Bear Necessities Volume 27

This past weekend we celebrated both National Women Coaches Day and International Women's Day, which had me reflecting on the influential female coaches in my life and the impact they made at different stages of my journey.

My first female coach will always be my mom. She set the example for the work ethic and mindset I still strive to carry today. I often think back to our family time on the tennis court. My sister and I would be ready to wrap up, but my mom was always the one encouraging us to hit one more basket of serves. Even when we said we were done, she stayed out there and kept going. Looking back, I realize what powerful modeling that was for us.

In high school, my favorite coach was my tennis coach, Helen Negri. She had the perfect balance of allowing us to be silly while still pushing us to get the most out of ourselves. Every year we could count on team bonding which included our annual team dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack after our rivalry match. Helen made time to connect with every athlete and knew exactly when to push our buttons. 

In college my coach, Hilary Somers, was also very intentional about building team connection, but in a different way. At that stage of our lives, we were experiencing a new sense of freedom from living away from home. Hilary helped guide us in making good decisions while still allowing us to enjoy our independence and the experience of being teammates. She created an environment where we could grow not only as athletes, but as young women learning how to navigate life together.

At Mercy, I am proud of all of our coaches, but our female coaches carry a special responsibility to motivate, mentor, and uplift the next generation of young women. Their leadership continues the tradition of strong role models who shape lives far beyond the field, court, pool, or track.