A coaching tradition

Ron Counts, Staff Writer
Published: November 15, 2008

Katie Shaw has coaching in her blood.

She grew up playing for, and eventually coaching with, her father in Buffalo, N.Y., so it should come as no surprise that at just 23 years of age she is already the head girls’ basketball coach at Culpeper High School.

“Coaching is in me,” Shaw said. “I’ve always loved interacting with the girls during school, and after school on the court.”

Even after she went to college, Shaw returned home every summer to help her father run his basketball camps, which is where she learned many lessons that still help her today.

“I learned a lot from just watching my dad at practice,” she said. “Obviously, I learned fundamentals, but I also learned how to explain things to players in such a way that it makes sense.”

Her father taught her much of what she knows about coaching, but Shaw also gleaned several helpful tidbits from her days as a Division-I tennis player at Niagara University.

“Dedication is a big thing in any kind of sport,” she said. “I learned time-management skills that I’ll be able to pass on to the girls, and hopefully I can instill in them a strong drive to be the best.”

Despite her youth, Shaw is entering her third year as a head coach. She coached middle school basketball in Buffalo for two years, before making the move to Culpeper to take the reigns at CCHS.

While some may be skeptical about the effectiveness of a coach that is only a few years older than many of her players, Shaw said she and her players already have a strong bond and an understanding of what to expect from one another.

“The energy and the vibe have been really good,” Shaw said. “We’ve made a really strong connection, but the girls know that we aren’t peers when the game starts. I’m the coach, they’re the players. They know that I’m going to get on them at some point during the season.”

The season has yet to start, but Shaw has already been working with her team for a few months, which is probably part of the reason they already have such a strong connection.

About 13 Devilettes gathered at the CCHS gym once or twice a week since September, and even though she wasn’t allowed to coach the girls during the workouts, Shaw said it was a very valuable experience for herself and the team.

“I got to know the girls and their personalities,” she said. “The workouts showed me what we need to work on as a team, and what each girl brings to the court.”

Those offseason workouts could prove extremely valuable, because the Devilettes’ roster is very young — boasting only two seniors and at least three freshmen.

Shaw isn’t worried, though. She has a plan.

“We’re really going to stress defense this year,” she said. “We’re going to work on having a good sense of court awareness and ball handling, but we don’t have many parameter shooters, which means we may not score a lot of points, so defense is going to be very important.”

She may be young, but with the beginning of the season only weeks away, Shaw already sounds like a wise, battle-tested skipper.

“You can’t get too high or too low in coaching,” she said. “You have to know that things can always get worse, and that eventually they will get better.”

Ron Counts can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or

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