Stratford girls coach Smith nearing milestone
Ed Smith is closing in on a huge career milestone, but one would not know it from talking to him.
Smith, who has been the Stratford girls basketball coach for the past 15 years, won his 499th career game Wednesday night when the Eaglettes beat Mount de Sales on Wednesday night, and will go for number 500 on Friday night when his team meets up with FPD at Stratford.
“We knew coming into this year that number 500 would probably happen, but really I am more focused on getting this team back into the playoffs, said Smith, who has won five region and two state championships in his tenure at Stratford.
“Wednesday night was one of those frustrating games where we could not hit a shot and we are in a tight ballgame in the fourth quarter, and then we go on a 11-0 run to win the game. The win was good, but we are still looking to be a consistent basketball team.”
Smith coached at Briarwood and Brentwood before heading to Stratford, and he actually served as an assistant to John Paul Gaddy for three years at Stratford before taking over the girls program.
“I felt like at the time it was the right move for my family because I had two young kids and I wanted them to attend Stratford,” Smith said. It has been a great move for my entire family.”
Smith admits he has thought about what it means to get to 500 wins.
“When I think about getting to 500 I basically think about all the great kids I have coached over the years and how lucky I have been to be around three great schools,” Smith said. “I mean I did not come to Stratford and all of a sudden the team started winning games. They were having success way before me. These kids were brought up winning basketball games and I think the most impressive thing is we never really have a down year. If we graduate four seniors one year, we usually have another group of young girls ready to step in.”
Smith, who has a 314-87 record at Stratford, hopes to stick around for years to come.
“Well I’m only 50 years old and I still love what I do and Stratford is a great place to be, so I would love to keep it going,” Smith said.
Stratford is currently 10-2 and is led by sophomore guards Nadia Reese and Mary Elaine Mitchell, who are both averaging 13 points a game.
“We have a team right now that has the ability to be very good, but we still have a long way to go, Smith said. “The FPD game will be like any other game because it is a region game that we need to win to stay on top of the region. We can reflect on what number win it was later. Right now, we are just trying to win a region championship.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 7:04 AM with the headline "Stratford girls coach Smith nearing milestone."