By Harry Turner
From Columbia, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois, Miriam Tesfamikael has officially arrived at DeMatha Catholic High School for Capitol Hoops Summer League. Tesfamikael is in her first season as Varsity Head Coach of The Brook making her the only female boys high school basketball head coach in the state of Maryland. After a tough loss to the Trojans on Monday, Tesfamikael mentioned “flashes of them being able to turn the corner, and forget about [The Trojans] being bigger, faster, and stronger.” The coaching staff is aware that they only have two players who aren’t making the transition from JV to varsity. With that transition comes growing pains. After the loss Tesfamikael said she felt like a parent teaching a child. “They’re going to have to learn this the hard way. This is a new atmosphere with a different level of play.” Coming from her playing days at the University of Chicago and coaching in the Chicago area for several seasons, The Brook Head Coach sees DMV basketball as a “little more flashy…the whole bench, the whole crowd gets involved with every three pointer, every dunk, steal, and crossover. It’s a little bit more of a showman’s type of game.” Tesfamikael coaches with an emphasis on defense. From her early playing days she “knew defense was hard… I did not know how hard it actually is if you want to be elite at it.” With the proper guidance Tesfamikael’s young varsity team has a chance to have a bright future.
When asked about being the lone female head coach at Summer League this year, Tesfamikael admits: “I don’t think about it too much, it gets brought up to me more than I actually realize…It’s good when anybody gets an opportunity. I’ve known a lot of great coaches that are women that do a really good job with guys, but it’s really hard to break into this kind of culture.” Many male coaches have been given the opportunity to work in the women’s game. Unfortunately, female coaches are still struggling to break their way into men’s basketball. Tesfamikael is proving “it’s all about the person and the way they see the game.” For a young head coach, Miriam Tesfamikael has been around the game for a long time. From playing college ball to coaching for 11 years, Coach T believes she studies “the game differently and interprets the game in different ways. I don’t think that has anything to do with me having ovaries, but just my love for the game and my willingness to learn.” Despite a bad loss in that first game, Tesfamikael is able to see the bigger picture and promote the energy and work needed to max out this group’s potential. This varsity squad will have two more years together as a unit before anybody graduates. To her young players Coach T emphasizes, “we don’t have any seniors right now, but that is not any excuse.” Coach T doesn’t “want [her players] to care about how old they are compared to everyone else…Those are things that are out of our control.” The boys from The Brook might be inexperienced, but it’s hard to envision a better coach for the job.