Above The Whistle
Welcome to Above The Whistle. The podcast that takes you beyond the X's and O's and into the mindset of greatness as we sit down with coaches/athletic directors/former players across the country.
Above The Whistle
Coach Mary Kay Amicone: From the Diamond to Legacy
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When the echoes of cheering crowds fade and the bright stadium lights dim, what lingers in the hearts of athletes and coaches alike? Today's episode is a testament to the profound journey of Mary Kay Amicone, the esteemed Weber State softball coach, whose life story is a rich tapestry woven with the threads of family, adversity, and triumph. From the early days of balancing elementary school teaching with coaching to the zenith of her career, Mary Kay's narrative is a masterclass in forging indomitable spirit and character on and off the field.
As we traverse the chapters of Mary Kay's storied life, we encounter the compelling philosophy that shaped her recruits—the harmonious blend of familial devotion, personal fortitude, and academic diligence. These aren't just softball players; they're young women being sculpted into leaders of tomorrow. The episode reveals the undercurrents of collegiate sports, where the stakes are high, the decisions tougher, and the rewards, when they come, sweeter for their rarity. Mary Kay offers us a glimpse into the cocoon of mentorship, where the likes of Mackenzie 'Z' Korda metamorphosed through personal challenges into resilient butterflies, ready to face the world with newfound strength.
Our journey with Mary Kay culminates with an exploration of trailblazing paths and the echoes of victory from Weber State's first championship title—a beacon of her legacy. We understand the voracious appetite for success it takes to build and maintain a formidable athletic program, a relentless pursuit mirrored in her tenure at BYU and Jordan High School. This episode isn't just a nod to a coaching legend; it's an ode to the relentless pursuit of excellence, the relentless journey of mentorship, and the relentless challenge of leaving an indelible mark on the sporting world. Join us in celebrating the illustrious career of a woman who not only coached the game but taught us all how to play the game of life with grace, tenacity, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
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You know, one of the most important kids you'll ever coach is the one that needs the program more than the program needs that kid. Welcome to Above the Whistle with your host, devin McCann. What's up everyone. Welcome to another edition of Above the Whistle Today. I'm amped up. We have a coaching legend on Weber State softball coach, mary Kay Amacone. Is that how you pronounce it? Correct, perfect? A couple of weeks I sat down with Coach Care and he mentioned you know, if there's one coach in the state of Utah you need to get on your podcast, it's Mary Kay. Everywhere she's gone, she is just she's turned down or turned around that program, mary Kay, everywhere she's gone, she's turned around that program. She's been successful everywhere she's gone. So I'm super stoked to have you on. Thanks for letting us come into your office today and spending an hour or so with us, so welcome.
Speaker 2Thank you. Thank you, that's an honor. I love Coach Kerr and his family and got a chance to catch up with his son Noah, a couple weeks ago in the field house. I think he's attending already, right, yes, he is, he is. He's back from his mission. Yep, he is, so it was fun to catch up.
Speaker 1Yeah, he's a great kid. So I used to own a business called Recharge Sports Performance. It was over there in the Draper area, okay, and we worked a lot with the Corner Canyon kids.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1And Noah was in there, I mean all the time.
Speaker 2All the time and he's just it's a great family, yeah, and he's a good kid, so Awesome. Well let's go ahead and kind of set the stage.
Speaker 1You've been coaching for several years and just recently you've made the announcement that you're going to retire. This Just recently you've made the announcement that you're going to retire. This is your last year, so I'm sure you've done a lot of self-reflection, kind of gone down memory lane. But let's start kind of at the beginning and walk us through. You know, how did you get into coaching? Where did you start? And let's just kind of take back. You know, take a second to walk down your career path, your resume Okay, I'd love to on your career path, your resume.
Speaker 2Okay, I'd love to. So I honestly started coaching on a club level 14 and under softball, 16 and under, and then all the way to 18 and under while I was teaching elementary school. So I taught elementary school for I don't know how many years, but probably nine somewhere in there, and so I was fortunate enough to be a part of a really good club team here in Utah, the Bullets, and Larry Wilson and Sean Wardle started that program and they came to me and said we, we want to have you coach with us, and our son, trevor, was maybe nine months old, so, um, he and my mom traveled with us and we got started that way. Okay, so I got into that and, um it, it was tremendous. In fact, I I have a close tie to those kids in the Bullets program still to this day, and that again really speaks to the relationships that have driven me and motivated me to stay in my career for so long.
Speaker 2From there, I joined part-time at the University of Utah with Jo Evans and she was one of my good friends that I played softball with and she was looking for. I basically transitioned from the Bullets and some of those kids were recruited to go to Utah, transitioned from the Bullets and some of those kids were recruited to go to Utah. So I went to Utah with them and started part-time as an outfield coach with University of Utah and a lot of my development came from being a part of that program in my younger years and I could still teach part-time. Go up to the? U for practice, have Trevor.
Speaker 1So he grew up on that. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2Trevor's definitely one of my biggest supporters. Yeah, besides, I mean, my husband is bonkers for Weber State softball and everything that I do. He's a huge part of what's allowed me to do that. And then our son, derek, has also gone that direction and they've been through the thick and thin of all of it.
Speaker 1Now, do they coach at all anywhere?
Speaker 2Yes, so Trevor is in Scranton, pennsylvania. He is the AAA hitting coach for the Yankees. Oh, wow, okay. So he is just breaking spring training camp and now they started a week ago with AAA and he's doing a fantastic job and just loving it and it's been really interesting to see how that level really it's a grind, for sure. It's really a great learning point. So he's involved with the Yankekees, which is just a tremendous opportunity, and Derek coached for quite some time. Derek was with University of Utah as a grad assistant, he was at Utah Valley as an assistant coach, then he was ops director of GCU baseball and so everything that we've done. And Mark has been with the Salt Lake Bees and the University of Utah all that time. So it's a family business, for sure it's a family. Yeah, like I say, when it's the thick and the thin, the good and the bad, it's all in the vows right there.
Speaker 1That's awesome. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, I mean it is definitely. I didn't realize how much of a family oh yeah, coaching tree you have. I mean you know you talk about coaches and they have their, their family tree. Yeah, it's not direct blood family tree.
Speaker 2oh yeah, it's awesome to see that you have. You know you're slugged out there coaching. Yes, they, they know, they know all the things that come with it, the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2They call you when you know they're in the lows and ask for advice. Yes, yes, they, they do, and I just you know, I've learned to listen and just try to hear them out, because we all need a sounding board, and they've been my sounding board as well. Mark Derek Trevor, they know when it's been some kind of loss in time and so it's been great because we know all the ins and outs of that and so that's really been helpful.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, I mean you guys can relate to one another and truly understand what it is. I mean, the coaching life is not an easy life. No, it's not Like you said it's a grind and it's long days and you know, especially in the summer. For you it's.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's not for the faint of heart. It is definitely not.
Speaker 1No, no, okay, so from Utah, but where did you go from there?
Speaker 2So from Utah uh, it's an interesting little twist in there I went, so I played for Norma Carr at Utah and she was the athletic director at Salt Lake Community College and Salt Lake Community College was just starting softball. So my time at Utah she hired me. So my time at Utah, she hired me at Salt Lake to start the program. And then I recruited from January to May the first team at Salt Lake Community College and then the opportunity opened up that BYU was going to start a program.
Speaker 1Oh, BYU didn't have a program at the time. No.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, yeah, and it was really an interesting time because BYU had a men's athletic director and a woman's administrator athletic director.
Speaker 1So it wasn't one department.
Speaker 2It was two, Two separate, Interesting, yeah. So when I got the opportunity to interview at BYU, I told Norma that you know, if they offer me this position, I've got to take it, I've got to take it Right. And so that's what happened. And so, honestly, I think it was 2000, somewhere in the 99-2000 year, and so they started the program from scratch. So they had no softball equipment, no field, no players and no coaches none of it it was. It's hard to understand.
Speaker 1And I mean from ground zero, build that up.
Speaker 2Yes, so what were some of the?
Speaker 1you know important things that you were looking for in recruiting not only players, but you know other coaches and just everything it takes to put a program together.
Speaker 2It was a daunting task for sure. To put a program together. It was a daunting task, for sure. I think when I took the program I didn't understand the depth of it necessarily. I just knew the opportunity and it was challenging because I had worked so long and Mark had worked at Utah and you know the rivalry.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, I was going to ask because I'm a Utah fan and Mark had worked at Utah and you know the rivalry. Oh yeah, I was going to ask because I'm a Utah fan. Yeah, I went to the U.
Speaker 2Yeah, we're big Utes.
Speaker 1Okay, we're big Utes Okay.
Speaker 2So you know what comes with that? Oh, definitely, and our boys, Trevor and Derek, were raised as Utes and they were at the age where they did not really understand why. I would even take that why is mom going to the dark?
Speaker 2side, yeah, exactly. So that was interesting. But honestly, my experience at Utah kind of helped me see what kind of players we needed to start with and who was willing to come to BYU at that time, because it's a different landscape it totally is. So I got some really good junior college players that were at the time Utah Valley was a junior college.
Speaker 1That's right. Bdsc, that's right.
Speaker 2And yes, yes. So I started there. I got some really good junior college players. We had a player from University of Arizona that was transferring, that was LDS and wanted to come to BYU, and so we got a core group. It was really a really small squad because it was hard to get them into school as well, because it was so late I think I started the job, maybe July 1.
Speaker 2And we started with order, equipment, get coaches, everything. So it was a large task. And those, uh, that first year, um, it was we were playing in a city park in provo and we were developing through gail and larry h miller, um, we got the design for a combined baseball softball field that's currently their, their field, okay, so after that first season, um, we were able to get, get what they have now, yeah, which, um, you know that was a big thing, yeah. And from there, uh, we won the. It was the mountain West at that time, 2001 from being nothing to the Mountain West champions and two years or one year yeah, it was I believe two years, and I look over at the trophy because I don't remember, you know it.
Speaker 2I mean yeah so for all those listening.
Speaker 1I mean I wish I had a you know a video of your office. I mean it's just trophy after trophy listening. I mean I wish I had a video of your office.
Speaker 2I mean it's just trophy after trophy in here I mean the successes you've had the accomplishments, the accolades.
Speaker 2It just reminds me of again'm reflecting. We had a little thing that talked about the bridge and basically you build a bridge that you cross and the people that come with you cross that bridge with you and then you eventually you're does. Take those players at BYU. I stay in touch with a lot of them and it was really probably one of the most challenging times of my life with everything going on. I had some significant personal, my parents had passed away and then I had my brother. The last year at BYU my brother, tony, had a brain aneurysm and died suddenly, and then came a coaching change where it just didn't align with what they wanted and they wanted to kind of put some limitations on what the players were doing. It didn't line up philosophically.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2So we had a terrific player that was the first ever All-American at BYU, and there were some things that she wanted that didn't line up with my philosophy, my coaching philosophy. And at that point the women's administrator said you know, you're going to have to make some changes if you're going to stay here. And I'm like I don't see that happening. And so it was conflict.
Speaker 1And it was conflict because of Because of a player, though, that they were.
Speaker 2Yeah, they were basically siding with what the players wanted and, honestly, there are things that professionally, I'm not going to go there with. The current coach was my assistant and there were just a lot of things that happened that were really disappointing to see the direction of where they were going with that. After starting the program and after doing so well, yeah, building it from scratch.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, winning a championship, yeah.
Speaker 2So and having an All-American and all the things that came with that, it was a learning point. It was definitely I learned a lot there.
Speaker 1Yeah, absolutely. Do you feel like, as a coach, you know you have those players, those All-Americans. Do you coach them differently? Do you coach like, as a coach, you know you have those players, those All-Americans. Do you coach them differently? Do you coach everyone the same? I mean, what's your philosophy? And take on that.
Speaker 2Well, it's the team first. It's always been, and it sounds cliche, but you have to have a standard and when you establish a standard, everyone needs to understand that standard. Whether you know, you're in practice clothes and everybody wears the same practice clothes. You need to be consistent in your leadership and when it comes to administration, no matter what it is, you have to have your coaches back and you have to understand that this is what you hired me to do, right, and you supported me in this, and now it's not consistent with what you hired me to do, yeah, so coaching all of them, whether you know, as you look around this, it's been the same standard and it's really challenging to keep that standard because over time, you know, players have developed in different upbringing and now different styles and all the things that have changed over time. But I have really worked hard to keep the standard, the standard.
Building Life Skills Through Coaching
Speaker 1So what is when you say the standard? What is the standard? You know, a new player, a new recruit comes to play Weber State softball. What's the standard? What do you lay out for them?
Speaker 2Yeah, it's family first. You know, if you are a part of a really great club program and they're teaching you and learning and you come into this, you probably have a pretty good idea of what we do. We commit you to basically putting yourself into a growing environment where we're going to challenge you. We're all about the person before the player, which their families want that and they understand that, but it's not always the easiest thing to see. So it's no matter what we do, we do it together and, like I said, there's practice clothes, there's team time, there's family time, there's everything that's upon that standard that you're here to graduate and that's first, and then you will excel as an athlete here. We will develop you, we will challenge you. There will be times that you don't understand why we're pushing you so hard but honestly, what I've seen is that's what they signed up for and it's not easy, it is hard and it's supposed to be hard, it is supposed to be yeah, for you to grow and for me as a person as well, the growing things that I experienced at Utah, at BYU, at Salt Lake, at Weber State, at Jordan High School they were all growth and they're hard. So they come in and they know that it doesn't matter what age you are as a freshman. If you're good enough, you're going to start. If you're not, you're going to get developed the same way that everybody does and you're going to understand your role and communication of that role.
Speaker 2It's clear, you know, in the fall it's developed in a spring training format, it's fall training and we do a lot of team chemistry building and we're really close. We're a close team and a close coaching staff. They have been tremendous coaches who believe in me, who have been loyal to me, who work so hard to develop our players and they're on board with the standard. They understand that it is. You know. They make suggestions and I make a decision, and that's hard sometimes, because it's hard for me too. I have to say I love what you're suggesting, but I've done this 30 years and this is the direction. We're going to talk about it in this office and then at the field.
Speaker 2This is the way it's going to go and that wasn't really the sense at BYU. That wasn't what was created and so, with that in mind it was a really challenging time that it was the right decision that I needed to make, that I needed to make Okay. So I think, taking that into consideration, everywhere I've learned lessons. Yeah, the joys again and then the hardship of that. So from there, in one year I took the Salt Lake job and then passed the torch there because I took the BYU job Right. Do you go back and wish you would have stayed at Salt Lake job and then passed the torch there because I took the BYU job Right?
Speaker 1Do you go back and wish you would have stayed at the?
Speaker 2Salt Lake community. No, absolutely not. No, no.
Speaker 1Because we'd be able to go down, create another program from scratch.
Speaker 2Yep, and as a coach you know you only get so many Division I opportunities. Yeah, and you won't. Honestly, I can't honest on it. I said that twice in one sentence. But basically, who gets to start a program?
Speaker 1Very, very good.
Speaker 2And I started Salt Lake and then started BYU. Yeah, same thing. We didn't have equipment, we didn't have players. At Salt Lake, I signed those players. They were committed to that program. Players at Salt Lake I signed those players, they were committed to that program. And then they, you know, somewhat understood that I was taking the BYU job and that maybe I would be able to coach them down the road. Right.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2Yeah, so there aren't too many people that can come in and start programs. No, no.
Speaker 1It. Definitely it takes a special type of person because, I mean, not everyone has the ability to just make decisions.
Speaker 2It's tough.
Speaker 1I mean, yeah, it's hard. You can alienate people. You know when you're in that leadership role and you have to be the one to make a decisive decision, and not all action is perfect.
Speaker 2No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1But you have to be willing to make a decision and just go with it, yeah. And there's very few people that have the confidence and the ability to do that. Even if the action or the decision is wrong, then you can go ahead and call an audible and change it down the road, but you have to start somewhere.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1Too many people kind of get caught up in, have to start somewhere right.
Speaker 2Too many people kind of get caught up in you know what should I do? And right, right, and we? That's that's the beauty of learning. Um, so many things in coaching we were able to teach these young people. A decision means you've cut off all options, it's done, and when you make a decision you're all in. You said yes, this. That means you said no to this, and in fact, that's liberating. It's freedom, because you know that when I said yes to this, it means that these are the things that we do as a standard and a lot of college.
Speaker 2If you're just going to college, you don't have the same standard, but if you're a student athlete, you have a standard that limits some of the things that you choose to do, and that, again, is part of the program. When you commit as a junior in high school, you understand it to some degree. Your families understand it. Your parents understand it more than you do because they've been down this path. But we teach all those things about life and that's what brings me.
Speaker 2The greatest joy is seeing them as people grow and they are in four to five of the most important years of their lives and what they do here is going to build them for 60 years past here, and I have to, as this says, begin with the end in mind. I have to be able to see that you, as a person, this is going to prepare you for marriage, for family, for a job and it's not just softball and that that is really why I started teaching and coaching, because that future, looking at that and being able to say I'm so happy with what and so proud of what they've done with their lives and their contributing to society and their wonderful families and people.
Speaker 1Yeah, I love that you mentioned earlier. You said of course the person people are the athlete.
Speaker 2Right.
Impactful Relationships in Coaching
Speaker 1And that's the end in mind. Right, I mean they are student athletes, but less than 2 percent of college athletes actually go on to a professional career in athletics Yep. But 98 percent of those have the ability to go on to be professional business leaders and business owners and just good husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and I think that trajectory you know for a lot of these young individuals is just dramatically changed by a great coach, and that's you know, kind of why I wanted to start this podcast and have this platform, because I think coaches have some of the biggest impacts.
Speaker 1As you said, these are key years for a lot of a lot of individuals, that you know a lot of young men and women, and your fingerprints are all individuals. You know a lot of young men and women.
Speaker 2And your fingerprints are all over. You know those eyes Because they've been open to learning and they've allowed me to do it. Honestly, that's the privilege is, they've allowed it, they've opened themselves up to yeah, I see it. And direct communication is important. It's, it's got to be. Um, you can't really say, oh, that's great. That's great all the time, because it's not all the time. There are a lot of things that, um, your family goes through and these young individuals, as you say, um, I've been a part of watching.
Speaker 1What is one of your most memorable? I mean, I'm sure you have multiple athletes you've worked with over the years and you've stayed in touch with, but I mean, what are some? Give me one memorable athlete that. There's really impacted your life as much as you impacted theirs.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think from the standpoint of my experiences and I think everything that I've gone through with losing a parent, both parents, both brothers losing them and when I came to Weber State, mackenzie, we call her Z Korda Z Korda found out her sophomore year that her father had brain cancer and her father was her high school coach and they lived in Eagle, idaho. And when I was, we were on a road trip and it it's like yesterday in San Diego and her mother called me and said so, jackie Korda, father Doug called me and said this is serious, it's not carable and we're going to need to talk to Z about it. And we're going to need to talk to Z about it. And I'm like, okay, Because I had endured an aneurysm, lung cancer, with my mom, I knew how painful this was going to be, and so Doug was supportive and came to everything until he passed away and he wanted her to stay here, he wanted her to be at Weber State and he was so incredibly humble and open to everything and being with her every day.
Speaker 2The lows of the lows. It's funny because it brings back smiles, because applesauce was kind of a key word because she didn't want to eat. She didn't feel like eating, but she knew she needed to eat and the only thing that she could really keep down was applesauce. So I would bring her a big jar of applesauce and and at some point when I had some low moments, um, she brought me to to our house and just knocked and there's applesauce on the porch.
Speaker 2And to this day, you know, she is in Idaho with a beautiful family that she endured and we, we went up to the funeral services as a team and she needed the support of the team. Our team that year um, helped her through everything. Uh, she, yeah, she. Those were the most challenging times and to be able to be side by side and locked in there and be a mother. I knew what her mother was feeling, I knew what her father wanted and they allowed me to be in their family enough to support her through it, and that that ended up being our first championship here. We, we ended up winning at the, the conference tournament, and Doug was there and Jackie was there yeah.
Speaker 2And you know it. It's one of those moments where, when you're in the thick of it, you're not sure how you're going to make it and we all need somebody that's been ahead of us, like I say, on that bridge. When they've crossed that bridge, they kind of know what it takes to endure those tough times and then, at the same token, to go to her wedding reception and now you know, to have her beautiful little babies come back to the field and come celebrate and to stay in touch with her mom, because her mom was so tight and close to me. There's nothing better than that. You know championships, you can't. That's the outcome, but the process to get there. I would never take back those moments with Z, because who she is now was because we were a family here for her when her family was going through such a rough time, and that's why I do it yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2I can see that, just the emotions yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, it's the reason why yeah exactly when people you know people say why do you do it? That's the why because it's the relationships, and the byproduct is that you continue to build people and the people are the ones that find a way to get through the hard times, and it makes us closer for sure, oh, absolutely anytime you go through a challenging time, um, I mean there's a talk.
Speaker 1You know the crucible where you know you put in, you know the ores and your gold and things like that, and the pressure and the heat and all that, all the impurities you know rise to the top and you scrape it off. I mean that's life. I mean, as we're going through, you know challenging times, you know just different, different tribulations, you know those are the things that if we allow it to make us better individuals, better husbands, better, you know wives, fathers, whatever, if it was just comfortable all the time and we didn't put ourselves in difficult situations, we would never grow Right.
Speaker 2So yeah, it's supposed to be hard. It is, and our players know that it's supposed to be hard. It is, and our, our players know that it's supposed to be hard and if, if you, uh, every every one of our players that commits here has been through some kind of challenge, they, they're coming with those things and that's what makes them grow here. Is that they're willing to understand that it's hard. Yeah, it is hard.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, that's really touching. Thank you for sharing that story. So I know you coached a little bit at Jordan High School as well. So after BYU, did you go to Jordan High?
Speaker 2I did so again. Every little trail.
Speaker 2Yeah, it was pretty sharp. It was pretty sharp. So after the BYU position you know, it was also the year as I mentioned my brother, tony, had an aneurysm and passed away and I was at a really, really low spot and mark hunter was the athletic director at jordan and our sons were going into jordan. We'd lived in sandy for 20 years and, um, I had been coaching in the summer, uh, boys baseball, because as a teacher, yeah, I have two boys and I, you know, I, I knew something about it and and, uh, so I would throw bp and coach and it was no big deal, right. And so mark hunter, hutch, knew that I was doing that and I just honestly, what I did was I said, no, I'm going to apply in an elementary school because that's where I started. I got the job at the elementary school.
Trailblazing Female High School Baseball Coach
Speaker 2Then he and Marilyn Richards were the administrators at Jordan. Their baseball coach suddenly quit. It was like August, I'd already accepted the teaching job. Hutch is like we need you, we, we don't have a coach. Do you want someone else to coach? When you have this background, you're a great coach. Yeah, and, oh, my god, okay, yeah well, yeah, yeah because I knew.
Speaker 2I knew that these are gifts.
Speaker 1Yeah, right, right on the sideline right.
Speaker 2So so they said we're gonna offer you this position and you're gonna teach, because you have your secondary certificate, so you'll teach health and aerobics, which is laughable.
Speaker 1But yeah, I did.
Speaker 2I did and I liked it, but so I, I told the principal at the elementary school what was going on and he was great. He, you know, replaced me and I opened a world that you know. I didn't really understand fully what I was getting into, and nor did you know Mark, my husband, or Trevor at the time, was a ninth grader.
Speaker 1I was going to ask yeah, okay, he's in ninth grade. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, so just the world of high school. I have so much appreciation and respect for high school coaches. They go above and beyond. They don't have the resources. I learned how to do the infield, doing the baselines, having a field day with parents and players because you did your own field, you did your own field, you. That was part of the what you needed to do, and so the Jordan High Field became, you know, our field. And and the beat diggers we were beat diggers the whole time. We were in Sandy right?
Speaker 2yeah, absolutely and so that was a tremendous opportunity where, um again, I'm kind of I, I led the way, and I smile every time now that I see women in baseball because they deserve it.
Speaker 1Yeah, so how many years ago was that again?
Speaker 2That was I want to say. It was probably around uh 20, uh 2003, 2003, somewhere in there.
Speaker 1Were there any other women baseball coaches Were you the first one in the state of Utah.
Speaker 2Yes, yeah, yes, okay, has there been one since. I do not think so, but I'm not sure. Okay, I'm not sure. I haven't kept up on that, but I know there are women who have boys. Now that they were at Utah or somewhere else, they're coaching their club teams.
Speaker 1They're coaching.
Speaker 2JC Jensen is coaching her son in baseball, not as the head coach, but she's in that staff.
Speaker 1Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2And I think that showed me a really big side of society from the standpoint of I was breaking a barrier that I didn't. I hadn't really thought that it was a barrier because I played a lot of sports and I had coached Trevor and Derek and not seen that um, and it was going into a realm of where and Hutch kind of said, you know this will be, we don't know exactly what will happen, but there was a lot of, I would say, prejudice or way of thinking that I didn't completely understand. And I think it was really interesting because, again, I set a standard and the upperclassmen that were baseball players there had been coached by somebody else. So I came in and I had a way of doing things. And there's always resistance when you come in and you have to earn their respect, male or female. You have to earn their respect.
Speaker 1As a female, though coming in, I mean, it's hard anytime right, You're coming in as a new coach and setting your standard.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1And will you be accepted? Do you think there was prejudice? Because hey, who is this? You know this lady coming in and taking over our program and with those upperclassmen was there even more resistance.
Speaker 2I think not at the beginning. Okay, you know, I think they were open-minded and they knew that I could do things. They saw that I could throw BP. They saw I could hit Fungo. I hired a great coaching staff. Mark Clevin and Chad Grundy were top-notch. Eric Kerr assisted and they helped me. They were totally great assistants and Mark Clevin had coached at Brighton and he kind of knew the landscape of high school baseball and what I saw was that once we were consistent with our standard, it was good. It was good and we started to navigate a landscape that we hadn't anticipated, and by that I mean when we played other high schools. There were three game series. You would play a tuesday, thursday, friday series and it was against the same school, and what I experienced was you didn't want to lose to jordan because it had a female coach and so we were going to see your best pitchers all the time they they weren't going to lose to Jordan.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And they had a way of showing that that's the approach they were taking. Yeah, and we had multiple players hit by pitches as a purpose pitch and as little things that you'd be like. Hmm, interesting.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Okay, put him on base. Yeah, and then our players started to understand that this is going to be hard. This is going to be hard.
Speaker 1Did you see them kind of rally around that?
Speaker 2I did.
Speaker 1That kind of being a rally call yeah.
Speaker 2I did, and you know, to Trevor's credit, trevor, trevor was a warrior, because, behind the scenes, not only is it challenging to be coached by a parent, but by your mom.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2It was a challenge and I didn't see some of the depth of that because it hadn't been done at that level. And, mark, there were times we had at one home game somebody showed up in a Jordan you know beat digger shirt with a paper sack on his head and the administration had to remove him. But it was like why? Why are you doing this?
Speaker 1Adolescence.
Speaker 2I don't know.
Speaker 1I mean, there's just ignorance and things like that. And not to give a pass, but I think adolescents especially so.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's, it's interesting, you know to, to see, you know, a situation where you're, you know, trailblazing right and you have, you know, these adolescent boys, yeah, who are already just full of hormones, and you know any high school coach. I mean they can attest that. I mean some of the things they say or do you're like, what in the hell are you thinking? Right, you have a you know a female coach, head coach coming in. I mean they just they're already struggling with their emotions and things like that. I can imagine some of the things that were said, and especially to Trevor behind closed doors. Right it would be challenging.
Speaker 2It was and, like I said, through that window I gained all my respect for what they need to do, not only with their grades and parent-teacher conferences and social life of teenagers, let alone doing your field, getting the boss you name it. It taught me so much and being at BYU before I knew sort of that thing because it was brand new. You had to start from scratch and I think being the Mountain West Coach of the year that year and having the background of having started a program helped. But then, when you're in the thick of it, parents also. They were very supportive of the hire were they yeah?
Speaker 1they were um and as we all know those I shouldn't say those, but that one parent, sure, you know, sure, always upset and yeah, it's not getting the playing time, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2And that's part of any program that you're in and you have to have a standard about that as well. And the first line of that is your coaching staff. You know when your coaching staff is on the same page as you and they have your back, we kind of knew. We knew what was going to happen with once. Once it started, you know they made a big hoopla. That was my first win against bountiful. They gave me a pitching ball, the, the bass, the baseball signed and you know I was like cool, it's just a game to me yeah it's just a.
Speaker 2That's a great win. That's great, but I anticipated winning yeah that's what that's my goal?
Speaker 1one of my goals is yeah, yeah, right, championship, right, exactly in a game so those were great years.
Speaker 2I learned a lot um how many years were you.
Speaker 1Uh, I want to say it was three or four.
Speaker 2Three or four, yeah and we had just an amazing the. The first year was that year of learning what that looked like, yeah, and then we had a significant freshman class coming in that had talent galore.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Garrett Nash, mark Zach Jones, they we were able to instill immediately what I believe in that freshman If you're good enough to start, you're going to start. And they started, they played, we transformed that program and Trevor's freshman year we took second in state and that is when I left that position. And then we won state when I wasn't coaching but the coach that we hired took state. Okay, the year after, the year after. So Derek Derek was saw the fruit of those labors, absolutely, and Derek was on that team that won state. And then they had, I think, another year where they finished either first or second, but it was I've done my deal.
Speaker 2And heart-to-heart talk with Trevor was like no, you need to go ahead and move on for your sake, because, women, that's when Salt Lake had offered me the job and I had to make a decision. And he shared, yeah, he's like no, we're, we're good where we're at. We, we have this, this is rolling, this is good. Yeah, and there's the foundation. So that's when I left Jordan and went to Salt Lake okay, and then you went.
Speaker 1So you went back to Salt Lake yes and then from there you ended up coming up to Coviver.
Weber State Softball Success
Speaker 2Correct. So I was at Salt Lake for nine years. Oh okay, yeah, nine years. And again, it was a great fit. I got to see Derek play almost every high school game and his state championship, because the schedules were a little bit different in junior college than Division I, and so it was a perfect fit. And then Weber State job opened, and so the story with Weber State is pretty interesting, because back in 1980, I played here in 1980 and 81.
Speaker 1And you never had a softball program.
Speaker 2They had a club sport it was just club, it was club.
Speaker 2So a lot of schools didn't, university of Arizona didn't, really. Yeah, wow. And so we, this university, decided to drop a few sports. Men's baseball was dropped, women's softball was dropped, and you know, I was at the prime of my playing career and joe evans was at utah, yeah, and so they, they said, well, they dropped the program. Do you want to come to Utah? And I'm like, yes, yes. So I transferred from Weber State to Utah and so I played two years here, and when they dropped the program, I played two years at Utah with Joe, and again, that's where I got my degree at University of Utah in elementary ed. And so it. It was a great experience to be able to finish there. But that tied me back to when this job opened and I'd been at Salt Lake like, yeah, this is another chance yeah, to be able to do something where I started.
Speaker 2And so it just lined up and I, honestly I had Macaulay Flint had already committed to Weber State. She was coming from Salt Lake, she was just a dominant pitcher at Salt Lake. She was coming to Weber and I hadn't committed to Weber. She was coming because her family lives in Roy and it had the degree that she wanted, okay, and so when I got offered the job it just felt like home. Yeah, yeah. So, but they hadn't had any success. They, honestly, tina Johnson had started the program and again I have all the respect for her because they didn't have the field.
Speaker 2Yeah, they didn't, you know, right, right program yes, yes and uh, she had to start from scratch and there was a lot of learning curve for the administration as well. As you know, you're going to sponsor this. It's highly competitive and um, so she, when she left it, it was I. I think the winning percentage was not what it needed to be. The players were here and so when I got the job, um, I knew what I was up against and so I committed a couple more c.
Speaker 2Csi had a great program and still does, and Salt Lake has a very competitive they're rivals, yeah. So I committed a few of the junior college kids that knew how to win. So we already had Macaulay, we had Malia Campos, who is a center fielder. Csi had Aubrey Whitmer and Sienna Whitmer, sierra excuse me, whitmer and so we had a core to work with and we had players who, again, it was super challenging because I had to make some hard decisions about who was on the team and who. It was really bizarre to me because the former coach had committed some players that I had to say you know the grades weren't there for the scholarship that was offered, so I had to say you can't come here. And it was horrible, it was.
Speaker 1I would sit yeah.
Speaker 2I would sit in the hallway and go I'm going to do one of these per night because emotionally it was so difficult and there were you know, there were a few of those and then just to hire coaching staff and change the way. They thought it was really fun, it was a challenge and they did a really good job of being open to okay, this is how this looks. And the other kids that had they knew how to win were like we're not losing, we're not. This isn't what we do, right?
Speaker 1right.
Speaker 2And they had enough confidence. Macaulay Flint you know she just swagger, yeah, yeah. And as a pitcher, that's what you need, right? And she was in a class where somebody was like the softball here is terrible. She's like no, you don't know, not now, not now.
Speaker 1Exactly, I've arrived yeah exactly. Exactly. That's awesome so it's fun. Yeah, I mean the cool thing you know, sitting here listening to all your stories and things like that, it really you can tell you enjoy that process, it's you know.
Speaker 2I can now Right, and each day again it's a whole family situation.
Speaker 1You know, those days were really hard and they were challenging and Mark has always been the best You've got to have that support?
Speaker 2Yeah, and he played baseball at Utah. He's an athlete. He always appreciated the fact that I was an athlete. Some of our best memories were we would go when we were first married to play racquetball and you know I'm competitive.
Speaker 1I'm feisty, I can tell I'm feisty.
Speaker 2And we would have great racquetball games right, you guys play pickleball now.
Speaker 1Now we do. Oh, there we go, now we do, we still play. That's a big thing.
Speaker 2The coaching staff. We have a weekly racquetball game.
Speaker 1Oh, do you guys really yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2Yeah, they didn't know racquetball, they knew pickleball and I'm like, okay, in my last year, I'm going to leave this with you guys and we're going to play. Okay, and that was awesome, that's going to be your legacy.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's one of them, yeah.
Speaker 2So, again, when you look back and you see these players that won the first championship here it was. We came in as a five seed, okay in, and idaho state was was really good and they hosted the tournament and collie just owned it, you know. And so we came through um the winner's bracket and it's double elimination and we won it on their field and we eliminated, you know, the top seeds and it was just remarkable to see the confidence in these young people that, yeah, we to do this. And the first one obviously led to what was to follow.
Speaker 1Yeah, how many championships have you won down here?
Speaker 2They say it's 10. Excuse me, they being sports information.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Because they count the regular season and then the conference tournament. Okay, because the regular season is a championship, because you get to host, you win the right to host and you know you'd have to look at it, because it's not my focus. It is. But then I don't look back and say yeah, when they post 10 championships I'm like where did you get that number?
Speaker 1And then they tell me and I'm like, okay, I see it now.
Speaker 2I guess so yeah. When they post 10 championships, I'm like, where did you get that number? And then they tell me and I'm like, okay, I see it now. I guess so yeah, because you did. We won with that 2016 team, we won that regular season and we won the conference tournament and we went to the first regional, which was in Louisiana.
Speaker 1And so we've been four, four times to the ncaa regional and you're the first team to ever actually win a game in regional. Yes, yes, which again, it's just another accolade of yours. Yeah, you know, I mean, stack them up yeah, it was.
Speaker 2It was interesting because, again, you're in there to win the regional. You're not in to win one game, you're the underdog for sure because you're the last seed at that regional. So we played at UCLA and in the field at UCLA we had Missouri was there and Cal State Fullerton was there and UCLA was the host team and Cal State Fullerton was there and UCLA was the host team and we had lost the first game to UCLA. And then we were playing and regionals you play two games in a day, which needs to be changed just as a platform.
Speaker 2Okay, Because you know how many. You won't see the men in baseball NCAA baseball until they're in the finals and the losers bracket. They play potentially two games, but it's usually a single game. Yeah, they're not doing many doubleheaders.
Speaker 2And you're not playing at 10 pm and that was done. So we basically had played the early game against UCLA, had some dinner at the field and prepared to play Cal State Fullerton. And in the Fullerton game we came out hot, we scored, we had really good pitching, solid pitching, we had a great team. We had a young team mixed in with the veterans who knew how to win and we won the game. We won the, we won the Fullerton game and everybody, social media and whatever and I'm like, yeah, we haven't won the tournament, we haven't won the tournament.
Speaker 2So why are you guys so hyped?
Speaker 1Everyone loves a Cinderella story.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah for sure, for sure. And I think again, riley Jensen does our mental performance coaching with us and he shared with us before we hit the road for UCLA. You know the story of once your name's on something. It can never be taken off of that and go and be special. I love that and we did it.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2You know, now it's on the banner.
Speaker 1It's in our locker room.
Speaker 2Everything the history is there. Yeah, you know now it's on the banner, it's on, it's in our locker room.
Speaker 1Everything the history is there, yeah, so when you look back now, like I said, this is your swan song. When you look back, what's the accolade that you look back at and you know your name is on that you're most proud of? Or is there one? I think it's collective.
Speaker 2I think it's, or is there one? I think it's collective.
Speaker 1I think it's For you. It's just the kids and the people you work with and all that. It's beyond the trophies and the Absolutely those.
Speaker 2I mean the people, are the ones that won the trophies. I was a part of it and I guided in some way, but they had to be willing to run through that wall with me and to be able to see that this could be done. And so, as you raise the standard, it raised the standard at Weber State that year. I know that football went on with Jay Hill to win a championship. You know we always have prided ourselves in the softball side of it to be top third. It's backstory, but basically we know what it takes. In the classroom. We graduate our athletes. You're going to be a top third employee You're going to go through. We're going to teach you how to be interviewed. We're going to teach all of that. But through that, that by-product is successful people and being able to look at it collectively.
Speaker 2Just, I look at the pictures now and I, the families that are behind these players are tremendous and they supported it. They supported everything. And sure you have tough times for families. I mean, our sons weren't starters. Our sons, you know they played the game and I didn't start every game, so I needed that perspective and the families have been so key to our success. But when I look at these pictures and I see the twins, faith and Lauren Ho, who have now gone on to coaching and being the leaders of FCA on campus and FCA. Faith is now coaching at Utah Tech and she's the FCA, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She's now the leader of that and all of the things they've accomplished. I just it's joy.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2It's pure joy to say you know that. You're out there and you learn these things here. Yeah, and your family's taught you. Yeah, you can see the pride as you're out there and you learn these things here. Yeah, and your family's taught you.
Speaker 1Yeah, you can see the pride as you're talking about all these former players, yeah, yeah. And their accomplishments, I mean.
Speaker 2Absolutely.
Lessons From a Coaching Legend
Speaker 1I mean, yeah, that's what it's all about.
Speaker 2It is, it is and you know it comes with. You're running through, you're running through walls. You know first and I've I've taught them you know you're the first one through the door, you're gonna get a bloody nose. You know my bloody noses have come in places. They've they've come in at byu, they've come at jordan high school. You're the first one. But then that door is open and when you, you develop a championship program, you're always at the top and you're always the biggest target on the schedule in the big sky and we embrace that. We know that that's part of the territory of what, what it takes, and you got to be your best every time because they're going to give you your best game, just like at Jordan high school. You've got to be prepared because you are going to get everybody's best.
Speaker 1Yeah, they say it's easier to achieve success than it is to actually maintain success.
Speaker 2Yes, and I concur with that. I concur with that. That is what I've experienced.
Speaker 1Yeah, well, I mean, you've done it for years, like we opened up the podcast. You are a coaching legend.
Speaker 2Thank you.
Speaker 1Honored to have you on today. Thank you so much for your time and all your stories, and you know just the wisdom you've imparted. And and, yeah, we wish you best with everything you do from here on out.
Speaker 2Great. Thank you so much, it's been a privilege.