Sherri Anthony, who has coached basketball at Nease High School for 30 years, has a unique perspective on how the game should be played and how to build relationships with her players beyond the court.
She has many visionary ideas that would change the game for the better.
Anthony, like many high school coaches, does not like playing district games before January.
“I want it to be in the same realm as colleges,” Anthony said. “In college, conference play is not until after Christmas. We need to simulate high school more similar to colleges. I want to see post-Christmas district play.”
She added that her team had to play a district game the first week of the season due to scheduling issues for both teams.
Another challenge for high school coaches is dealing with the impact holidays have on teams. Anthony pointed out that high school basketball is one of the only sports where coaches have to plan around several major holidays. She said tryouts are before Halloween; then there is Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, and MLK Day. There are also regular exams like the and ACT and SAT.
“We have every major distraction that any sport could have,” Anthony said.
Anthony is also an innovator. She would like to see a shot clock in high school similar to college.
“There are two things to consider,” Anthony said. “It would bring continuity in every game. No one can freeze you out like it used to happen in the college game. Number two is when you have a running clock it does not allow all the kids to get in the game. A regular shot clock simulates what colleges play. I’ve had teams try to hold the ball after they get up by two in the first half.”
Anthony and many of her peers are also concerned about the influence of AAU basketball that leads to a lack of fundamentals.
“Our whole thing is in individual practices we stress fundamentals in a two-hour practice,” Anthony said. “Coming off AAU games where there is a running clock and you can’t foul out, it a lot of undisciplined play. AAU kids try to make college coaches see them. They are looking for points or who can shoot the three. Coaches need to retrain the brain as to what is most important and what are coaches looking for. Teams have a hard time when they don’t weather the course of fundamentals.”
One of the biggest changes in sports and society over the past decade is social media. Anthony said kids are more distracted than ever. 
“The most major change is not the rules of the game, but the rules of life,” Anthony said. “Kids are walking in the gym on the phone. They are texting constantly. There is a lack of discipline in home and the classroom. When kids walk in the gym, we have to retrain the brain. We have them for two hours, and for 22 hours they are somewhere else.”
One way the Nease staff deals with social media is by taking players’ phones away on bus before road trips. On overnight trips the players have a curfew for phones.
Drilling down deeper into society issues, Anthony said a coach wears many different hats. As dean of students for Landrum Middle School, Anthony said she sees too many students across the nation being raised by grandparents or single parents. She said coaches in general try to be a parent, mentor, counselor, and a bridge that reconnects with students.
Anthony also realizes that some student athletes nationwide don’t have a strong foundation of two loving and disciplining parents as she did when she was growing up.
“One was a disciplinarian, and the other was a praying, faith-filled mother who got me through some hard times,” Anthony said. “These kids don’t have that. As a coach, and a staff, we start it all with prayer and faith, parenting, coaching, ‘good cop’ and ‘bad cop’ and mom and dad mentality. We’re not going to win every game. Life is much more than a game. We make it more like a life lesson; not just basketball.”
During her three-decade career, Anthony has seen 17 players go on to play at a higher level. She has won one state title (1999). She also realizes that more often than not, most of her players are not going to play in college and the majority of her teams will not win a state title.
In an age when many coaches are reluctant, Anthony does not shy away from expressing her faith to her team.
“My mom used to say to me that you might be the only Bible, church, or Christian that these kids hear about,” Anthony said. “What if they don’t hear this from anyone else? When we have games, when we are rushed to get to the court my kids will say, ‘Coach, we didn’t pray yet”. That tells me something.”
The loyalty her former players show to the program is admirable. Anthony said every year she gains new family members, meaning after they graduate, former players are a part of a revolving family.
“I had a kid call me on Christmas Eve that I had not coached since 1986 and she asked me how I was doing,” Anthony said. “I was there when one of my kids had a baby, and her husband couldn’t be at the hospital; I had not coached her for six years.”
In a day where coaches constantly jump to various jobs, Anthony has been very loyal to Nease.
“I was at Keystone Heights, and then I went to Flagler College,” Anthony said. “I’ve just been loyal to a school that was loyal to me. Flagler recruited me. We won a state title at Flagler. When I got to Nease, we were grades 7-10 and playing a varsity level schedule. We took it on the chin at first. I thought once I get my varsity level team that I will stay here. We won a state title in 1999. New schools have popped up, and others asked me about going there, but I have my picture hanging on the wall. I knew in the beginning I would never leave Nease.”
When she does leave Nease, Anthony said she wants to be a consultant or part of a program. “I love the cerebral part of it,” Anthony said.
“I don’t know when I will retire, but when I feel the Nease family has gotten big enough; then, I will stop coaching and do something else.”
Anthony said she could not have achieved her success without her coaching staff; especially assistant coach, Bernie Blue, who has been a loyal friend and professional over the years.
“He’s my dearest friend and most trusted colleague.” Anthony said. “He’s been at my side, and I’ve been at his, since the beginning. We’ve been there for one another through the good times – wins, championships, birth of his grandchildren; and through the bad times; losses and the death of our beloved parents. I certainly would like him to get recognition for his love and loyalty to me and the program.”
Coach’s Corner/ North Florida / February 2015
Sherri Anthony
Nease High School
Jacksonville (Ponte Vedra),FL
BRENT BEAIRD
Faith and Fundamentals
