Morgan Hall of Fame to induct Tanya Lybarger Childers on May 3
For the Enquirer
Making a family move from one town to another is probably never easy, especially when you are a high school student.
The move sophomore-tobe Tanya Armstrong made to Hartselle in the summer of 1983 seems to have worked out well. The now Tanya Lybarger Childers is one of the winningest athletes/coaches in the history of Hartselle High.
In three years, Childers played on two basketball state championship teams. She was part of a 62-game winning streak and was named Alabama Player of the Year in 1986 by both Gatorade and USA Today.
Childers returned to Hartselle after college and began a 30-year coaching career highlighted by building a powerhouse volleyball program that won 1,101 matches with 13 trips to the state tournament and a state championship in 2012.
Childers, 57, is being inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame on May 3 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront.
“We moved to Hartselle from Rainsville,” Childers said. “I played on my first basketball team when I was in the sixth grade. It was a boys team at Plainview (in Rainsville). I didn’t know what to expect when I got to Hartselle.
“I joined the team at Hartselle that summer. I was a nervous kid before that first summer practice. When I saw girls like Vickie Orr, Jennifer Maples, Beth Reed and Tabitha Yates, I thought this is going to be fun, but I never really expected us to do quite as well as we did.” In 1983, high school girls basketball in Alabama was in the infancy of a rebirth. The sport had flourished in the state until 1947 when the state school board decided for a variety of reasons, including that the game was not “ladylike,” to discontinue it.
The sport took a timeout for 25 years until the Title IX ruling in 1972 concerning fair and equal opportunity for both women and men across the country forced it to return. The Alabama High School Athletic Association held its first girls state championships in 1978.
The college game for girls in Alabama was also just starting. Auburn’s program started in 1971. Alabama followed in 1974. Coaching legend Pat Summitt coached her first game at Tennessee in 1974.
No matter what level of play, the sport in 1983 needed to build a following. One way was to have a superstar player, and Hartselle did with the 6-foot-3 Orr, who went on to be an All-American at Auburn.
An even better way was to win. The Hartselle Tigers did that to the max under the direction of head coach Jerry Reeves.
“We thought we had the opportunity to have a pretty good team not just because of Vickie, but also because we had some other good players on the team who understood their roles,” Reeves said. “When Tanya joined up with us, we got even better.” In that 1983-84 season, Hartselle’s record stood at 18-5 on Jan. 28 after losing that night to rival Austin, 44-38. The next night Hartselle got back in the winning column with a 70-28 romp over Cullman. The Tigers would stay in the winning column for another 61 games over three seasons, including two state championships.
Nine more wins gave Hartselle the 1984 Class 3A state championship. A 62-53 win over Keith earned the program its first state championship trophy.
“One of the games I remember most from that first season was at Sparkman,” Childers said. “Vickie was sick. She stayed home and missed the game. Sparkman had a pretty good team and we still beat
State, Page B-2 them. I think that gave everybody a lot of confidence going forward that we could win even without Vickie.” The Tigers didn’t miss a beat in the 1984-1985 season with a 27-0 record to complete the repeat. Only four opponents could hold Hartselle’s winning margin to less than double digits. The Tigers took the Class 5A crown with a 72-42 win over Monroe County.
Orr ended her career at Hartselle as a two-time state champion with a 37-game winning streak. Reeves ended his coaching career to move into school administration.
“We were lucky to have some success,” Reeves said. “That was some fun times and I think we built a pretty good foundation for the program’s success that they are still having today.” John Cochran followed Reeves as head coach and faced a high bar for success.
“Thankfully for me and the program we had a great leader in Tanya,” Cochran said. “Even though she was a big part of two state championship teams, Tanya approached every day at practice like she was trying to make the team.” The success continued starting in the season opener in November with a 47-46 win over Brewer. The Tigers survived several close calls that season before advancing to the state tournament semifinals with a 25-0 record.
Hartselle’s first opponent at the state tournament, which was played that year for the first time at Calhoun Community College, was Monroe County. It was the same opponent that Hartselle beat by 30 points in the championship game the year before.
This time it was a different season with a different outcome. Monroe County snapped the 62-game winning streak with a 42-40 victory.
“Even this many years later that last game still sticks with you,” Childers said. “We should not have lost that game.” In addition to the Gatorade and USA Today honors, Childers was named All-State for a second time and named The Daily’s player of the year.
Childers began her college playing career at Austin Peay and finished at Montevallo. In 1991, she was back at Hartselle as a teacher and coach.
“We were eager to get her back to Hartselle because she was such a good example as a student and an athlete,” Reeves said. “We knew Tanya would be a good role model.” In her first 10 years back at Hartselle, Childers coached basketball, volleyball, tennis and softball. In 2002 she took over the volleyball program for a 20-year run that put the program among the best in the state.
Childers credits her background as a math teacher for driving her success in a sport she never played.
“I was a math teacher for several years and really enjoyed it,” Childers said. “To me coaching volleyball is a lot like a giant math problem. It’s a giant puzzle where you have to make the pieces fit together.” Part of the puzzle of volleyball involves the rotation of the players on the floor. It can get complicated trying to decide a lineup that best allows your team to score and also shut down the opponent’s offense.
Hartselle’s high-point in the state tournament came in 2012 with the Class 5A state championship. It was the culmination of a 10-year journey for the program under Childers’ direction. The Tigers came close to the finals in 2011. They lost in the semifinals to St. Paul’s of Mobile, which went on to win its fifth state championship in six years.
The experience of coming so close to a state championship inspired Hartselle in 2012. The Tigers returned to state and beat county rival Brewer in a memorable semifinal contest. That set up a rematch in the finals with St. Paul’s.
“Even with the odds stacked against us, we never doubted that we would be able to win the final match the next day,” said Hartselle’s Sarah Ellen Anders, who played on that team. “I remember on the bus ride there, Coach reassured us that this game was ours to win and she had no doubt that we were about to achieve our goal.” Hartselle dominated St. Paul’s with an incredible 3-0 sweep.
The championship was even sweeter for Childers because her daughter, Taylor, was on the team. Many of the other girls on the team had grown up knowing their coach as Taylor’s mom.
Inside Childers’ home in Eva is a room that celebrates her coaching career as well as the coaching career of her husband Jerry. In that room is a framed display of photos that show the championship celebration after winning the final point.
One of the photos shows Childers celebrating with her arms up in the air and her feet off the floor. The victory gave Childers the rare distinction of having won state championships as a player and coach.
“Winning a state championship as a player was amazing,” Childers said, “but winning a state championship as a coach with your daughter on the team was really special.
“I enjoyed all the girls I coached. The relationships you develop with your players are really special because you know they last forever.”
