The Tharptown High School varsity girls’ basketball program has a new head coach.
Abby Hester Ward, a teacher at Tharptown Elementary School, was approved to take over as head coach of the program by the Franklin County Board of Education at its meeting on April 15.
“We are very excited to have Coach Abby Ward join our staff as the head girls' basketball coach,” Tharptown High School principal Tyler Berryman told the Franklin Free Press. “She comes from a family of longtime successful educators and coaches and we know she will be beneficial to Tharptown High School.”
Ward takes the reins of the program from former head coach Jason Cooper, who led the team for one season.
A 2018 graduate of Vina High School, Ward played basketball for the Lady Red Devils under her coach and father, Richie Hester. Ward attended Northwest Shoals Community College and most recently graduated from the University of North Alabama in December 2024.
This is her first varsity head coaching job, but for the past four seasons, Hester has served as an assistant girls’ basketball coach at Vina.
Ward says she understands the state of the program as it stands now, but she is confident that the program, going forward, can excel by connecting with the game and with each other.
“We are kind of starting at the bottom and rebuilding, but I really want the love of basketball to be instilled in these girls,” Ward said. “I want them to have fun, I want them to love the game, and once we get there, the rest will fall into place.
“My goal ultimately is for us to have a winning season and to work together as a team and be happy where we are doing it,” she added.
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