Dickson leaves Beaufort high

After 14 seasons filled with accomplishment, Mona Lise Dickson has stepped down as Beaufort High School's girls basketball coach and accepted the head principal position at Whale Branch Middle School.

Dickson informed Beaufort athletic director Jerry Linn of her decision Tuesday night, ending her storied run on the Lady Eagles sideline and launching a career that Dickson said she has always wanted.

"Being principal was a goal and aspiration of mine because once I become a principal, I can have more of an impact on student learning," said Dickson, who plans to serve out her remaining duties as assistant principal at Beaufort High. "Hopefully the legacy I left as a coach was showing that we have talent here and we can take that talent, teach them and coach them so that the product comes out as it did, which was pretty successful."

For the past two years, there had been rumors that Dickson would be leaving for another school, giving Linn some reason to anticipate Tuesday's move . Still, Linn had kept his fingers crossed in hopes that Dickson would stay.

"She's done a great job as assistant principal and basketball coach, and I knew they were talking about her going to the next level," he said. "I just didn't think it'd happen so soon."

Known for her intense and fiery style, Dickson experienced great success as Beaufort's coach, accumulating 255 wins, six Region 8-AAAA titles, four region coach of the year awards and the 2001 Lower State championship. This past season saw the Eagles rebound from the previous year's 7-17 record -- Dickson's only losing campaign at Beaufort -- and go 16-9 before falling to Ridge View High School in the first round of the playoffs. In her last game as coach, Dickson led the South squad in this year's North-South all-star game.

While Dickson admits that she'll miss coaching, she doesn't anticipate returning to the sidelines in the near future.

"I think I'll be a spectator now," Dickson said. "(Coaching) was a passion that I have, but now I just have to take that and put those efforts and strategies into an entire school.

"Because I have kids who play, I'll still be a part of the game," she continued, "and I'll probably still be coming to some games (at Beaufort) and showing my support."

Linn said that a search committee for Dickson's replacement is already in the works and the school hopes it can name a successor by early summer.

However, Linn admits that with next year's teacher turnover being low at Beaufort, bringing in an outside candidate who could also work at the school might prove more difficult than usual.

"Our situation doesn't offer much room for new teachers to be brought in as a coach," he said, "but we'll be looking hard because we don't want this to drag out too long."