STAFF PHOTO BY STEPHANIE KENIGSBERG Up for the shot Meredith Berry of the Port Aransas High School Lady Marlins shoots during a scrimmage against the Incarnate Word Academy Angels in Corpus Christi on Saturday, Nov. 1. Berry is one of two returning seniors on a team that nevertheless boasts experience, with six varsity players back from last year. Stephanie Foerster's last job was coaching girls' basketball and track at Corrigan-Camden High School in East Texas. But it was football that was king at that high school.

This year, Foerster begins her first year as coach of the Lady Marlins basketball team at Port Aransas High School, where no football is played, and basketball is the sport everyone in town gets excited about.

Does Foerster feel pressure?

"I like it as a challenge," she said. "It's fun to enter something like this. It's demanding, but I like that. I like coming to a place where the kids care about (basketball) as much as I do. There's a good work ethic that way."

Foerster was hired to replace Randy Henderson, who resigned as math teacher and Lady Marlins coach at PAHS in the spring to take a nearly identical position at Salado High School, about 40 miles north of Austin.

STAFF PHOTO BY STEPHANIE KENIGSBERG Coach Foerster Port Aransas High School Lady Marlins coach Stephanie Foerster huddles with her players during a scrimmage with Miller High School's Lady Bucaneers in Corpus Christi on Saturday, Nov. 1. Foerster is beginning her first year with the Lady Marlins. She replaces Randy Henderson, who took a coaching job in Salado, north of Austin. Foerster inherits a team with only two seniors - Meredith Berry and Hannah Jones - after five seniors graduated in May after the 2007-08 team advanced into the playoffs before losing in the regional quarter finals.

But Foerster isn't worried.

"I'm very optimistic," she said. "We have a lot of kids that need to fill the roles the seniors left, but they're excited about that."

Foerster is instituting a system that's a little different from what Henderson ran last year.

"Because of some (player) inexperience, our offense is a little more structured," she said. As the girls progress, they'll get more freedom on the court, she added.

On defense, the Lady Marlins will be playing more of a manto man game than before.

The girls are adjusting well to the new game plan, Foerster said.

"The kids are willing to learn," she said. "They're listening."

Foerster said her assistant coach, Javier Mendoza, deserves a lot of credit for helping her implement her plans. Mendoza has worked in Port Aransas ISD athletics for about 15 years, serving at different times in various basketball roles including coach of the Brundrett Middle School girls' teams, assistant coach of the PAHS Lady Marlins and coach of the PAHS Lady Marlins JV.

"He knows these kids, and he knows my vision, so having him as my assistant coach has been tremendous," Foerster said.

Despite having only two seniors, the new team is not so inexperienced as one might think. Six varsity players have returned to the team. And many players on the team boast great speed, agility, accuracy and strength.

"They're very athletic," Foerster said. "They allow us to do a lot of things."