He has been waiting for the right time and the right opportunity.
For Brett Drewery, that time — and opportunity — have come.
And it has come chockfull of challenges.
Drewery, 50, was named in late May as the new girls basketball coach at Kent-Meridian. This will be the first head coaching position at the high school level in Drewery’s career.
“I am really excited about this,” said Drewery, who lives in Tacoma and is an assistant football coach at Mount Tahoma High. “This is the first high school job I have taken. I’m excited about being at Kent-Meridian … I want to bring pride back to the program. They’ve had a great tradition and we’re trying to bring that back, bring the pride back and get the community involved.
“My goal is to have everybody excited about what we do — win or lose.”
Once the winter season begins, Drewery will be taking over for Tim Riles, who spent three years at the head of the K-M program. During that time, Riles guided the Royals to a 14-39 overall record, including an 8-26 mark in South Puget Sound League North Division play.
The demands and time of coaching proved to be too great for Riles, who has two young children and teaches at Daniel Elementary School in Kent.
“I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Riles, who teaches physical education. “Kent-Meridian is a special place. Those girls are special. It wasn’t an easy decision. It was very difficult and very emotional. But in the end, I think it was best for my family.”
In contrast, the timing could not have been any better for Drewery.
“I’ve been a coach, and my wife is like a coach, too,” Drewery said with a laugh, noting that he doesn’t have any young children at home. “I waited for the right time.”
However, the task that lies ahead won’t be an easy one for Drewery.
Kent-Meridian is coming off a season in which it went 1-15 in league play and 3-15 overall. The Royals haven’t won more than four league games since the 2002-03 campaign, when they went 9-7 in league. That also was the last time K-M advanced to the postseason.
“I watched the team this past year and saw some talent that needed to be molded,” said Drewery, who has been an assistant girls basketball coach at Federal Way High and a head coach for the eighth grade team at Life Christian Academy. “I figure we have some talent and I have a lot to offer the young ladies as a coach. Not just a coach, but the big picture as a whole. My whole goal is to see them all go to college.”
The challenge, Drewery said, will be getting the girls to believe they can win.
And if that’s going to happen, it will be in a different building than the one the Royals called home last winter. Reconstruction of the gymnasium at Kent-Meridian will force the Royals to call Mill Creek Middle School their home for the upcoming season.
“The kids will have to adapt,” Drewery noted. “We’ll make it an advantage for us.”
Despite having to play in a different home for a season, the Royals have plenty of reason for optimism. That begins with 5-foot-5 senior-to-be guard Briana Shannon, who showed last season that she is developing quickly into one of the SPSL North’s top players. Last winter, Shannon ranked second in the North in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game. That scoring average included a pair of 29-point outbursts.
“You can just tell (during summer league) that everyone knows what the cause is,” Shannon said. “Everybody wants to do better. We are pretty sure we’re going to the playoffs this year, without a doubt.”
Guards Abria Jones, Candice Holder and Desiree Guitian all received valuable minutes last season and are expected to return this winter.
The transition to Mill Creek won’t be easy nor will be learning a new system from a first-year coach, Shannon conceded.
The key will be believing.
“Being our senior year and having to play at a middle school will be tough. But these plans were made before we got there. We just need to suck it up,” Shannon said. “More than anything, we need dedication. We lacked a lot of that last year. We need to believe, we need to get together and want it.”
The timing should be right for the Royals.
And the opportunity should be there.
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