Dave Albert has had many opportunities to become a high school basketball coach in his career but has chosen to not accept just any job. He has prioritized looking for the right one and he found his perfect match when he agreed to become the Berkshire Badgers girls’ basketball coach.
“I am very excited,” Albert told The Weekly Villager. “With the summer stuff going on, I have met all of the girls and it is a great group of girls. They seem like they really want to work hard and that is half of the battle, having good girls who are good players and people. Everything has been really positive so far.”
Albert inherits a Berkshire girls’ basketball program that was coached by James Bosley, whose tenure ended with the Badgers after his contract was not renewed by the School Board of Education. Despite only having one year of coaching varsity high school basketball, Berkshire’s new coach is far from a novice.
For the last 14 years, Albert has run his own AAU program, the Lake Erie Defenders, and oversees 14 teams, attracting players from neighboring counties in Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania.
According to Albert, his experience running the Lake Erie Defenders has him well-prepared for what a full season of girls’ varsity basketball will bring.
“I think it will serve me very well because I have been put into every situation in the AAU circuit,” he noted “We have longer times to work with the girls down at Berkshire; this is a big positive.”
Albert began playing basketball in the Madison Youth League when his father served as a head coach. He acknowledged that although he started playing basketball at a young age, he did not fully understand the game despite always being one of the biggest players on the court.
Everything changed for him when he started seventh grade and Coach Ed Reed, now the Fairport Harding girls’ basketball coach, took him under his wing.
“There was not a lot of skill development in the youth level so he talked to me about different moves down in the post and he got me more post work,” Albert added. “That is where I really got into footwork and fundamentals as far as basketball and evolved myself into a player.”
Albert was a two-year varsity starter for the Blue Streaks’ varsity team and continued his athletic career at the University of Mount Union and played for two more years before injuries took their toll. He stayed connected to basketball by running basketball camps during his college years and continued doing so after graduating.
He served as a junior high basketball coach for two years at Ledgemont but stepped away from coaching due to work and family responsibilities. His time away from the game did not last long because as the father of five boys—each one of his children played basketball in the Madison Youth Leagues and he began coaching them the same way as his father had done for him.
In 2010, he founded the Lake Erie Defenders with his oldest son being one of its first members when he was in sixth grade. He said he wanted to give kids an opportunity to not only play more basketball but also make sure they could develop the right way.
“I see a lot of coaches who do not work on fundamentals,” he said. “They get away from fundamentals. They all worry about winning at a youth level. I am as competitive as the next person. I like to win but at the bottom line it is all about developing kids for their high school teams and our AAU program.”
The Lake Erie Defenders has become a family business for the Albert family, with four of his five sons now serving as coaches in the program. Throughout 14 years, Albert’s program has coached the likes of current Jacksonville Jaguars’ tight end Luke Farrell and former Champion standout Drake Batcho, who now pitches in the Seattle Mariners’ minor leagues.
Albert coached the Jefferson boys’ basketball team for a season in 2018-19 but was one-and-done. Even with how busy his AAU schedule kept him, he still wanted another chance to coach high school basketball but needed the stars to align. He has found the perfect fit with Berkshire. Although his youngest son is a senior at Madison High School, coaching the Badger girls does not interfere with his ability to see his youngest play because the two programs compete on alternate nights.
Albert will be coaching almost year-round. His duties as the girls’ coach will not interfere with his ability to still run the Lake Erie Defenders.
“It is something I have always wanted to give back to. It is a longer period of time to teach kids more things. You have more time to do it, between the length of the season and practicing every single day,” he said.
