When Fern Gardner persuaded Anita Rowland to play basketball for the University of Utah in 1980, she couldn't have known the gift she was giving to women's basketball in this state.
No, back then, Rowland was just another talented athlete, who ate, drank and dreamed about hoops.
"I loved practice as a player, which probably set me apart as a true anomaly," said Rowland, who after 14 years as the head coach of Alta High School women's basketball program announced she'll retire at the end of this season.
Rowland is an anomaly for a lot of reason, but most of all because she's not just another basketball junkie teaching strategy and skills to teenage girls. She offers help, encouragement, praise and advice to any player who seeks it — whether they wear red and black or not. She cares first and foremost about the education and welfare of the girls who come into her gym seeking any number of things from her game.
Rowland's not leaving the prep ranks for college hoops, or anything else that usually comes after all the success she's had. Her reasons are her husband, Richard, and her two-year-old son Parker, aka P-dog. Oh, and the second child she's expecting in June.
"I've been pulled in two directions," she said. "You don't want to miss anything in your children's lives. To quit cold turkey, I couldn't do that. But I've been weaning myself.
Her coach's salary barely covers the cost of having sitters come to the house. so mom can give young, aspiring athletes her time, attention and wisdom about a game that has consumed her life for more than 30 years.
At the helm of Alta's program, she led the team to it's first ever girls basketball title in 2002. She's coached nine current college players and 22 first-team all-state players, who once called themselves Hawks. In her summer basketball program, she's helped 70 girls go to college on scholarship. She currently has the fourth-ranked 5A team and a 227-122 record. But it's not really about her stats.
She gives to the girls she coaches, like Judge Memorial's talented coach Mary Chris Ledbetter and BYU assistant Alli Bills, a passion for a game that she says she will never give up completely.
"I'll always stay involved," she said, noting she'll still run her summer program. "It's too much a part of my psyche, my life to push it aside . . . This is my talent. This is what I do. It'll be hard. I'm not going to jump for joy. It will not be a happy day when I move on."
But she's focusing on the postitives of retirement at 41. Her soon-to-be two children, her husband, oh, and watching some of those players she coached in high school now competing on college courts. And she promises, she'll still be teaching. "I'm always surprised when I lose a game, and I'm always excited about preparing for the next game. You have to be an optimist to coach high school sports."
E-MAIL: adonaldson@desnews.com