Harry Dobson coached at St. Mary's for 21 years and won over 300 games.
by Mike Buchanan
mbuchanan@digitalsports.com
Harry Dobson, long-time girl’s
basketball coach at St. Mary’s high school, has retired after 21 years with the
program. St. Mary’s Athletic
Director Dave Lanham issued a release about Dobson’s decision on Friday
morning.
“Harry is going to be sorely
missed at St. Mary’s. He has put his heart and soul into this program,” said
Lanham. “As a result of his efforts and hard work, girls were given the
opportunity to play at an extremely competitive level for an excellent coach. I
will miss him, his blue-collar work ethic and his candidness. Harry wouldn’t
always tell you what you wanted to hear but he would tell you exactly how he
felt. I think I appreciate that most about him. He’s a great man and it has
been an honor for me to work with him.”
Dobson started coaching the
JV in 1986-88, and then started with the Varsity in 1989. In his 21 seasons, he
compiled a record of 306-184 and led the Saints to the Catholic League
Championship in 1989, 1992, 93, 94, and 96. He also produced numerous Division
I players during his time.
“It’s been a great run, but
the last three years have really been trying. With Dave [Lanham] leaving and a
new A.D. coming in who I won’t know, it just seemed like a good time to call it
quits,” added Dobson. ”I’ll be 69 just before the next season starts and I just
don’t have the energy anymore, I’m too tired. Maybe somebody new can come in
and light a fire to spark the program.”
“With newer schools in the
county like Indian Creek and Annapolis Area Christian, both having new
facilities, along with Spalding, and St. Mary’s having the same gym as when I
got there, it’s just real tough getting players in. It makes it very tough
competing against St. Frances, Seton Keough, McDonogh and the other A
Conference teams – they’ve got the horses,” added Dobson.
It’s an accomplishment in
this era to find a high school sports coach who has been with a program for,
say, 10 years. To find one who has coached at the same school for 20-plus years
is rare indeed. Those coaches have usually enjoyed success, and Dobson was no
exception.
When reached at his home
yesterday, Dobson said “That first season in 1989 we went 28-4 and won the
Catholic League championship. We beat IND for the title.”
When asked to name some of
the better players from his teams, Dobson said “There have been so many over he
years, it’s hard to name them all: Emily Lipton, Terri Daniels, Maria Smears,
Felicia Holloway, Amy Mulligan from those teams in the late 90’s. They won it
all in 1996 and 1998. And many others all the way up to Bri Gauthier, who is
still playing D1 at Mount St. Mary’s.”
Gauthier's father, Art, was an Assistant Coach with Dobson for five seasons. "Harry is a great coach with a huge heart and a true love of the game," said Gauthier. "He recognized talent and allowed and demanded those players to become leaders. He had the ability to get the most from his players and team based on the level of players he had. Under Coach Dobson, a player's destiny was in their own hands based on the amount of effort they were willing to put in. He rewarded effort."
If time allowed for me to
contact every current IAAM Coach, there would be numerous Harry Dobson stories
to tell. One coach who had many battles against Dobson is current Jim
Stromberg, current Head Coach at St. Paul’s School for Girls, but then-Head Coach at Seton
Keough.
Reached at his home late
last night, Stromberg said “Wow, we really had some good battles. My second
year at Seton Keough, St. Mary’s won the league but we won the Catholic League
tournament. They beat us by about 40
points during the season but I think had a player out with injury and we were
able to win it. The next year it was reversed - we beat them twice in the
regular season and won the league and they beat us to win the tournament.”
“In Lipton’s senior year,
1999 I believe, Keough beat SM in the championship at Towson State;
we pulled out two tight games in the tournament. It was the last year of the
Catholic league, the only year that SK won both the league and the tournament.
Harry had maybe five D1 players on that team; it’s not often that happens. We
were very fortunate to win it that year,” Stromberg went on to say.
“Other than that one time
they blew us out by 40 points, all the other games we played were close. The
girls from both teams played together or against each other year-round as part
of the Hurricanes AAU group, and it was fun to watch these kids battle. Harry
had a lot of soccer and lacrosse players – basketball was a stop for some of them
in between seasons but they were great athletes and very good basketball
players.”
“Against Harry, you always
knew you’d get a good game and you better be ready to play,” said Stromberg.
As far as a replacement for
Dobson, Lanham said, “We won’t begin a search for at least a couple weeks.
Harry’s retirement happened suddenly, so we haven’t talked that much about it.”
When asked for a final
comment on his retirement, Dobson said, “It’s been a great run and I’ve enjoyed
every moment. I’ll miss the kids and I’ll miss the coaches in the league.”
You’ll be missed as well,
Harry.