Cambridge High School Female Basketball Coach Won’t Back Down

You might call her “Mrs. Basketball”, but even with her love and command of the sport, this coach knows hoop dreams aren’t everything.

Student Stephen Storch, who told us about the coach, says she is not afraid to say so.

“She knows how to tell people how it is” says Storch.

Sheryl Weber talks tough and tells her team members there is "No such thing as can't."

When she got cancer twice, she fought it. When her daughter took her own life, Weber grieved and still does.

“I break down every day,” Weber says.

But instead of crumbling, she joined the Suicide Prevention Coalition.

“I’ve never allowed the adversity to stop me," said Weber.

So, it was no surprise last year when she was the lone lady in an all-male race for a big coaching job. She aced the challenge and became the "in-girl."

Now Weber is one of a few women in all of Ohio to coach a boys varsity team – the Bobcats at Cambridge High School.

“A lot of people have a real problem with women being in charge of boys," she says.

But her supporters cheered her on. Then she took the ball and has been making her players run with it ever since.

They don’t make a big deal about the woman thing.

“It’s no different than a man coaching. She knows what she is doing," said senior Conner Johnson.

There are doubters. Because Cambridge is pretty much starting from scratch with its lineup this year, the team has been told they would only win a few games.

“Just from watching practices and scrimmages, I think we’ll do better than two wins, yeah.,”  said Storch.

We just want be the best we can be with her," said senior basketball player Trevor Wilkinson.

Her team members love that she pushes them - and not in a punishing way.

"I don’t see the purpose of degrading someone for mistakes," she says.

She pushes them in a positive way on and off the hardwood.

“She says she’s going to put the student back in athlete," said basketball player Joran Watson.

She demands a higher GPA of her players than the norm.

"And if they don’t meet it, they have a mandatory study table from 6:45 to 7:45, three days a week,” Weber says.

Weber is, after all, a teacher who wants to prepare her players for the game of life.

"Part of that is building character, teaching right from wrong and giving them a work ethic.”

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