NATCHEZ — New Cathedral High School basketball coach Randy Smith hasn’t just spent his summer improving his players’ skills.

Smith, who takes over for former coach Bernita Dunbar, competed in the 2011 British Masters Championships in Manchester, England, June 18 and 19.

The British Masters Basketball Association is an independent group to help men ages 45 and older and women ages 35 and older keep in shape by playing basketball. It was Smith’s ninth year to compete in the championships, and his team, Team Louisiana, finished runner-up to the Rathmines Irish team.

“We’ve won it four times, and we’ve come in second four times,” Smith said. “We came in third one year.”

Team Louisiana dropped the championship game against Rathmines 65-52, and Smith said he knows the secret behind the Irish team taking home the trophy.

“The Irish didn’t drink the night before the game,” Smith joked.

“When we started playing, we were in the (age) 40s division at first, and we did that for four years. Then we moved to the 50s division, so it keeps getting a little harder every year. Most teams have been playing together for years, so we had to gel quickly for us to get to the finals.”

Smith’s team won the 50s division championship last summer, and he said Team Louisiana had the bull’s eye on its back this time around. Still, Smith said he was happy with what his team achieved this year.

“Just to get to the finals was an accomplishment,” Smith said.

Now that he’s back in Natchez, Smith is focusing his attention to keeping Cathedral’s girls in playing shape throughout the summer months.

“What I’ve learned about these girls is, they’re going to play softball,” Smith said. “Some are going to cheerlead, some will do cross county, so it’s a good idea to hang out with them.”

The Cathedral girls played an exhibition games against Natchez High School Wednesday, and another one against Vidalia High School Monday. Smith said he’s looking to eventually make his team’s summer activities more formal.

“We hope to get a summer league going next summer where we’ll play games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,” Smith said.

With the Lady Green Wave junior high girls going undefeated in district play last season, Smith said he’s happy those girls will be joining his squad this year as freshmen.

“We have one senior, Ginny Daggett, who’s very good,” Smith said. “The rest are ninth, 10th and 11th graders. We’ll be a young team, but it’ll be exciting to build (the program).”

And for Smith, coaching youth is a dream that has come full circle for him. After he retired from the oil industry, Smith bought the Texada antebellum house and is using coaching as a way to invest his time.

“It’s what I wanted to do after college, but it didn’t pay any money, so I went into the oil field,” Smith said. “I retired, bought this house, and thought, ‘Now, what else can I do?’”