Tina Madison guided the Hempfield Area softball team to a WPIAL Class 6A Championship in the spring, and now her husband will have the same opportunity with Spartans girls basketball. The school board approved Bob Madison as the new head coach last week.

“It’s a program that I think has a lot of potential, and really just looking forward to getting started with everyone,” said Madison, whose previous basketball coaching experience came as an assistant at Laurel Highlands.

Most recently, however, Madison has been in the dugout next to his wife during softball season. Madison has served as an assistant with the program for two seasons, helping Hempfield Area capture its eighth district title with a 2-1 victory in extra innings against Seneca Valley this past campaign.

His connection to the softball program and its players will be beneficial in his transition to the hardwood, Madison believes.

“It makes it so much easier,” he stated, highlighting Sarah Podkul, Allie Cervola, and Mia Shipman as athletes who participate in both sports.

Additionally, Madison, who has twin daughters in the middle school, believes his connections will help grow the roster.

“I have relationships with girls who played in the past and did not continue to play at the high school level. Several of them…expressed interest in playing again if I got the job,” he detailed.

Madison inherits a program that went 9-13 overall, including 3-7 in Class 6A, and missed the playoffs. Subsequently, Tom Brush stepped down after five seasons as the head coach, during which he compiled a mark of 37-63.

“It’s a huge commitment if you want to run a program the right way,” Madison said. “Being introduced to it previously at Laurel Highlands was good because it gives me an idea of how I want to do things here.”

That commitment will include a focus on developing the youth programs for basketball. For decades, Hempfield Area has benefitted from a softball feeder program that produced elite talent, and Madison hopes to implement a similar system on the hardwood.

“There’s not a whole lot of local opportunity for these girls to play. And that’s something I’m really going to work hard on to get going,” he noted.

While his long-term goals include contending for WPIAL and state titles, Madison has an immediate objective to reach the playoffs, a feat that had been achieved just once – during the open tournament in 2021 – over the past half decade.

“We gotta break that glass ceiling and get in. And once we get in, we need to make some noise,” he said.

Throughout the process, Madison also knows he has a championship-winning coach whom he can turn to for advice.

“I’m sure she’s going to throw her two cents in here or there,” he said of Tina. “She’s somebody I’m going to rely on and lean on.”