Ashlee Curtis was officially named varsity girls head basketball coach at El Dorado a little over a week ago. But it’s a role she’d been filling all summer.
Curtis, who was head coach of the freshman Lady Wildcats the past two seasons, said the girls’ program has made progress this summer.
“This summer our gym has been full of student-athletes. I have had the pleasure of being with grades 7-12. Each day, there have been new girls,” Curtis said. “We have been in ‘GAINZVILLE’ (the weight room) and are getting stronger as a program. The 7th-9th grade student-athletes have attended two camps this summer. Both camps they executed the new things that were given to them. This year we are working on being accountable and staying disciplined. They have done very well.”
The Lady Wildcats were scheduled to attend a team camp at Arkansas-Little Rock on Wednesday.
Curtis took the program’s reins from Jae Kell, who resigned in the spring. She talked about some of the changes she would like to bring.
“We have made a change to our culture,” said Curtis. “We are working on not only being accountable for ourselves but also accountable for each other. There is a lot of ‘want to’ in the gym everyday. Everyone wants to be there, they want to learn, they want to get better.”
Curtis said she’s hoping to get the coaching staff finalized. In the meantime, she’s excited about her new job.
“I am very excited and extremely blessed to even have been considered for this job,” she said. “This is a big deal for not only me but my student-athletes. There were a lot of great coaches who applied for this job and I am just grateful they picked me. I have a lot of passion for this program and I’m excited to give it everything I’ve got.”