Valerie Cooper was hesitant when Bel Air principal William Ekey first offered her the job as head coach of the Bobcats varsity girls basketball team.
Cooper, who had coached Bel Air's junior varsity girls basketball team for four years, realized that as JV coach she was a natural choice, but she was cautious.
"I thought it would be fun, but I didn't know if I was prepared for that level," said Cooper, who played basketball for Bel Air before graduating in 1976. "After I thought about it a while, I thought, 'What the heck, I'll do it.' "
Cooper's reluctance to take over for Phyllis Hemmes seemed justified on Jan. 10 when Bel Air's record dropped to 1-9 after a 44-36 loss to North Harford. The Bobcats finished at 5-13 last season.
However, since losing to the Hawks, Bel Air has won seven of eight games. Thursday's 48-39 win over Joppatowne -- a team that beat Bel Air, 41-39, early in the season -- raised the Bobcats' record to 8-10 overall, 5-5 in the Harford County League.
"Individually, I knew we had good players all along," said Cooper, who took over Bel Air's varsity softball team last spring and was named the Baltimore Sun's Coach of the Year for Harford County after leading the team to a 19-2 record and the state semifinals. "It took a while for everyone to get used to each other and to me as their coach, but they're progressing nicely and they're winning games.
"The team we have now and the one we had at the beginning of the season are like two completely different teams. This team we have now is confident and it's playing with a different attitude."
Senior co-captain Jean Tyrrell, a four-year varsity player, attributes the success to Cooper's guidance and the team's willingness to follow.
"Coach Cooper brought a lot of positive thinking to this team and she got us believing in ourselves and knowing we can win," said Tyrrell, a 5-foot-6 shooting guard who is averaging 10.5 points. "Even at the beginning of the season when we were losing, she kept telling us we can win and she used positive reinforcement to make us believe that."
Bel Air's other captain, senior Amy Whitsel, played under Cooper on the JV as a freshman and has taken a liking to Cooper's upbeat coaching style.
"Coach Cooper is real positive about everything and if she sees we're getting upset she won't let us get down on ourselves," said Whitsel, a 5-11 forward. "She wants us to do well but she also wants to make sure we're having fun."
Cooper, who had sweat shirts made up for her players with the in scription "Refuse to Lose," credits her bench -- namely Kim Kafka, Casey Hentz, Kim Bauguess, Colleen Keefe and Kellie Flynn -- for helping the Bobcats out of the league cellar. But players credit Cooper.
Junior guard Jackie Hinson, who along with Tyrrell, Whitsel, Katie Merrick and Lynn Wilkinson, round out Bel Air's starting five, gives all the credit to the first-year coach.
"I think Coach Cooper is one of the best coaches I've ever known," said Hinson, who is Bel Air's leading scorer with 10.6 points a game. "She not only knows how to handle us as players, but she treats us like we're one of her own kids and she has us united as one. She has us believing we can win it all."