At our December 17 JERSEY SERIES celebration, our 2020 Positive Impact Legend, Kathy Delaney-Smith, uplifted and inspired us. Kathy distilled 49 years of coaching into straightforward advice. “Build a trusting relationship, be empathetic, be genuine, and be transparent.”
That advice is the cornerstone of Kathy’s success. And yet the magic, the reason Kathy has coached across four decades, and the reason players from all four decades joined the celebration, is because Kathy is committed to evolving, learning, and getting better, all the time. In her very first season coaching high school basketball, Kathy went 0– 11. Eleven years later, her record was 204-31, and she began coaching at Harvard. Thirty-eight years and eleven Ivy League titles later, and still at Harvard, Kathy has evolved and continues to evolve.
Kathy’s positive impact on generations of women from ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan to Celtics VP and WNBA alum Allison Feaster and so many more, is, as Allison shared, “inarguable.” And long-lasting. Harvard Basketball alumna, Elizabeth Proudfit, Senior VP at NIC, Inc. shared that 25 years after graduating from Harvard, she still finds that every day she relies on lessons learned from Kathy in her job, and in her life.
By shining the spotlight on Kathy and the incredible sisterhood, the welcoming community she has built, PCA hopes to inspire coaches to be as authentic, engaging, caring and committed to evolving as Kathy.
Sports can be a magical place to learn, grow, compete, and find joy.
WATCH the event highlight video and learn from the Legend, Kathy Delaney-Smith.
Top Ten Moments and Advice from Kathy Delaney-Smith:
