Husband-Wife Team Coaches Women's Basketball

By Feliece Turner
Black College Wire

Marriage isn't easy, and neither is coaching. But for the past few years, husband and wife duo John and Debra Clark seemed to have made it work.

Debra Clark

Before the season, the Clarks spoke about their life as husband-and-wife coaches.

Q: Where did the two of you meet?

Debra Clark: At Hampton University.

John Clark

Q: When did you begin working together?

Debra Clark: In 1994. I coached at Winston-Salem and John came on as part time. We were there for about seven years before I accepted the job here at FAM.

Q: Did you receive a lot of negative criticism for hiring your husband?

Debra Clark: No, not really. Actually we received more positive feedback than we did negative.

John Clark: There are a lot of coaches out there who are family members — a few of them in the state of Florida as well as around the country. I think that people respected us for it. A lot of people can't handle what we do.

Q: How is the responsibility for the team delegated? Who does what?

Debra Clark: I have three full-time assistants. John . . . handles all of the recruiting and the traveling stuff.

Q: Do you ever take the job home with you?

Debra Clark: We do at times. If there's something bothering either of us, then we'll talk about it at home. But it doesn't happen all of the time.

Q: What activities do you get involved in besides basketball?

John Clark: We play golf.

Debra Clark: I don't play.

John Clark: I play, she watches.

Debra Clark: I love to read and he has his computer.

Q: Does it get hectic being around each other all of the time?

John Clark: No. Like she said, she has her books, and I have the computer. Whenever I come home, her nose is almost always stuck in a book, and I head straight to the computer. And we don't leave for work at the same time, so we do have our space from each other.

Q: You have a son who is 14. Do you want him to travel down the same road as you have with sports?

Debra Clark: He doesn't have to. We don't try to enforce the rules on him in that way. We let him choose the sports that he chooses as long as he knows that we're all one team.

John Clark: I played football in college, but he has no passion for it. Right now, he's all about basketball, and that's not a problem with me.

Q: You mentioned teamwork. Who handles most of the responsibility at home?

Debra Clark: We both do. We all try and tackle the household chores together. It gets done faster that way.

Q: Where do you plan on taking the basketball team this year?

Debra Clark: Well right now, we're in the pre-season stage. But the team has excellent team spirit and the girls are bringing forth a strong effort. Of course, we want to work toward a league championship.

Q: Has working together helped you to learn more about each other?

John Clark: Yeah. I'm more laid back and she's more of a rush.

Q: Do you have any advice for coaches out there who are family members or couples?

Debra Clark: You have to learn how to separate your work life from your home life. When we come home, we're like a regular married couple. And you have to be able to deal with the ramifications of working together. Like we said earlier, it's not for everyone.

Q: Is she the boss at home?

John Clark: Twenty-four hours. No, make that 25 hours.

Feliece Turner, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan.

Posted Dec. 26, 2006