on and play tough on the court.  She is all business.  She helped us keep the right mindset and stay focused throughout the games."  Keys also had thoughts about how Broadwell will mold the kids.  "The younger, inexperienced players will learn by her consistency and constant repetition." 

      Bennett's opinion was that girls who buy into Broadwell's program at Cambridge, regardless of age, will be rewarded.  "Her teams always played the game the way it is supposed to be played…great defense and fundamentally sound offense."

ALL BUILDING BLOCKS REQUIRE BASIC FUNDAMENTALS

     Basketball teams who have less talent defeat formidable foes regularly in the sport, almost always because of superior fundamentals.  Those lessons were learned by Broadwell way back in high school, when she was a scrappy member of three state-ranked basketball teams at, coincidentally enough, Milton High School.  The two-time Region 6AAAAA Coach of the Year was no D1 mega-prospect in her playing days.  She was invited to walk-on at Presbyterian College and eventually went to the University of Georgia to focus on her next career.  She earned a B.A. in journalism and a M.Ed. in Learning Disabilities.  Broadwell teaches math and study skills at Cambridge HS and serves as Co-Department Chair of the Special Education department. 

     Cambridge High School Principal Dr. Edward Spurka says Broadwell is a model in the classroom for both her staff and her students.  "She is a complete professional and works to ensure that all of her students are successful and reach their full potential."

     Maximizing her talents as a player made her learn to break the game down to its basic fundamentals which can be controlled.  "We think little things are important…if we take care of little things like proper spacing on the court or catching the ball with two hands, then bigger things are much easier as well.  If your fundamental skills are solid everything else falls into place."

     The "we", as always, references Broadwell and her staff.  Pam Masinko is an impressive coach in her own right.  With a background as a two-sport Division 1 college athlete (basketball and lacrosse), Masinko has the respect of the girls who play for her in basketball as well as lacrosse, a sport in which she will serve as the head coach at Cambridge.  Broadwell said Masinko and she have worked together very well for a long time.  "We had similar basketball philosophies and a love for the game and working with the girls from the beginning but now we can literally complete each other's thoughts and often do," Broadwell said.  " We often bounce ideas off on each other on what we can do to improve the team and have shared many calls and texts when we are not at a game or practice. She is a terrific friend to me and has a wonderful family -just a great role model all the way around."

     Masinko's contributions are not to be underestimated.  The key to the partnership is the fact that each recognizes, acknowledges, and trusts the others' strengths and weaknesses.  From Masinko's point of view, "Coach Broadwell is a brilliant strategist and game time coach where as I thrive on dissecting and creating drills in practice to help overcome areas that need improvement.  Separately we can both be successful, but together it becomes something special because we complement each other so well." 

     The head coach draws free praise from friends and competitors for her preparation, approach, and effectiveness as a coach.  Shanteona Keys observed, "Coach Broadwell watches and learns from college coaches.  She works hard, studies the game, and is completely dedicated to the sport.  She expects that same dedication from her players."

     Dr. Spurka would agree about those expectations.  He says Coach Broadwell is one of the most competitive individuals he has ever worked with.  "At Roswell, I gave her the opportunity to be our girls' head coach because she provided the students with the motivation and inspiration to be successful year round, not just during the season. She was a coach and a big sister to all of her athletes.  Broadwell was asked to come over to Cambridge to start up our program because my philosophy is..'I hire coaches to coach students, not basketball'."

     Broadwell feels the lessons learned from basketball also serve as a finishing school for how to handle life itself, and she is proud to prepare young girls for both.  "Not everyone is going to play basketball past high school, but working with a team and improving to the best of your ability can enrich your life so much and ultimately give you skills to cope with "real life" when you get older."

    For Broadwell, coping with real life now means dealing with the realities of a start-up high school girls basketball program.  She gave up much to take the challenge.  Expect her to attack it with her own blend of intensity and composure, one building block at a time.