Tim Cates talks with Oxnard College Softball Coach Erin Lawley about her program, her career and her experience going through the Master's in Coaching and Athletics Administration Program at Concordia University Irvine.
Show Highlights
- How the team worked through their Spring 2021 season while following COVID-19 protocols
- What her hopes are for the Spring 2022 season with five returners and strong first years
- She started with the team in 2017 and built up a lot of momentum into Spring 2020 when the COVID-19 Pandemic shut everything down
- Her plan for her softball program to bounce back as the world opens up
- How important it is for her to build relationships with local high schools when recruiting players for the team
- How her team achieved its first time being over 500 in 2020 with 18 games and tied with another school with the highest winning percentage
- The struggles she faced when recruiting players during the Pandemic
- How growing up in a family of athletes and playing volleyball, basketball, and softball influenced her path in life
- How getting a degree in Journalism Communication from California State University, Monterey Bay, and working as a sports reporter prepared her for coaching
- Why she returned to school to pursue a Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University
- Her journey from a sportswriter, to substitute teacher, to full-time high school teacher, high school head JV coach, varsity assistant coach, varsity head coach, D2 assistant in Northern California, to teaching and coaching at the college level through Concordia University Irvine’s MCAA program
- How her desire for a challenge and students that want to be on the field and in the classroom influenced her decision to pursue the Master’s in Coaching and Athletic Administration
- How she learned more about coaching by asking attending San Franciscian teams’ practices and observing coaching techniques used before joining the MCAA program
- How San Francisco State University head coach Christina Byrne introduced her to her wife Sarah Byrne at Dominican University of California and helped Lawley get her first job at the university level
- Why she fell in love with teaching and coaching at the college level
- How her mentor, Coach Patrick Murphy at the University of Alabama, has helped shape her coaching philosophy
- How different it is to go from having student-athletes that are required to be at high school or at practice to having student-athletes that want to learn and play at the college level
- How Oxnard College is a great stepping stone for students who struggle academically, maturity-wise, and financially
- How the community college system in California helps Student-Athletes find scholarships to attend four-year universities and relocate to join better teams
- Her hopes for the future as the current Co-President of the California Community College Fastpitch Coaches Association, member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, first female head softball coach, and first full-time coach of the program
- How she achieved the MCAA program while coaching and teaching full-time with the help of professors like her portfolio mentor Coach Rose Imbriano, Deanna Kingsbury, and Coach Crystal Rosenthal
Tags: Masters in Coaching, Coaching, MCAA Podcast, Softball, Alumni