Johnecia Howard, a 2005 University of Arkansas graduate, became a high school basketball coach last year. This year, she was named Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All Arkansas Preps coach of the year.

Howard did not originally plan to be a coach. However, what really makes her story unique is that, when the opportunity arose, she faced additional challenges that came with coaching at a school that does not have a gymnasium.

She took her eight-student girls’ varsity basketball team at eStem Public Charter School to a 29-6 record and the Class 3A state championship, the first for the downtown Little Rock school that opened in 2008.One of her players became eStem’s first NCAA Division I signee in November signing with the University of Central Arkansas.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette cited Howard’s leadership in taking the team to a state championship in only its second year after becoming a member of the Arkansas Activities Association. In a slideshow with voiceover the newspaper created, the narrator said the school had no home court advantage and no school gym for practice. The team practiced at East Little Rock Community Center and split its home games among three gyms at other schools in the area.

Amanda Sullivan, clinical assistant professor of kinesiology in the U of A’s College of Education and Health Professions, met Howard when both were graduate students in Fayetteville. She said Howard did what good coaches and teachers must do – monitor and adjust.

“Johnecia is definitely in a unique situation, not having a home gym,” Sullivan said. “In the ‘Principles of Coaching’ class, we discuss the strong possibility of having poor facilities, but we never really discuss coaching without facilities. I don’t think I know anyone else who coaches but doesn’t have a field, court or gym to use, which makes her story even more amazing! How in the world do you win a state championship and not even have a gym to practice or play in?! If you don’t have what you need, you find another way to get it done, or find a way to get what you need. She has done an amazing job without, but just think of what she can do with the facilities and equipment they need.”

Howard began teaching physical education at eStem in 2010, becoming dean of athletics for the school the following year and then the basketball coach for the girls’ team the year after that.

“When I was in college, I originally didn’t have any desire to go into coaching,” she said. “I wanted to work as a recreation director.”

Howard was an honor student while earning a bachelor’s degree at Hampton University in Virginia in 2003 and then in the master’s degree program in recreation and sport management at the University of Arkansas. She worked with Razorback athletes during graduate school, finishing in 2005, and then went to work in college athletics at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., for three years.

Her mother had been in the military so Howard moved a lot as a child but her parents had settled in the Little Rock area, where they were originally from, so she wanted to come back to Arkansas. The eStem job was her first time to coach at the middle school and high school levels.

“I definitely wanted to be able to have an influence on younger children,” she said. “I thought I could relate to them sooner and have more influence than if I were a college coach.”

Howard feels the award was earned by her entire team, not just herself as coach.

“It’s all about the team,” she said. “A coach is only as good as the team they put on the floor. I would not have gotten this award if my team hadn’t performed as well as they did.”

Numbers have doubled already over last year with about 20 girls planning to try out for the team next year, Howard said, and she has set a goal for herself to raise funds so that the school can have its own gym.

“One of my goals is to make that happen for the school,” she said. “As the athletic director, I have a responsibility to put these kids in a position to be successful all the time. They can’t compete effectively without a facility. Most people have no idea of the logistical challenges of maintaining an athletic program without playing facilities. We are definitely unique.”

Howard said, in addition to her team and the school, support of family members – her husband, Demario Howard, her mother, Dell Mitchell-Henry, and her mother-in-law, JoAnn Howard – made the coaching honor possible. She was pregnant during much of the basketball season and her second son, Anthony, was born in May. She and her husband also have an older son, Braylon.

“The biggest thing I want my girls to get out of playing basketball is to see that they have value,” she said. “It is really important for young women to understand value is not dictated by a relationship or a job; it’s who they are on the inside, knowing who you are, figuring out what type of woman you want to be.”

“Sports also teaches these young women resilience, perseverance, how to make decisions quickly and how to trust other women,” Howard said. “It’s way bigger than basketball.”

Sullivan said Howard is successful because she truly cares about people.

“Win or lose, on or off the court, her student-athletes are important to her and they know it,” Sullivan said. “When you know that someone cares about you, you will do anything for that person; I think that’s how Johnecia’s athletes feel about her. They always give their all because they want to make her proud. It’s not just about the X’s and O’s; lots of coaches know how to teach the game. It’s about treating them as individuals, being fair, and being genuine. Johnecia is all of these.”