Good coaches are good motivators, and Andrea Robinson is one of the best. "We really emphasize working hard, sacrificing, and paying the price," says Robinson. This is Robinson's second year at Cedar Hill, and her impact has been immediate. They went three rounds deep in last year's playoffs, and now are in the state tournament for the first time in 12 years. But it wasn't easy at the start. "The first practice was rough, because they weren't used to the intensity," says Robinson. "And I'm real animated and I push them, and they weren't used to being pushed to the max." "She pushes us hard, like harder than we did in the past," says senior guard Diara Moore. "We never went this hard before she came. We always just settled." If Robinson's motivational skills aren't enough, her medals are. She displays them in her office as a reminder of how blessed she is. Robinson led Fort Worth Dunbar to state championships in 2005 and 2007, and showed her players just what they're playing for. "She showed us some of her rings and the medals they did when they went down there," says Breanna Dawkins, senior guard. "(It) made me want to go get one." Robinson and her coaching staff showed their players the medals before the regional championship game, which she says made them hungry for their own. Cedar Hill's girls basketball team lost in the championship game in both 1996 and 1997, and those banners hang in the gymnasium. "Every day when I walk to lunch, I see them every day, I look up there," says Moore. "I really want to do it his year, I believe this is the team to do it this year. It kind of motivates me too." And with this team, it's all about motivation.
