By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A former Missouri Western women's basketball standout is making strides in the coaching world
Former Missouri Western player and graduate assistant Chelsea Dewey, from Gower and an alum of East Buchanan High School, is preparing for a new season as head coach at junior college Arizona Western.
Dewey went 21-10 as an interim head coach last season, ultimately falling in the Region 1 semifinals to eventual champion Cochise College
Dewey says it may sound a bit hard-headed of her, but she feels the team should have made the final last year, and she doesn't consider her first season as coach successful.
"You know anything short of the Region 1 final is not success, I feel like this year we can be in that Region 1 final," Dewey tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So that's what I'm shooting for in who I recruit and how I coach them."
In May, Arizona Western Athletic Director Jerry Smith stripped the interim title from Dewey and officially named her just the second head coach in Lady Matador's history.
Dewey says at such a young age it’s exciting to have this opportunity leading the junior college program
"Being in a leadership role for these young women as well, I mean a woman leading young women just showing that they can be leaders in whatever they dream to be next is kind of the goal of this," Dewey explains. "And just showing that you can make mistakes and still be successful in what you're doing and still send the message to get the bigger picture across at that young age."
Dewey says after falling short of the Region 1 finals last year, the goal is to make it there this year, and always be one of the toughest teams on the schedule
"Compete every night, and I can't thank them enough because I have a lot of coaches compliment how hard we play, so keeping that motive in mind," Dewey says. "And just trusting the process to make sure whatever we're doing every day is setting us up for success, we're not going to earn the championship tomorrow so how are we getting 1% better every day to take the championship."
Before becoming the head coach at Arizona Western she served three years as assistant under head coach Patrick Cunningham, after serving three years as a graduate assistant under former Missouri Western coach Rob Edmisson.
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