Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Coach Back In Action
PRAIRIE GROVE — Victory doesn’t appear without a battle something Prairie Grove girls basketball coach Kevin Froud walked through achieving an off-the-court victory that won’t show up in his scorebook.
He ended 2020 in covid19 quarantine, and began the New Year in the same fashion, circumstances that don’t seem fair for a coach, who led Prairie Grove to the 2010 Class 4A State championship and a State Runner-up finish in 2011.
Yet, Froud doesn’t waste energy complaining about camping out in social isolation, while his team practiced and competed without him.
He found ways to coach during games by texting injured players out of the lineup, sharing his insights while maintaining the dynamic of player-coach relationships.
“It was very different. As a head coach that’s the first three games I’ve missed — ever,” Froud said.
While Froud languished in covid-19 quarantine, his three sons couldn’t come in the room with him, but they heard him yell while watching games on the PGTelco webcasts provided for local schools, Prairie Grove, Farmington and Lincoln.
The Lady Tigers went into overtime hosting Paris on Dec. 29 bringing out the competitor in Froud.
Hearing dad’s instinctive vocal coaching reactions yelling at the video screen imploring players, who should do this or shouldn’t have done that, made the boys laugh — reaping benefits of laughter naturally building up their own immunity and reducing stress of the household crisis.
Prairie Grove’s eventual 53-51 triumph in overtime after overcoming a 37-32 deficit at the end of three quarters behind a 26-point performance by junior guard Trinity Dobbs gave the family reason to celebrate.
Prairie Grove appeared poised to do it again, staying within four points of then conference- leader, Farmington, 33-29, at halftime on Jan. 5. The Lady Tigers’ offensive production fell off as Farmington made adjustments and rolled to a 74-43 win.
One game played at the brand new Blackhawk Arena on Jan. 8 at Pea Ridge wasn’t broadcast due to a lack of internet connection — leaving Froud feeling like he was flying blind.
“I was nervous or whatever. They didn’t stream the game so I had no clue to what was going on or what happened there,” Froud said.
Some fans kept him in the loop by texting scores, which he appreciated. Still, the scenario proved more nerve- wracking for the veteran coach not seeing the game develop for a program he’s invested heavily into.
“I want to be there for the girls and have the opportunity just to be with them and be there because they put in hard work so it was hard,” Froud said.
“Covid stuff ’s not fun. I didn’t have a lot of energy at all. I was just sitting there and even my first game back against Gentry coaching, I caught myself catching my breath every now and then cause it wasn’t too fun.”
The Lady Tigers won 35-27 on Jan. 12 breaking a two-game losing streak.
Froud didn’t need a covid experience to bring things into perspective. He didn’t need to be reminded, he enjoys his livelihood immensely.
“It’s what I went to school to do and it’s what I wanted to do,” Froud said. “As a coach you want to win a lot more than you lose, but a lot of it’s about the relationships with the girls and the players and being around the sport that you love. I’m very appreciative to be able to be here today to coach and very appreciative to be at Prairie Grove and just to have a job and for my kids to go to school here.”
Froud marvels at the level of competition in the 4A-1, pointing out games weren’t decided until the fourth quarter in conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
“The four teams that make it to Regionals could be any different combination,” Froud said.
“Any night there’s no cupcake games. You got to come out and play. If you don’t, you’ll get beat 30 pretty easily and quickly so you got to be physically and mentally ready and take advantage of your opportunities. I think we’re probably the top girls league in the state of Arkansas.”
Prairie Grove defeated Huntsville, 52- 41, giving Froud two wins in the three games he’s coached in since returning.
Farmington and Gravette needed overtime before the Lady Cardinals prevailed, 72-67.
Froud was a little surprised Berryville knocked off Pea Ridge, 46-35, but not altogether because the game was played at Berryville’s Bobcat Arena.
“Pea Ridge beat Farmington [58-57 on Jan. 12] and has been beating everybody pretty soundly,” Froud said. “At Berryville, that’s a hard place to go, I had a state semifinal team a few years ago and we went over there and only scored 17 points,” referring to a 41-17 loss on Jan. 16, 2015.
“It’s a hard place to play at times and score.”
In another game, Shiloh Christian dropped a one-point, 44-43, loss to Harrison.
“We’re divided up into East and West and that was a very big game for who was going to get to be first over there [in the West Division]. This league is tough,” Froud said. “Shiloh’s got some new players who are eligible this year, and some other players that they’ve moved up so it’s just going to be a battle every night.”