By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

It was basketball practice and boot camp all rolled into one.

The Troup High Lady Tigers spent part of Monday’s practice working with a basketball, but they probably spent more time doing various conditioning exercises put in place by the team’s new head coach.

Welcome to the Carla Winston era at Troup High.

Winston, a hoops standout at Callaway High and later a four-year player for Bethune-Cookman University, has taken over the Troup girls’ program after spending the past two seasons as a successful coach at Gardner Newman Middle School.

Her team’s won a pair of area titles at Gardner Newman, and she’s looking forward to building a winning program at Troup.

“I told (the school administrators) that I didn’t want to come over here and be here for just a year,” Winston said. “I’d like to be here for these girls and help them grow, and help this program get back to where it used to be.”

Winston figures the best way to accomplish that is to work harder than the next guy.

So on Monday, the first official day of basketball practice among Georgia High School Association, Winston put her girls through the paces.

They were running, stretching, doing push-ups and a multitude of other exercises that will become a staple of a Winston practice.

“With the kind of ball I like to play, we’re going to have to get up and down the court,” she said. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to have a deep bench, so my starting five will have to be out there a lot.”

Winston takes over a team coming off a breakthrough season.

After struggling through a 3-18 season the year before, the Lady Tigers won 13 games in the 2008-2009 season.

Troup didn’t make it to the state tournament, but the team still improved by 10 games under coach Caroline Sellers.

Post player Pascale West, who controlled the paint for four seasons at Troup, is gone, but nearly everybody else is back.

Winston said from the time she spent with the players, she has seen plenty of enthusiasm.

“I got to know them during the summer, and they all seem excited about this year, and I am to,” she said. “We’re still young. We have two seniors out here right now. But they’re growing. I think we can make some noise this year.”

Winston knows what the players are dealing with.

It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that she was in their shoes.

Winston graduated from Callaway High in 2002 before heading to Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach.

“I’m not too much older than them, so I kind of understand what they’re going through,” she said.

Winston figures her time as a college player will help her as well.

“That was a learning experience, getting to meet new people and see new places,” she said. “I’ll bring a lot of things I learned in college to this. I know what it takes to be on the next level, so I’m hoping I can push m girls to take that next step also.”

Winston will be helped this season by Natalie Calloway, her assistant at Gardner Newman the past two years.

During Monday’s practice, Calloway was right there with the players, pushing them, motivating them and encouraging them.

“It’s like having another head coach,” Winston said of Calloway.

The Lady Tigers have a little more than a month to prepare for their season opener on Dec. 1 against Greenville.