English Reflect Back on Lessons Learned at WBCA

NEW ORLEANS University of New Orleans women's basketball players Andrea Williams and Le'Della English recently returned from the WBCA/Nike "So You Want to be a Coach" clinic held in Tampa, Fla.

Williams and English were part of a select group of participants at the three days of events which included panel discussions, motivational speakers and a chance to meet players and coaches from around the nation.

A large focus of the weekend's events was the transitioning from a player to a coach, as many of the participants, all of which were seniors, had intentions on getting into coaching following their career.

"I just wanted to know how you transition from a player to a coach, since I've been playing most of my life," said Williams. "They had assistant coaches who came in and taught us things they had to learn on their own because they did not have this program when they were coming. The coaches gave personal examples of things they did wrong and passed these lessons along to us."

English believed that the biggest nike air max 2014 challenge is changing your mindset when you become coach because you will run into friends from your playing days along the way.

"Changing your mindset is a big challenge of the transition," said English. "Most of mswlx23 the time you will be coaching some of your friends that you met as a player and you have be careful that you don't get caught up in being there friends."

There were many valuable lessons learned for the two. Williams, who will complete her undergraduate degree in sports management in the summer, felt the most important lesson was to be loyal to your head coach.

"You have to be loyal to your coach, no matter what," said Williams. "I do not think it is going to be hard for me, because I know how loyal that I am to Coach Champion now as a player. I trust her and believe in her."

English on the other hand noted that it takes being a hard worker and having the passion for what you are doing if you want to succeed with the long hours that are associated with being a member of air max 2014 a coaching staff.

"In order to be an effective coach you must be loyal, a hard worker and have a passion for what you are doing because there are going to be times when you are working long hours," said English.

Another lesson learned was that a player's head coach will most likely be the first and most important reference for an aspiring coach.

"As a Division I player, you do not really get a chance to work and gain the work experience that others have on resumes," said Williams. "When you go for interviews, they are going to call your coach, so you always need to leave on a good note, because you never know who they are going to look up."

Throughout the clinic, it was stressed to the individuals involved about the importance of networking. At every chance, different seating arrangements were set so the participants would be grouped with a different group of people than they air max 2014 had before.

"It was important to meet the different girls that aspire for future coaching positions," said English. "I learned that in this coaching business that it's not about what you know, cheap air max but it is about who you know. That is why it was important that I networked with different people so that they would remember me".

During the course of the clinic, the two got to meet several well known faces in women's basketball including Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Cynthia Cooper of Houston Comets fame, now head coach at Prairie View A weekend concluded with a graduation ceremony for all participants. The special guest of the ceremony was Oklahoma head coach Sherrie Coale, who is the President of the WBCA Board of Directors.