By Nate Trela

As she guides Manchester's basketball team through practice, Sarah Irish barks out directions to her teammates like an on-the-court extension of coach Michelle Gill. Earlier in the season, Irish would pull aside a couple of the younger players and break down plays with them.

Those moments are a head start for her aspirations of becoming a coach, patrolling the sidelines and passing her knowledge of the game on to others.

"She'll make a good coach because she has that ability to see what's happening on the entire floor," Gill said. "She echoes what the coach says on the sidelines and has the ability to see things all over the court."

Irish, one of only two starters back from Manchester's 1999 Heartland Conference runner-up squad, took charge of the Spartans from the first day of practice. Gill, in her first year as head coach, was immediately impressed by the tiny point guard making a lot of noise.

"She's done a fantastic job in every way," Gill said. It's nice to have a point guard who can dribble, drive and penetrate, who knows when to kick it out and when not to kick it out. She has an uncanny ability to win and she never wants to lose, even at practice....

"And the way she penetrates the lane and takes on 6-footers, you forget she's only 5 feet tall Maybe she's 5-1 in her tennies."

Irish has been forced to put all of her skills on display as the team adjusted to Gill's game plan. Although the Spartans played a lot of fast-break basketball last season, Gill brought a style of play with a faster tempo than much of the team was used to. The duty of bringing the team up to speed fell to Irish, naturally.

While Manchester stumbled out of the gates to a 5-8 start, Irish had to hold the team together. But her teammates have gained experience, and she is starting to spread the scoring load around and concentrate on creating opportunities for them to get involved.

"Now they understand me better, and I understand them better," Irish said. "At the beginning of the season, I just took charge. I have a natural leader inside of me, and I've always done that, but I think that I have led them to where we need to be, and now they're finally ready. Now I'm backing off and letting them pretty much go. I don't have to tell them every single thing."

At times, it means suppressing her inner coach -- not an easy task for someone who has dreamed of being in charge of a team since she started playing basketball. Irish has helped out at basketball camps and enjoyed taking charge at those, but the rigors of being a head coach are at odds with her plans for life after college.

"I really don't want to have a head coaching job, because I want to have a family and really enjoy it," Irish said. "I'd love to help out with a junior high, or a high school, or anything if it worked into my plans. I definitely would love to stay around basketball."

Although Irish's playing days are almost over, she could still be involved with the Spartans next season. She has one more semester left and talked with Gill about being an intern/assistant coach in the fall. No firm decision has been made, but both sides agree it would be a great way for the team and Irish to make the adjustment to the end of her playing career.