PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Sports teams will often refer to themselves as a family, but when it comes to defending state champion Beaverton girls basketball, that phrase is taken a little more literally.
Mom, Kathy, is the head coach, dad, John, is Kathy’s assistant, and daughter, Maddie, a senior at Beaverton high, is the team’s starting point guard.
“Sometimes it’s kind of hard because both your parents are with you at practice and then you go home and they’re there again, which can be kind of difficult,” said Maddie with a smile as Kathy jokingly pushed her.
Maddie is the last of Kathy’s three daughters, who are four years apart in total in age, to play for their mom, so this season will certainly mark the end of an era at BHS.
“Actually, you just said that,” referring to her youngest graduating. “It made me pause for a second. I can’t believe that this little one is about to graduate. It’s crazy.”
As Maddie alluded to, sometimes the mom-coach relationship can be hard to balance, but the difficult times have been far outweighed by the memories the family now shares.
“It’s obviously a blessing to just be around her. I mean, having your mom as a coach is special,” said Maddie.
“I’m just really blessed, and I feel like I’ve gotten to observe things that I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t coaching, so it’s been super special,” said Kathy.
Maddie’s basketball career under mom may be coming to a close soon, but it’s not nearly over as she’s headed to play for Santa Clara University next fall.
“She’s worked her tail off,” said Kathy. “She’s put in so much time to get better year-round, taking care of herself, works hard in the classroom, and has just gotten better every single year, so to just see her reach her dreams has been pretty incredible.”
But for the time being, there’s one last dream here calling Maddie’s name; and that’s going out on top with a second consecutive state championship.
“It’d be amazing, and obviously it’s a goal of ours, but anyone can go out there and do it, so it’s just motivation to keep working hard every single day,” said Maddie.