A 39-year veteran in the coaching world, head coach Bob Booher is in his seventh season with the Lake Erie College women’s basketball program. After six complete seasons with the Storm, Booher is the winningest coach in program history.

Booher has been at the helm for the biggest moments in progam history, including a spectacular record-setting 18-9 season in 2009-10, the Storm's second as a member of NCAA Division II. That season, Lake Erie set a school record for wins, was ranked 10th in the Great Lakes Region and Booher was named national Division II Independent Coach of the Year. The following season, he led the Storm into the rigorous Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for its debut season in what is regarded as the top league in the country.

Booher directed the 2007-08 squad to what was at the time its best overall and conference records, its highest standing in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) and its first-ever appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament. Under his direction, that team became the first in program history to qualify for the AMCC Tournament with back-to-back appearances in its last two league seasons. His teams also became the first to win a playoff game and make it to the semifinals of the postseason tournament on both occasions. He was voted AMCC Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008, while coaching the conference Newcomer of the Year both seasons.

With all of the team’s accomplishments in his first three seasons, which included setting more than 35 records, Booher faced his toughest challenge in 2008 in taking a increasingly successful Division III program and making it a competitive squad as a Division II independent.  The Storm won six games in its first season in D-II and lost six games by 10 points or less against one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Immediately prior to Lake Erie, Booher spent six seasons at Lakeland Community College as the head women’s basketball coach where he led the Lakers to five consecutive national rankings in the NJCAA, as well as five Region XII top-ranked Ohio team finishes. His overall record of 129-52 included Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and 2005 as his teams were consistently ranked among the top 25 in the nation in both offense and defense.

For 35 years, Booher was an employee of Lakeland, retiring in June 2007 as the physical education department chair and professor. During that time, he also served as a head coach for men’s baseball (1982-92) and women’s softball (1976-81) and was an assistant for the baseball program (1973-75). He became the first coach at the institution to accumulate 100 wins in three different sports, and to this day, is the only coach to ever achieve such a feat.

His additional coaching credentials include serving as the assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach at Willoughby South High School for six seasons (1993-99) and as a head coach of several USSSA nationally-ranked women’s amateur softball teams for the past 13 years.

A native of Painesville, and graduate of Harvey High School, Booher holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in education and a master’s degree in education from Kent State University. He currently resides in Concord with his wife of 37 years, Debbie, and has two children, Kristy and Ross.

AMCC Coach of the Year
2006-07
2007-08

National Division II Independent Coach of the Year
209-10

Booher at Lake Erie (Six Years)

Joe Perella returns for his second stint with the Lake Erie coaching staff and will be in his third season overall with the Storm women's team.  He was previously an assistant coach from 2007-09. 

In addition to his previous time at LEC, Perella coached with Booher at both Willoughby High School and Lakeland Community College.  He was at Lakeland for six years until accepting the boys' head coaching position at Beachwood High School, a post he held before joining Booher in the collegiate ranks in 2007. 

Perella also served as an assistant with the boys' varsity teams at Beachwood and Orange High Schools.  He left Lake Erie in 2009 to become the head basketball and softball coach at the Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights. 

Perella earned a bachelor's degree in history from Cleveland State University and also holds a degree in physcial education from Richardson University. 

He and his wife, Michele, have two daughters, Angela (18), a freshman softball player at Hiram College, and Amanda (13).

Jackie Thiel enters her second season as graduate assistant of the Storm women's basketball program in 2011-12 after completing her collegiate playing career at the University of Alaska Anchorage. 

While at Alaska, she helped the women's basketball team finish as co-Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions and went on to finish third in the country in NCAA Division II.  Thiel was named second team All-GNAC and co-Newcomer of the Year. 

Thiel also played Division I basketball at Florida Gulf Coast University, as well as stops at Central Arizona and Odessa College.  At Florida Gulf Coast, her squad finished 2nd in the Atlantic Sun Conference and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.  At Central Arizona and Odessa, her teams won the Arizona West Conference and the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, respectively. The Wranglers (Odessa) won the NJCAA National Championship in Thiel's season with the squad.

Thiel has helped coach co-ed basketball camps, outreach programs and played in the European league in Germany and Belgium. A native of Celina, Texas, Thiel currently resides in Painesville, Ohio, where she is working towards a master’s degree in business administration from Lake Erie College.

Local product and former Riverside High School standout Ali Tobias is working with the women's basketball team this season as a coaching intern following a stellar career at the University of Charleston.

The Painesville native was a four-year starter at point guard Charleston, helping the Golden Eagles to 87 victories and three 20-win seasons during her career.  Charleston advanced to the NCAA tournament twice during her career.  

Tobias, who graduated with a degree in physical education and health, was a Capital One Academic All-District II Third Team selection as a senior.