Greenville Coach's Secret of Success

Mar 08, 2008

Even after last Wednesday night’s 67-60 triumph over Portageville, Greenville girls’ basketball coach Diane Rainwater Meyer still has a pretty impressive “to do” list pending. Let’s see now…March 8: Coach the Lady Bears in the quarter-finals against the Metro (St. Louis) Lady Panthers at Farmington (today!). April 19: Celebrate 4th wedding anniversary. April 19, Part II: Bring Baby Ian into the world. May 3—

Wait a minute. Say what?

In a still-somewhat-uncommon twist on multi-tasking, Meyer has guided her players to district and now sectional honors while sporting team-inspired red-and-black maternity wear, and holding forth at length in post-game interviews—fielding queries with a verve and grace some might find challenging even without a “Baby Ian” on board.

Meyer’s ability to foster excellence and cohesion among her players in the heat of competition is well-documented. How she’s helping them turn up the heat on opponents when the stakes are at their highest, less than two months before the birth of little Ian—this may seem a bit of a mystery to some.

But Meyer says there’s nothing mysterious about the source of her continuing drive courtside: “I do a lot of praying on the bench! Without God in all this, I just wouldn’t be able to do it”. She admits to sometimes becoming “overexcited” by the intensity of the action on the floor, but says she always manages to regain her grounding through prayer on the spot.

Under Meyer’s leadership, the Lady Bears of Greenville are bringing their best efforts forward against some of the toughest teams in the region and beyond, and coming up champs. However it is not surprising that, as championship season draws closer to its finish, Meyer will be turning her focus increasingly upon the impending birth of Baby Ian. She and husband Donnie Meyer look forward to giving the warmest welcome to the child they refer to—for reasons more substantive than may be explored in a brief profile of this nature—as “our miracle baby”.

Diane Rainwater Meyer: the secret of Greenville’s ever-lengthening story of success on the court!

Go Lady Bears!!!