Remembering a Florida Sideline Legend

Some major names have stalked the sidelines of South Florida’s high school basketball gyms over the years, including Frank Martin, Anthony Grant and Shakey Rodriguez. But few have done it with the sustained success of Dillard Women’s Coach Marcia Pinder.

She served 44 seasons on the bench, winning 996 career games while guiding the Lady Panthers to 10 state titles, according to the Miami Herald.   

Pinder died last week. She was 70.

Beyond any of her in-game schemes or pre-game speeches, Pinder was a trusted confidant to hundreds of teenaged girls over the better part of five decades.

“She was a mentor, an advocate, a second mom to many of her players,” Florida Rep. Omari Hardy wrote on Facebook. “She taught generations of young women how to excel on and off the court, and it was in that lasting, personal impact that she took the greatest pride.”

Pinder was named Florida Dairy Farmers Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year five times over a six-year span beginning in 2010 and received the prestigious Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, according to the Herald.

She was inducted into the National High School Athletic Association Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.

Few high school coaches have won as many games as Pinder, but based on the number of poignant tributes that flooded social media following her death, it would seem safe to say that not many have touched as many lives.

“The epitome of mentorship, love, discipline and leadership,” tweeted Ole Miss Women’s Coach Yolett McCuin.

“She was more than just a Coach!” Auburn Women’s Coach Johnnie Harris tweeted. “She impacted the lives of many people in many ways! She will always have a special place in my heart!

Pinder's legacy serves as yet another pivotal reminder to us as leaders that as much as we agonize over Xs and Os, our bottom line, promotions or firings, what we’ll be remembered for most is the way we uplift our players and employees.

“My biggest thrill,” Pinder told the Herald in 2014, “comes from the girls getting into college and pursuing their degrees. When you constantly see these players get to college, it makes you feel good. You don’t think about that last loss or last win. Some of them have turned out to be teachers and doctors. That is my Hall of Fame, right there.”

May Coach Marcia Pinder rest in peace.