On and Off the Court
/Coach Tia Berry Mentors Girls at We Are Washington
By Dr. Robin Rogers
photo by shane darby
Community coaches profoundly influence the lives of young people. Tia Barry, a girls’ basketball coach at We Are Washington, knows this well. She has spent the majority of her adult life serving as a community coach, working with kids to develop teamwork, communication, life skills, and athleticism.
Tia and her husband, Mondo, have been married for 28 years. Both work at We Are Washington in the evenings, after they spend their daytime hours employed by the Texarkana Arkansas School District. Tia is a substitute teacher at Kilpatrick Elementary, and Mondo works in the Alternative Learning Environment (ALE) program at Arkansas High. After the final bell, the Barrys head to We Are Washington, where Tia works with young girls in athletics, and Mondo acts as the organization’s site director. Together, they take great pride in helping kids find purpose and fun in after-school activities. Recently, Tia was awarded The Lion’s Share Award by Washington Athletics in acknowledgement of her continual work as a coach and a mentor to countless girls over the years. Tia has been at We Are Washington since its opening in 2021, and she was a volunteer coach for decades prior; she and Mondo even ran an entire community basketball league for 12 years with no outside funding. Doing good for kids is just how the Barrys operate.
Coach Barry gives the Lady Lions a pep talk. submitted photo
“We have done sports our whole lives,” Tia said. “I graduated from Arkansas High in 1989; I was a three-sport athlete, playing volleyball, basketball, and running track. After playing basketball at SAU–El Dorado (now SAU Tech), I came home and have been working with the kids ever since.”
Before We Are Washington, Tia volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club, but when We Are Washington opened in 2021, Tia felt called back to a place she already knew well; Tia actually attended fifth and sixth grades at Washington Middle School. These days, she can be found on campus every afternoon from 4 to 8 p.m., coaching basketball to young ladies who are excited about all of the activities going on at We Are Washington, including their basketball league.
“Part of my goal is to help the kids mentally as well as physically. Before every game, we say the Lord’s Prayer.”
“The main thing about We Are Washington is after-school hours; we are keeping kids off the street,” Tia said. “Then, we hope to build relationships with them. A lot of them got stories. Everybody’s got a story, and some are worse than others. So, we try to reach out and help them the best way we can.”
Tia coaches three teams for girls in grades three through six. Tia said that it takes a lot of effort to organize a league, but volunteers help, and they figure out how to get other youth teams involved to rotate play between November and January.
Coach Barry with the Lady Lions at the Lonestar Kick-Off Classic Tournament. submitted photo
“Last year, Liberty Eylau participated, and we had some teams from Atlanta come,” she said. “Ashdown, Prescott, and Hope played with us, too. We have a van and a 24-passenger bus to take teams out.”
During the school year, We Are Washington receives around 60 kids off the school bus each day who stay until 7:30 or 8 p.m. Kids are fed dinner in the cafeteria, and then they participate in classes, activities, and sports. During the summertime, the number of kids jumps to around 100, and more organizations get involved to keep the kids engaged.
“During the summer, we have different churches coming in. They teach the kids about God; a lot of them don’t know [about God], because they are not being taught that at home,” Tia said.
Another win for the Lady Lions in a 2025 Tournament. submitted photo
The activities are mostly run by volunteers, and Tia said that volunteers are one resource that they can never get enough of. Community members from all parts of the Ark-La-Tex have volunteered to help in spots where they have knowledge.
“We have a woman who comes in to help the girls with volleyball, and someone just started working with the kids on track [and field activities],” she said. “We have football and T-ball, and I heard something about soccer. Our organization grows when more people get involved, and the kids need everything offered here.”
From afternoon meals in the school year to breakfasts and lunches over the summer, We Are Washington nourishes the minds and bodies of many young people. While Tia loves coaching her girls, she also recognizes how important the other classes are to the kids’ wellbeing, whether those are hygiene classes, cooking classes, math refreshers, or religious education opportunities.
Tia Barry with her husband, Mondo, and two of their children, Dante and Fortunate. Not pictured is Shenekqua. submitted photo
“Part of my goal is to help the kids mentally as well as physically,” Tia said. “Before every game, we say the Lord’s Prayer. I want to teach them that you have to have him in everything you do. Now whenever we get in a huddle, the kids want to say it. And when one of my athletes gets stuck in remembering, I don’t even have to help them out anymore. Now, the other kids help them out. It’s great. For 32 years, before every game, my teams have been saying the Lord’s Prayer.”
Committed to giving her kids a sense of identity and purpose from playing team sports, Coach Tia Barry works hard to provide a safe and stable presence for all of the kids she encounters on a daily basis at We Are Washington.