Eastside Catholic High School didn’t have to look far to find its newest varsity girls basketball head coach.

Amber Johnson, who has been employed as the dean of students at Eastside Catholic since 2013, was hired as the Crusaders girls basketball head coach in early April. Johnson played for the University of Washington women’s basketball team from 1995 through 1999 and was an assistant coach for the Central Washington University Wildcats women’s basketball team from 2006 through 2009.

Eastside Catholic Athletic Director Jeremy Thielbahr is ecstatic about the addition of Johnson to the school’s girls basketball program.

“We thrilled to hire a coach of Amber Johnson’s quality and experience to lead and teach our young women,” Thielbahr said in a press release. “She is a proven winner and mentor who will continue to move our program to new heights in the years to come.”

Johnson is thrilled to be back on the hardwood after a six-year hiatus away from the game.

“Eastside Catholic is such an excellent school. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to provide my knowledge and share it with the girls. I want to help them be their best. I have always wanted to get back into it (basketball) in some regard and had been praying for the best way for that to happen,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to make sure that it feels right for everybody involved and this does.”

On the sidelines, keeping the girls positive will be one of the staples to Johnson’s philosophy.

“I’m very much an encourager. I think if you spoke with the girls at Central they would say that I do my best to encourage them as much as possible. You have got to encourage them. Especially at this age,” Johnson said. “It’s all about developing them and putting your players in the right frame of mind. A lot of them aspire to be collegiate players so getting them to understand certain things from the aspect of the coach is important. I really look forward to that.”

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com