Spending four days this summer at the Women Coaches Academy changed Lacy Johnson's life.

The third-year assistant track and field coach at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania said that before attending the academy she had begun to burn out in some aspects of her job. She wasn't sure if she wanted to continue working in college athletics.

But since the academy, Johnson says she is reinvigorated and eager to continue her coaching career. Her enthusiasm, she said, has even inspired one of the student-athletes she works with to pursue a master's degree in sports administration.

"It was life-changing," Johnson said of the academy. "The resources and the information provided were outstanding. It changed my whole perspective as a coach and really it has transformed my coaching."

The first Women Coaches Academy was conducted in June at Bryn Mawr College in conjunction with the NACWAA/HERS (National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators) Institute. Funding for the pilot program was facilitated through the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics.

The purpose of the academy is to give women coaches the opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of coaching, management issues, principles of marketing, networking and media skills, and other issues surrounding women's athletics, such as Title IX and the legal issues of coaching.

Celia Slater, a former women's basketball coach and current executive director of the WinStar Foundation (the umbrella organization for the academy), said few professional training programs are designed specifically for women coaches. While coaches may learn about the skills and strategies needed to win at professional development programs for their specific sport, they are rarely taught about the other aspects of coaching.

"The other reason it's extremely important is to truly increase the quality of coaching, to give the women the skill base to become better at what they do," Slater said. "That has a direct impact on the student-athlete, giving them higher quality coaching and then increasing the job satisfaction of the coach."

Also, Slater said, the number of women going into coaching is declining and the academy can help with the recruitment and retention of women coaches by giving them a strong support structure.

"I see the need for it and I saw how much the coaches responded to it," she said, calling the academy one of the "top experiences" of her life. "They're excited about there being this opportunity to gain professional development, they're very hungry for that. They want the skills to get better."

The Women Coaches Academy is the top priority of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA), said committee Chair Lynda Calkins, director of athletics and assistant dean of students at Hollins University. Last year, the committee was granted $50,000 for the pilot program. For the fiscal 2004 budget, the group is requesting $250,000 to expand the program.

"This falls right in line with the goals of the CWA. What we want to do is keep women in the field," said Calkins. "I think there's going to be a network of support that is built through this."

The Women Coaches Academy is one of two new programs for coaches developed with the help of the NCAA. An academy to address the lack of minority coaches in football has its debut in January 2004, in conjunction with the American Football Coaches Association. As with the CWA's commitment to the Women Coaches Academy, the NCAA's Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee is requesting $250,000 in the fiscal 2004 budget to help fund this program.

How the program works

Twenty-five women coaches participated in the inaugural academy. Their coaching experience ranged from one to 21 years in the profession and they represented nine sports in all three divisions. A $1,000 fee was charged for the four-day program.

Classes included such topics as: "Title IX: Facts and Friction about Gender Equity," "Defining your Coaching Philosophy," "Diversity: Why, What and How" and "Networking, Internal Politics and Media Skills." Instructors were athletics directors, coaches and others with a connection to women coaches.

Holly Hesse, head softball coach at Southwest Missouri State University, is in her 22nd year of coaching, but said she had never participated in a program such as the Women Coaches Academy.

"Being at the academy really gave me a renewed sense of just how important women coaching women is and how valuable the experience and knowledge I have is. It kind of put things back in perspective for me," she said. "I thought it was an extremely positive experience for me, even with the number of years I had been coaching. It really rejuvenated my desire to be in coaching."

Hesse said women often get into coaching because they know a certain sport. Ninety percent of coaching, however, has nothing to do with skills and technique, she said; it has to do with communication, motivation, budget, recruiting and networking.

This academy, she said, helps coaches learn those valuable skills.

Also, she said, by having coaches with varying levels of experience attend, they learn from each other. Older coaches can share their perspectives, while younger coaches' enthusiasm can rub off on those who have been in the profession longer, Hesse said.

Johnson said she benefited from talking to older coaches who had been in the profession in more difficult times, such as when Title IX was first introduced.

"I had no idea that things could have been so hard," she said.

The future

Plans already are under way for future coaches academies, and Calkins said she would like to see the program expand to include more participants and more components.

Slater said she has a list of people interested in attending next year's academy at Bryn Mawr, which will be funded with help from the remaining pilot money. Also, she said, the participants and faculty from the first academy already have donated more than $6,000 to a scholarship fund to help coaches attend the academy and other WinStar Foundation programs for women athletes and coaches.

Slater said she hopes to expand the academy to a second NACWAA/HERS Institute site and possibly add summer academies at regional sites around the country.

She also envisions continuing education for those who have gone through the original program, once there is a larger base of coaches. In a post-academy survey, Slater said every participant asked for continuing education opportunities. Another possible component could be more advanced training in specific areas, such as marketing or management techniques.

"Our plan is that the (Women Coaches Academy) will significantly add to each participant's overall skill base, and by using their designation as a coaches academy graduate, they will, if otherwise qualified, distinguish themselves from their competitors in the women coaching job market," Slater wrote in a summary of the program. "There is no shortage of capable and qualified women coaches. We believe that these academies can significantly impact the retention of women in coaching."

Anyone interested in learning more about the Women Coaches Academy may go to www.coachesacademy.com or send an e-mail to: coachesacademy@aol.com.