By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Six years ago, Tracy Fendley left coaching for a job in the Houston County school system as the Adapted PE coach.

          Now she’s back.

          Long a fixture on the Warner Robins girls basketball sidelines, Fendley is returning to the game as the new head girls basketball coach at Veterans.

          The school made the brief announcement Thursday on social media.

          The 1994 Warner Robins grad spent nearly a decade as an assistant under longtime head coach Tom Mobley before taking over after the 2014-2015 season.

            Warner Robins went 65-17 in Fendley’s three seasons, rebuilding in her last season after a two-year run of 50-5.

          She resigned in April of 2018 to take a role as a county adapted physical education specialist, and helped keep the Houston Sharks high school basketball dynasty rolling as well as work with the county’s Special Olympics program, and related endeavors.

          It’s the latest notable hire among Houston County girls basketball programs.

          Northside hired ChoRhonda Harris from Jones County in March, and Houston County recently hired Dani Wright from Gilmer County and some big Atlanta-area powers.

          Harris went 120-77 at Jones County, and Wright takes a record of 118-78 to Houston County.

          Stephanie White was Fendley’s assistant at Warner Robins and took over shortly after Fendley’s departure. The Demonettes lost in the 2023 GHSA Class 5A championship game.

          Fran McPherson just completed her first season as Perry’s head coach, the Panthers finishing 6-18. She became Perry’s fifth head coach since 2016-17.

FPD’s Spear steps down from softball, Bridger hired

          In 29 years at FPD, Lisa Spear has been like the player a coach calls upon to play wherever needed, whenever needed, and all is well.

          Spear has been an FPD varsity head coach in girls basketball, softball, and girls track, and an assistant in those three sports as well as in girls soccer.

          As well as keeping game-night stats and maintaining social media updates.

          And she was the school’s 2017 teacher of the year.

          Ever so slowly, she’s pulling back, including stepping away as the head softball coach a few weeks ago after five seasons.

          “I really did it as a favor to (athletics director) Greg (Moore),” Spear admitted. “I probably stayed longer than I should have.”

          According to MaxPreps information, FPD went 43-74 under Spear, 23-27 the past two years back in GISA/GIAA competition.

          “I can’t tell you how many wins I have in any sport I’ve been head coach in,” she said. “I have no idea. (Former head coach) Charley Chase used to say, ‘You know you have the best winning percentage in basketball at the school.’ I was like, ‘Well, I can’t tell you what it is.’”

          She remembers several Final Fours in seven years – 1997-2005) as head girls basketball coach, but softball has been more of a struggle. She was handed track in her first year at the school.

          She’s also coached a variety of teams on the middle school level.

          As for the 2024-25 year?     

          “I am going back to basketball, as the varsity assistant and the JV (head) coach,” she said. “I sat out last year (in basketball) for the first time in, well, way back, 35 years. It was weird. And I did not like it.

“I got in to teaching to coach basketball.”

          She plans to stay with the girls soccer program, as well as middle-school softball. But the 55-year-old graduate of John Milledge, Valdosta State is uninterested in returning to the head coach gig on the varsity level.

          “It’s too much,” she said. “The year gets longer and longer, and there’s so much to do. I’m trying to work my way out a little bit.”

          Bridger, a Southwest grad, has an extensive background playing adult slow-pitch softball, as well as coaching youth and travel softball.

          Daughter Olivia is a graduating senior at Tattnall who is headed to GMC JC.

Around the Central Georgia carousel

          Jones County is looking for a head baseball coach, as per a recent social media post from athletics director Chad Alligood.

          Mike Paulk is out after three seasons, moving up on the staff  in 2022, replacing Jason Page. Paulk, who had been a head coach at Pelham, went 8-24 and 14-12, and the Greyhounds finished 16-14 this season.

          Putnam County is also looking for a baseball coach. …

          As per the GIAA/GISA jobs board, there are assorted openings in Central Georgia, as of recently:

          Twiggs Academy, head football coach; Stratford: head baseball coach; Tattnall: girls soccer and girls basketball head coach; Trinity Christian: head boys basketball coach. …

          Perry has hired Ally Clegg as its new softball coach.

          After setting records at Lee County, she played at Chipola College, Coastal Carolina, and Valdosta State. She’s currently a graduate assistant at Valdosta State, which is 28-19, two years after reaching the NCAA Division II South Super Regionals.

          She replaces Daniel Wood. The Panthers went 21-8 and reached the Elite Eight in Columbus last season.

          Dodge County posted recently that it’s looking for a boys head basketball coach, for the second time in less than two years.

          Cedric Jordan was approved in June of 2022, after serving as an assistant with the girls team for two years. The Dodge County grad had also coached at West Laurens and Middle Georgia State.

          The Indians went 21-5 last season, and Jordan was the Region 1-AA coach of the year. …

          Mary Persons is looking for a softball coach again.

          Jessica Evans took over in 2022-23, replacing Hannah Grossman. Evans is from Lamar County, and coached the Trojans for eight years, including a Final Four trip in 2019. She led South Effingham to 51 wins in the two seasons, out of four, before she returned to Central Georgia.

          The Bulldogs went 20-32-2 the past two years. They’ve had four winning seasons in the last 10.