Flanked by a Naismith Hall of Fame trophy and several WNBA MVP awards in her home office, Lisa Leslie smiles, making the image wider as she pulls out a picture of an Olympic gold medal printed on computer paper and protected by a clear plastic cover.
More than two dozen years ago, Tara VanDerveer, who left her coaching roles at Stanford to coach the U.S. women’s team, gave each member of the USA team a similar piece of paper to embody the your goal to win Olympic gold. at the upcoming 1996 Atlanta Games. It was a small gesture to signify the importance of achieving ultimate success for American women, not knowing that their success on the world stage would be the catalyst for what would be the oldest professional women’s sports league in the United States.
Today, VanDerveer continues to inspire Leslie, who says she continues to apply the coach’s lessons and mantras to everyday life.
“[VanDerveer] he gave that medal to all of us before he won our first gold medal, and we’ve always had that to do, “Leslie said.” And then all those appointments. “If you think you can, you can.” I love all these affirmations and positive quotes [she] it has given us “.
On Tuesday, coach Tara continued to do what she has always done: win. Stanford (5-0), the country’s No. 1 women’s basketball team, defeated Pacific by 104-61 and achieved its coach’s total victories at 1,099. With that, VanDerveer overtook Tennessee’s legendary Pat Summitt for more wins of all time in the women’s game.
There were no fans to celebrate the achievement. There are no media writings to deal with. Just a coach and his team.
But if you really know coach Tara, you would understand that she prefers it that way. She constantly preaches that “less is more.” This strategy has worked for decades and their routine is simple: study, explore, work hard. Rinse and repeat. He has been doing it every day at Stanford for over 40 years, winning games and learning valuable lessons along the way. Throughout these experiences, Coach Tara naturally became a teacher, with a huge impact on so many people.
No one understands it better than Billie Jean King. In October 2018, the icon and former Grand Slam champion partnered with the Women’s Sports Foundation to create the Tara VanDerveer Fund for Women’s Advancement in Training, which honors her work and passion. for women in sport. King calls Coach Tara a “true leader, coach, teacher who has taught us to win on and off the court.”
It is one thing to see history and another to be a part of it. As a high school student in Cypress, Texas, in 2008, I paid an official recruiting visit to Stanford and was impressed. It was the “Nerd Super Bowl.” At the back door of a Stanford football game that was making national waves with Andrew Luck, Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin, I thought it was an opportunity to meet the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. before the match.
Coach Tara prepared it for me. At that moment, I knew that in Tara I had found my new teacher, one who pushed my horizons in and out of the field beyond my imagination. I played at Stanford from 2010 to 2014.
The highlight of my first year was ending UConn’s 90-win streak. But in the locker room after that victory, Secretary Rice recalled that back door of the party a couple of years before he had an interest in international relations. She became my main advisor and finally handed me the diploma on graduation day.
Then one day in the 2017 WNBA season, Billie Jean King invited me to present a lifelong coach award to coach Tara, and at the same event, I watched Secretary Rice win the award. homonymous leadership of the tennis legend.
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Tara VanDerveer beats Pat Summitt by most NCAA women’s basketball wins (1,099) with a win over the Pacific, and the Cardinal celebrates his milestone.
That’s when things started to make a full circle. Learning and achieving is a mindset that you should surround yourself with every day, especially when it is difficult. Trust me. I know this because I still get occasional reminders from Coach Tara that she is available for film sessions because there is always room for improvement, no matter what work you do or how successful you are.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr often uses Coach Tara’s campus not only to form his team, but also as an opportunity to pick the brains of one of the best in the game. On Monday, a day after the NBA’s preseason action ended, Kerr devoted part of his media availability to recognizing coach Tara’s milestone.
“There are many coaches who have been successful for short periods of time and very few have been able to maintain excellence for decades,” he said. “The list is very short and [Tara is] in this list. “
Former Stanford quarterback John Elway, whose daughter Jessica played with coach Tara in 2004-05, echoed those feelings.
“I’ve learned that you can, as he has shown, win both on and off the court and in the classroom,” Denver Broncos general manager and president of football operations at the Bank of America Stadium on Sunday said that his team beat the Carolina Panthers.
Coach Tara and all she has achieved seems to be a basketball story, but the truth is she has always been about family. Coach Tara has dedicated her life to attention to detail and using her keen eye to help others succeed. Now, that simple thing has separated her from the history books.
Before he saw me, he saw my older sister, Nneka Ogwumike. He saw greatness in a young Nigerian-American from Houston, Texas, who had three sisters, unaware that they would become All-Stars and champions.
When I asked my big sis what coach Tara taught her, she answered without hesitation, “You can be great at little things.” These little things can take a long time.