The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Phlipot hired to lead Lady Cougars

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Hannah Phlipot has been chosen to lead Van Wert’s varsity girls’ basketball program.

The fifth grade teacher at Van Wert Elementary School was hired as the new coach during Wednesday night’s Board of Education meeting.

Hannah Phlipot

The 2008 Van Wert High School graduate knows a thing or two about winning. She played varsity basketball for four years and was part of the 2006 Western Buckeye League championship team. More recently, she served as the junior varsity coach for the last three seasons.

“This has allowed me to develop and maintain strong relationships with the girls in our program,” Phlipot said of her recent coaching experience. “The culture is already set and the girls know my expectations.”

“I have high, but reasonable expectations for the program. We are rebuilding and have been for the past few years. Coach Rob Adams did a tremendous job of laying the ground work for our program. I hope to continue to build on that foundation and teach our athletes to compete. I think we can compete with every team on our schedule and every team in the WBL.”

The Lady Cougars were 6-17 (2-7 WBL) during the 2018-2019 season and will lose four seniors to graduation, but Phlipot said the cupboard isn’t bare.

“We return five varsity players to our squad along with big sophomore and junior classes,” Phlipot explained. “The freshman class shows a great deal of athleticism and promise. It is going to be a very fun puzzle to piece together as the season inches closer.”

The new coach also said the first priority is to develop a winning culture with a close group of girls.

“Family has been our mantra for the past three seasons and that will continue,” Phlipot explained. “We are a very tight knit group of girls and coaches and we support each other in all things, that won’t change. This offseason the focus will be on fundamentals and developing team unity and we will refocus and refine our goals as the season approaches.”

Henry Florence will serve as junior varsity coach during the upcoming season.

POSTED: 05/15/19 at 10:12 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports