Teague conductor of Melbourne train

Melbourne Coach Eric Teague has been consistent in where he pins the team’s success it has enjoyed over the past four ye a rs . For him, it unequivocally starts and ends with his players.

But when a group caps off an undefeated season with a fourth consecutive state title, there’s something to be said about leadership.

“For me, when I came to Melbourne, where I grew up, I came here to work as hard as I could to make this community proud of me and this program,” said Teague, who was named the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Girls Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. “My hopes are that I have done that and will continue to do everything I can to continue.”

The evidence suggests that Teague has done more than enough to make his hometown proud.

Melbourne won its first state championship in 1973 when girls were playing sixon-six, but Teague ended a 36-year title drought when he led the program to a Class 2A crown in 2019. He backed that up by guiding the Lady Bearkatz to another one the following year before completing a three-peat in 2021. Throughout all of those impressive runs, his coaching job this season was probably the most impressive.

The Lady Bearkatz lost five of their top six players from last year, including four starters. Yet, Melbourne crushed just about everyone it faced and finished undefeated (340), which is something it never did during its three previous championship pushes.

“For me, [the title] is very special because of the hard work these kids have put in,” Teague said. “My joy and success is experienced through their happiness and accomplishments. For these kids, I think it justifies all the hours they have spent in the gym preparing for this piece of history and helps them see what they are capable of when they work hard and what they were able to accomplish when they trusted each other.”

The Lady Bearkatz also trusted Teague, who didn’t allow the team to take a back seat to anyone, despite the wave of talent they were forced to replace. Melbourne rallied behind Tennessee- Martin signee and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps first-teamer Kenley McCarn and commenced to administer continued beat downs.

Of Melbourne’s 34 victories, 31 of them were by at least 10 points. The team’s average margin of victory during the postseason was 29.8 points, which culminated with a mercy-ruled, 33-point win over Bigelow in the state final two weeks ago.

“I think our town has embraced [championship] with open arms, and they have such a pride for these kids and what they have accomplished,” said Teague, who’s gone 130-7 over the last four seasons. “They have supported this program this year so much, and I couldn’t be more thankful that we were able to do this for them.”

Teague