The Prairie girls basketball program has a new head coach and the last name is sure to be familiar.
Hala Corral, who has been coaching with the Prairie youth program for 14 years, has been named the head coach of the high school program that has reached the state round of 16 for 19 consecutive seasons.
Corral is the mother of Ashley and Heather Corral — two legendary players at Prairie who went on to play Pac-12 basketball.
Because of her experience with the youth program, Hala Corral already knows the current players at the high school.
“I want to bring them the Prairie basketball experience. I want to show them what that’s all about. I saw the rich tradition that Al had,” Hala Corral said, referring to Al Aldridge, who coached Prairie to six state titles before resigning after the 2012 season.
“I saw what it did for my two oldest kids. I want to give the current kids the same team camaraderie.”
Andy Schoonover, Prairie’s athletic director, said Hala’s basketball knowledge and passion for Prairie is excellent.
“Everyone I’ve talked to speaks really highly of her coaching ability,” Schoonover said. “Lot of kids and parents say this is the coach they want.”
Players in the program have known for a couple of weeks that Corral was expected to be named the coach. It became official Monday night when the school board approved the hire.
Hala Corral has been coaching for 30 years, including her first job as a city worker in Paramount, Calif. She also was a head coach at a small private high school in Victorville, Calif.
Corral played college basketball at Cerritos College before knee injuries ended her career.
Corral takes over for Brett Johnson, who coached the Falcons the past three seasons, which included back-to-back trips to the Tacoma Dome for the state’s elite eight.
“No pressure, right?” Corral said with a laugh.
While league titles and state berths are important, there are other priorities for Corral.
“I value integrity and respect over winning,” she said.
“I want to bring team and unity to the program. I’ve coached well over a thousand games in my career. All kinds of levels. What kids remember the most are not necessarily the wins and losses. They remember the respect they had for the game, the trips they made. They’ll remember what it means to play Prairie basketball, what it means to the community.”
She considers herself a disciplinarian and is looking forward to starting a new era at Prairie.
“We’re going to work hard. If they buy into the system and work hard like I know they will, we’ll have a successful season,” Corral said.
“I’m honored to be the coach.”
Schoonover to leave athletics — In other Prairie news, Andy Schoonover, the school’s athletic director, is leaving his post after this academic year to become the assistant principal at Pleasant Valley Middle School.
He and his wife have two children and another on the way.
“I love working at Prairie. I love Prairie. It’s really hard to be a good athletic director and a good parent with young kids,” he said, noting the many evening and weekend hours associated with the job.
