AVCA targets minority coaches through NCAA grant

The American Volleyball Coaches Association will host its first annual Minority Women's Professional Coaching Workshop December 15-16 in conjunction with the 2003 AVCA convention in Dallas.

The coaching workshop is part of a newly created program started by the AVCA called "Volleyball, Live It, Love It, Coach It," which is aimed at fostering professional career development opportunities for minorities. The program will be partially funded by a grant through the NCAA matching-grant initiative for advancement of minority women coaches.

Two or three follow-up enhancement clinics also are planned for the summer of 2004 as part of the new program.

Katherine McConnell, AVCA executive director, said the NCAA grant will help the program make an quick impact.

"By the 2004-05 coaching employment season, about 150 coaches will have completed this program and be better prepared to succeed in their coaching careers," she said.

Topics scheduled for the December workshop include how to be the best candidate for a job, how to make the best of available resources, how to develop a volleyball program from the bottom up, and team building and player development.

Registration for the Minority Women's Professional Coaching Workshop includes a one-year membership to the AVCA. The deadline for registration is November 5. For more information, go to www.avca.org or contact the AVCA.

Sisters lead Rider teams to athletics success

Two sisters, Maddy and Ashley Boulden, have figured prominently in the success of the Rider University field hockey team that won a school-record 11 straight wins this season en route to capturing the 2003 Northeast Conference regular-season title.

Despite being just 18 months apart, the sisters say there's not a whiff of sibling rivalry. But there is plenty of sibling magic.

Maddy, a junior forward, leads the NEC in goals per game with seven and is second in points with 20. She guided last year's squad to the 2002 conference championship. Ashley, a freshman forward, leads the team and is third in the conference in assists (five).

Maddy recently earned recognition as NEC player of the week. Meanwhile, Ashley was named conference rookie of the week three times in the first five weeks of the season to make a strong bid for NEC rookie of the year, an honor her sister received in 2001.

The Boulden sisters' talents also extend to the softball diamond. Last season, Maddy helped Rider win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship as a shortstop and pitcher. In doing so, she became the first Rider athlete to win two conference championships in two sports in the same academic year and to compete in two different NCAA tournaments. This year, Ashley has a shot at accomplishing the same feat and to become the first freshman to do so.

The sisters, who admit to always being close, not only share blood, they also are bound by a love of field hockey, softball and a third sport, basketball.

It was the desire to play two sports at the collegiate level that drew them both to Rider.

"There were some Division III schools that said I could play all three sports if I wanted to, but Rider was the only Division I school that recruited me for two sports," Maddy said. "For years, people have asked me which I like best, and I can't really pick one. I love both sports so much."

Ashley echoed her sister's sentiments.

"Playing with Maddy again was a big reason, and Rider is close to home, but the fact that I was able to play both field hockey and softball here was the biggest reason," she said.

NCAA seeks to update men's basketball records

The national office has a couple of holes in its records of game officials for the Men's Final Four that a reader may be able to fill. The Men's Final Four Records book lists the first and last name of all game officials for the semifinals and championship game since 1939 with a couple of exceptions. In 1953, "Shaw," with no first name is listed as working with Joe Conway, Alex George, Al Lightner and Cliff Ogden. In 1955, one of the officials is identified as only "Mohr" with no first name. His fellow officials for that year are listed as Phil Fox, Mike Milner and Cliff Ogden. In both 1951 and 1956, no officials' names are listed.

If you or someone you know can verify any of this information, please contact Gary Johnson at 317/917-6139 or at gjohnson@ncaa.org.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

10 years ago

Here's what was happening within the NCAA in October 1993:

The NCAA statistics staff looks at claims that Glenn "Pop" Warner has the most wins of any Division I-A football coach, rather than Paul "Bear" Bryant. The NCAA says Warner has 313 wins, compared to Bryant's 323 wins. But a new book about Warner's life says he should be credited with 22 additional victories from his coaching days at Iowa State University. Warner is subsequently adjusted to 319 wins, but both coaches eventually are passed by Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.

A Federal judge rules October 7 that Drake University acted legally when it dropped its wrestling program. Five Drake wrestlers had challenged the university's action, contending their rights under Title IX were being violated because the school gave more scholarship money to women even though it had more male athletes.

Four finalists are announced for the position of NCAA executive director, including Cedric W. Dempsey, director of athletics at the University of Arizona. Dempsey is later chosen to succeed Richard D. Schultz.

The NCAA Council calls for the Association to immediately begin a study of the NCAA membership structure. The emphasis in the membership structure discussion involves increasing the amount of federation in the Association and assuring that the issue is dealt with by the NCAA rather than an outside entity.

St John's University (Minnesota) football coach John Gagliardi picks up his 300th career victory October 16 in the Johnnies' 77-12 victory over Bethel College (Minnesota).