A Coaching Pioneer
When Karen Davis applied to be the head coach of Union High School's boys basketball team in 2003, she wasn't looking for attention.
She wasn't looking to make waves as a woman taking over a boys program.
Her reasoning was very simple.
“The boys team was really struggling and I had two sons in the program at that point, Devin and Colton,” Davis said. “I thought to myself, 'I can stay in the stands and whine about it as a fan or I can step up and try to change things.'
“I asked my boys if they were OK with the thought of me coaching them. I would not have applied if they didn't want me to, but they told me to do it.”
Davis got the job and returned to the same court where she had previously coached Union's girls team for 10 years. At the time, she was believed to be just the fourth woman to coach a boys team in Western Pennsylvania.
“Many of the boys on those teams were friends with my kids growing up and were over at our house all the time. They knew me and what I was about.”
There was no doubt Davis knew basketball. During her time as girls coach at Union, the Damsels compiled a record of 203-67. But would the boys be receptive to instruction from a woman?
“Girls can be much more sensitive and a lot of boys think they know it all,” Davis said. “But the biggest thing as a coach, you need to earn the players' respect. I always seemed to have a good rapport with kids.”Showing teenage boys she could be stern was important as well.“There were boys who ended up playing for me who had older sisters or girls they knew who I coached on the girls teams. They'd hear stories about the conditioning the girls did and how they'd be so sore afterward. I think there were times the girls team worked harder than the boys.“I think they were OK with me coaching them, but the parents, some of them didn't think a woman should be coaching a boys team.”Davis first had to change the culture surrounding the program before wins could begin to pile up.“The boys had to be taught how to win,” said Davis. “Losing is easy, but teaching a team how to win is the hardest thing.”But the turnaround was rather swift for the Golden Knights. After a 7-17 record in Davis' first season, they went 20-5 in her second.Scott Kindel, Union's athletic director since 2001, was not surprised Davis led the boys team to success.“Karen was a great evaluator of talent,” he replied in an emailed interview. “She had the uncanny ability to get that one player that most coaches would have overlooked. She was able to develop that talent into a player that would become a key contributor.”By the time she stepped down from coaching the program in 2012, the Knights had won 60 percent of their games under her guidance and were regular participants in the District 9 playoffs.Her youngest son, Austin, played for Davis before graduating in 2012. He did not expect to receive special treatment from his mother and did not receive any.“There were times after a game or practice when we'd be arguing with each other, but we had respect for each other and were eventually able to put our differences aside,” Austin said. “She was definitely the right person for the job.”Davis grew up around basketball. Her father, Bus Burns, coached for years at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Clarion.“Kids always seemed to be comfortable around my dad,” she said. “It was from him that I learned how to deal with players.”Davis played at Clarion-Limestone her freshman year, after which she moved with her family to within the boundaries of the Union School District. For the next three years, she played guard for legendary Union girls coach Ed Jamison.Shortly after graduating, she began her coaching career as an assistant for Union's junior high girls team.Following a stint as a junior varsity coach under Jamison, Davis took the reins of the varsity squad prior to the 1992-93 season.Davis did not shy away from offering constructive criticism. She knew it was necessary for her players to reach their full potential and she later used it to help turn around the boys program.“Karen was the type of coach who let you know what you did right as a player and a team as well as what you did wrong,” Kindel replied. “She was each player's biggest fan outside their families and this helped her earn a total respect from all of her players.”Davis' husband, Dana, helped run the Davis Cookie Company in Rimersburg.“Dana's mom and dad started that and he joined the family business,” Davis said. “I was lucky. He was so good at being Mr. Mom at night with our kids and that allowed me to keep coaching.”As much as she loved coaching, Davis does not have any regrets walking away when she did.“I always loved kids and enjoyed the camaraderie with the other coaches, but I knew it was time to retire,” she said.She has not left the game of basketball behind, however.Her daughter, Penny, became a basketball official over 20 years ago, eventually working with NCAA Division I and the WNBA.Likewise, Karen Davis saw becoming a referee as a way to stay involved and works games all over Western Pa. every winter.“I love it,” she exclaimed. “But I think every coach should know what it's like to be a ref and every ref should know what it's like to be a coach.“I wouldn't have been so hard on the refs back when I was a coach,” she said, laughing. “I plan to be an official for as long as I can, at least a few more years.”
