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Defense Dynasty

July 30, 2019

According to Merriam-Webster, the word dynasty has been in use in English for over 600 years, for most of that time referring to a ruling family that maintains power through succession. Around the beginning of the 19th century, the word developed the figurative sense “a group or family that dominates a particular field for generations.” Since 1985, coaching of the Miami Senior High’s girls basketball team has remained in the family—the Baumgarten family.

Coach Sam “Boozer” Baumgarten returned to his alma mater in 1997 to act as Head Coach of the Lady Stings junior varsity team and Assistant Coach of the varsity team. The coaches he assisted were his parents, Sam and Jeanette Baumgarten. In 2008, Coach Boozer took over as Head Coach when his parents retired from coaching. Today, Coach Boozer’s assistant coach is his brother, Nick. Although retired, Coach Boozer’s father continues to help with coaching and his mother “peeks her head in every once in a while.” Can you imagine the talks at the family dinner table? “It’s a pain in the butt. We all have so many different insights and nobody holds their tongue because we’re family,” says Boozer. Either way, they are doing something right. The Baumgarten family has coached their teams to 26 District Titles over the last 29 years, 6 GMAC Championships, and 3 State Championships.

The Miami High Lady Stings are certainly a powerhouse basketball program in south Florida. Further, Coach Boozer is one of the most recognizable coaches in the region. Many would agree that his strong court presence commands respect from players and others within the basketball community. “I want to coach kids that want to play basketball. For me it’s all about winning,” Boozer admits. “It’s a competitive sport and I have a lot of passion for it. When I have a kid that comes in, by the time that kid leaves I want that kid to take the game seriously. Understand that you’re only as good as you defend somebody. Have a passion for it. When you step on the floor, have passion for what you’re doing. Don’t just do it to do it. I don’t want to joke around. I’m totally different when you see me coaching out there and when you see me on the outside. I’m a totally different person. I try to explain that to my kids all the time. When this is going on, be real. Be a monster out there. When we step on that court and those uniforms go on, it’s no joke.”

In addition to his family, of course, Coach Boozer credits his coaching style to the amazing coaches he had the opportunity to play for: Shakey Rodriguez, Frank Martin, Anthony Grant, and Cesar Odio. When asked what sets him apart from other coaches today, Coach Boozer responded: “I can’t really speak for other coaches, but I just know for me, the gym is open. We are in here as much as we can. I want to give the kids a place to go. What would they be doing today if they weren’t in the gym? It concerns me. I know some kids make wrong choices and bad decisions. So for me I think they have more reps because the gym is open.” When it comes to his coaching philosophy, Coach Boozer preaches defense: “I would never say I’m the best coach in the County, but I will never not say I’m the best defensive coach in the County. I don’t think anyone does it better than I do it. Especially in today’s age, there is so much focus on offense. I can always learn offensively, but you’re not going to teach me defense. I got that. And that came from Frank Martin, for sure.”

When asked about the importance of leadership from the players, Coach Boozer answered: “I thinks that’s one of the reasons why we’ve struggled the last couple years. We’ve been successful but we haven’t won. I look back at the 2005, 2014 and 2015 groups. They were leaders; they didn’t care what the other kid thought about them. If somebody wasn’t doing something right, they would tell them. This generation is different. They’re all worried about their social media, who they’re following. That kills me, the following thing on social media. It’s been implemented in sports. We’re followers but that’s not what sports are about. Sports are about leaders. If we had a better leadership role the last two years, we would have had 2 state championships, without a doubt.”

I asked Coach Boozer how important his legacy was to him. He responded: “Not at all; not a legacy for me. I think it’s more for my family and for the school. But for me, I couldn’t care less. 40-50 years from now, the coach here may not even know who I am. It’s more about impact on the girls and impact for the school. I was born 5 blocks away from the school and this is basically all I’ve known since I was a kid. I just have a lot of passion for the school and I want to see good things done for the kids and for the school. I think a lot of people that are not Miami High people don’t get it and it’s good, because we are like a cult or whatever you want to call us. But there’s only a few people that are keeping us going. I want more kids to come back. One of my favorite games was in 2018. We were playing Ferguson at Miami High to go to State. Ferguson was the favorite. So it was all over social media. I had about 30 former players here to watch that game and that was huge for me. That was huge. That’s what I live by.”

Coach Boozer has coached girls basketball at Miami High for over two decades and he has most definitely excelled. One can only wonder what’s next for this superstar coach. “I had an offer to coach the boys here but the timing wasn’t right. I’ve always thought about it because this is my alma mater. I have also thought about college. Financially, it would have to be the right situation and preferably in the state of Florida so I can stay in the retirement system, I would really consider it. I wouldn’t mind taking that next step. Now on that same note, it would be hard, because we get a lot more time with the kids. The coaching is what I do and what I want to do. They have limited time with the kids. A lot of coaches are complaining about that, as far as college goes. So that would be a hard pill for me to swallow. But if it were the right situation, I would definitely think about it.”

Coach Boozer encourages all of his players to Buy In: “Buy in to the culture, buy in to me as a coach, buy in to your sister next to you, buy in to working your butt off.” When joining the Miami High Lady Stings program, one thing is for sure: you’re absolutely buying into a basketball family that has brought excellence to the forefront.