Even before they were known as the Golden Eaglettes, Shelbyville Central High School (SCHS) set and broke records in athletics. In fact, because SCHS allowed girls to play basketball as early as the 1920s, the school helped prove that girls were just as capable of competing in sports as boys. Before Title IX passed in 1972, girls in many states faced significant restrictions on athletic participation and uniforms.
Although SCHS permitted girls to play, the rules were far different from today. Teams competed in a six-on-six format, and dribbling or running was considered too strenuous — girls played using half the court. Following a 1976 lawsuit, those rules were eliminated. In 1980, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) adopted the five-on-five format, ensuring the rules were the same regardless of gender.
A former SCHS student-athlete, Bobby Locke played football and basketball under Coach Johnny Martin before attending Mississippi State University on a football scholarship. After transferring to Middle Tennessee State University and playing under Coach Charles “Bubber” Murphy, he served six months in the U.S. Army.
Locke returned to Shelbyville and accepted a position teaching social studies at SCHS. The football season was underway, so he worked as an assistant. The next year, Coach Wallheiser recruited him to work with the girls basketball team. However, the rules were foreign to Locke. Though he was a teacher, he became the student.
He later developed the “side saddle offense,” leading the Eaglettes to an 18-7 record and the District 24 championship. The following year, they finished 20-5.
In the fall of 1963, news of the Eaglettes’ success brought 25 freshmen to try out for the team. According to Gene Pearce’s book, “Only Eaglettes Understand,” the team had tremendous chemistry. Six members were seniors who had played under Coach Locke since their sophomore year. Before each of their 33 wins, the team recited “Prepare Yourself,” a piece Locke penned one summer while serving in the U.S. Army Reserve.
In one voice, the girls would recite, “I will do my part, God willing. I must play this game to the utmost of my ability, helping my teammates at all times.
I must forget me and play for us. I can be a small part of the best if I give my all.
I must realize that this team can be no stronger than the effort I put forth. I must start thinking now that I will outplay my individual opponent. And that she will respect me as a part of this hustling group.
When the fight is done, I must admit my individual mistakes to myself and strive to correct them with hard practice so that even I, as a small part of this outfit, may dream of being the best.
I will pray to the Lord for endurance before each game, and I will thank him for what I have done at the end of it. These things I pledge to myself for the good of this basketball team.”
The Eaglettes won the 1964 championship with a 33-0 record, and several players were named to the All-state tournament team. The TSSAA presented them with a 56-inch-tall championship trophy. When they returned to Shelbyville, their community turned out in full force to welcome them home.
Sitting in the front row was Rick Insell. Years later, Insell would recall the 1964 championship as the moment that inspired him to pursue coaching. Building on Locke’s foundation, Coach Insell would one day lead the Eaglettes to win 10 state championships.
Over the next six years, Coach Locke won three districts, three regions, and the state tournament. But in the classroom, he was burned out. He accepted a position at the Shelbyville Pencil Company. Three years passed, but he returned to his first love — coaching girls basketball at SCHS. The Eaglettes posted winning seasons from 1969-73 and won the District 24 championship in 1971. They gained momentum, and by the fall of 1974, Locke had another winning team.
With a three-point lead and just two seconds on the clock, the Eaglettes defeated the McNairy Central Bobcats 50-47 in the TSSAA Class L Girls State Tournament in Jackson, Tennessee. Fire Chief Garland King met the team at the county line, where the players climbed aboard a fire truck for a ride back to Shelbyville, sirens blaring and a sign proudly declaring them “State Champs.” Mayor H. V. Griffin presented their captain, Carol Lance, and Coach Locke with keys to the city, and each player received a red rose. The team credits their success to four busloads of fans who traveled to Jackson to show support. Hundreds more gathered in the gym at SCHS to welcome the girls to the homecoming celebration.
Later, the girls boarded a chartered bus bound for Walt Disney World and Daytona Beach, Florida, flanked with signs announcing, “Tennessee Girls Champs from Shelbyville, Tennessee, the home of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.”
Two years later, Coach Locke — or, as the girls called him, “Daddy Locke” — moved to Florida. Though he continued to teach and coach, the years he spent coaching the Eaglettes proved to be his best.
Coach Locke attended a 40th reunion, where he and members of his 1974 championship team gathered to watch the Eaglettes play one last time. He passed away at age 89 on Sept. 1, 2025. Five months later, on Feb. 6, 2026, during halftime at SCHS, his son, David, accepted a plaque in his honor.
Remembering his father’s legacy, David said, “I started coaching youth football 23 years ago, and I asked my dad for advice. He said, ‘Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’ This was great advice for a young coach, and it still rings true today.”
Coach Locke and the Eaglettes’ story remind us that when a community rallies behind its own hometown heroes, they become legends whose influence reaches far beyond the final buzzer. GN
