THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Just call Mary Gentry ‘coach’ — it’s OK

Yes, the head coach of the boys team is a woman. 

So what? 

Mary Gentry is in her first season as the head coach of the Kootenai High boys basketball team. 

Even in the current athletic climate, where almost anything is possible, it’s rare for a female to be head coach of a boys team. 

But other than perhaps the occasional “Huh, that’s a female coaching the boys” reaction, it’s been pretty much business as usual in Harrison Flats. 

“I think I have had more reservations about being a woman coaching a boys team than anyone else, at least anyone I’ve talked with,” Gentry said. “Our administration and team have welcomed me without hesitation. I believe they know me well enough that they recognize I'm here for the kids.”

PLUS, MARY Gentry has some “cred” in North Idaho. 

As Mary Kolar, she was an athlete at Lakeside High in Plummer, graduating in 2000. 

At Kootenai, she coached junior high volleyball and was the  

Warriors’ varsity volleyball coach from 2014-17, posting a 56-32 record and taking Kootenai to state three times. 

And she was an assistant girls basketball coach at Kootenai in the 2016-17 season. 

During this past season, when Tom Tucker had to step away during his second season as head coach for medical reasons, Gentry stepped in to help assistant coach Jason Strobel, who took over as interim head coach. 

Dylan Gentry, her son, was a freshman on last year’s team, and is one of the eight players on this year’s squad. 

“Dylan said he thinks I’m the only one concerned about it,” Gentry said. “I asked him this past summer what he thought about me applying for the position and he immediately agreed to it. I was a little shocked by his quick response.” 

This year, when the head coaching job opened up, Gentry applied, interviewed in late September, and a few days later was offered the job. 

Well, another job. She already has a job, as a bookkeeper for her husband’s construction business. 

TO SAY Kootenai has struggled in boys basketball in recent years is putting it mildly. 

The Warriors did not win a game in the 2019-20 season. They didn’t field a boys basketball team in 2020-21.  

Two more winless seasons followed. 

Under Tucker, the Warriors made some progress, winning seven games in two seasons, including three league games — the first time Kootenai had won a league game since the 2018-19 season. 

This season, Kootenai is off to a 1-3 start. And in most of the losses the Warriors are more competitive, a trend which started under Tucker. 

"The first day of practice a player referred to me as ‘coach mom,’” Gentry recalled. “I told him ‘coach’ was fine.” 

Yes, coach is fine. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.