SHS girls look to surprise

Sneads will look to a familiar face to help kick start the girls basketball program this season. Former Pirates player Tyrone Livingston is set to direct the Lady Pirates’ ship in 2009-10.

A 1995 graduate of Sneads, Livingston played football and basketball at FAMU, and is a former assistant coach at East Gadsden.

He’s tasked with turning around a Sneads program that has missed out on the playoffs for the past two seasons, and hasn’t won a playoff game this decade.

Livingston said he was eager for the chance to raise the profile of the Lady Pirates program.

“Sneads is very small, and most athletes there really don’t get much exposure to big-time basketball,” the coach said. “A lot of times, we have just as many talented athletes as 4A, 5A and 6A schools, they just don’t have the exposure.

“The kids rarely get coaches there who have actually played on a high level. I want to teach and implement those things that I’ve learned.”

Livingston, who still works in the rehab department at Florida State University Hospital, said coaching has always appealed to his nature.

“Just being able to enhance student-athletes, to give them a chance to win and to build character is something I’ve always loved,” he said. “I’m focusing this year on discipline, and building positive attitudes within the team.”

It’s a team that lost its leading scorer, Mattie Collins, from last year’s team. But it returns key players such as La’Tilya Baker, Bridgett Dawson and Megan Smith.

Baker, in particular, has already impressed her new coach.

“She’s one of the best on the team, very bright, very smart,” Livingston said. “She’s the fastest player on the team, and she has great ball-handling skills. I really look forward to her doing sensational things this year.”

The coach also said he was expecting big seasons from Smith and Shantel Lindsey, and looking forward to having Dawson run the show.

“She’s very smart and has the maturity to pretty much run the offense and the defense,” Livingston said of Dawson. “She possesses the attitude, discipline and knowledge to be able to lead the team.”

Livingston said the team was predicated on speed, with players who have a lot of raw ability but still need their games to be fine-tuned.

“I’m just basically trying to teach the basic fundamentals,” the coach said. “The skills are there, but they really haven’t had a coach that specialized in basketball to teach them what they need to do, to actually teach discipline.”

The Lady Pirates will carry approximately 15 players for the varsity team, with only four seniors, three juniors and the rest freshmen.

“We have a fairly young team, but they’re very talented,” Livingston said. “They possess the skills to be champions, if not now, then definitely in the future.”

As much as he has been impressed with his team’s athleticism, the coach said he was just as satisfied by his players’ desire to get better.

“The girls have an attitude to want to play, and an enthusiasm and passion for playing the game,” Livingston said. “If we focus on our strengths, I really think the sky is the limit for us.

“No one really expects us to do much, but I think we’re a sleeper team. I think we’re really going to wake the county up.”

Livingston believing that is one thing, but getting the players to believe it is another.

However, the coach said he thinks his players are taking him at his word.

“I really think they have bought in,” Livingston said. “Most of the girls know me, and when they saw what I had to bring to the table and knew what I was talking about, that brought a level of respect.

“I feel that the girls trust me, the coaches trust me, and they believe that we have a great team. Maybe it’s not 100 percent right now. Maybe it’s 95 percent, but once we’re into the season and have some games under our belt, we’ll be all the way in.”

The Lady Pirates open the season at home Monday against Wewahitchka at 4:30 p.m.