December 21, 2023 • 34 mins
Tim Cates talks with Brooke Nicholson about career coaching volleyball to now the new Athletic Director at Mission Viejo High School. Brooke was a standout volleyball player, an All-American in college and has a been a successful coach the last decade before taking on a new role at her alma mater. Brooke is a graduate of the MCAA program at Concordia University Irvine and talks about how her experience in the program has helped her get to the position she is in now at Mission Viejo HS.
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From standout volleyball player in high schoolto three time All American and NAIA Player
of the Year at Concordia University,Irvine. She went on to coach and
now athletic director at Mission Viajo HighSchool. She is Brooke Nicholson and she
joins us now on episode sixty nineof the Masters in Coaching podcast. Let's
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Go Well, welcome into episode sixtynine of the Masters in Coaching podcasts here
on iHeartRadio YouTube. Wherever you getin your podcast or watch it, we
appreciate it to make sure you hitthe subscribe button. So looking forward to
this week's conversation. First year athleticdirector, longtime volleyball coach, former volleyball
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standout, A player of the Yearnationally and All American three times. She
is Brooke Nicholson and she joins usnow here on the Masters in Coaching podcast.
Brook, how are you doing verygood? Thanks for having me here.
I'm excited to be representing this amazingprogram in school. Glad to have
you. I got to ask youfirst off, longtime volleyball coach and here
you are, year one as athleticdirector at Mission Via Hill High School.
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How's it going so far, ithas been overwhelmingly exciting. I've enjoyed every
moment of it. A little bitof a backstory. Our football program just
won the CIF Southern Section Finals,the Regional Bowl finals, and then the
state championships. So for year one, I've learned a lot in that program,
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and it's been just so rewarding tokind of have my hands dipping in
all programs versus just volleyball. Sovery grateful, and it's just been full
speed ahead. What's it like takingover this athletic department after your predecessor was
there for so long? Absolutely?Troy Roland. He's actually a adjunk professor
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for the MCAA program at Concordia.He was our athletic director for almost twenty
years, and he actually had theopportunity become an assistant principal of athletics for
Mission VO. So he's been myathletic director, my mentor, a person
I can rely on for a verylong time. So stepping into this role
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has been really rewarding, challenging,but I always feel like I have a
great support system with him, justknowing what he was doing, the legacy
he brought to this role, andyou know now I'm trying to brookify it
and enhance it a little more anduse that masters to make it my own.
So it's been it's been great.We have a saying here at Mission
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that tradition never graduates, but traditioncan be enhanced. So that's what we're
focused on right now. Before weget into how you're brookifying this athletic department
at Mission Viaho High School, andcongratulations to your football program, I want
to go back to how you gothere in the first place. You're a
former standout volleyball player at Mission viaHill High School. You go on to
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the collegiate level, you're the NAIAPlayer of the Year, three time All
American. Athletics was something very importantin your life, I imagine, and
helped you get to where you're atnow. But growing up, how big
was athletics for you? And goingto college and playing athletics, How important
was that for you? It wasso so impactful. At a very young
age, I found volleyball. Itwas It just happened at nine. I
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don't think that's the greatest age tostart to high net. It's a heavy
ball. I think that sixth grade, seventh grade age is wonderful. But
my stepsister played, and I justgravitated to this amazing sport and I just
leached onto it. It almost becamean addiction. So for me, I
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think that sports have just cultivated anopportunity for me to grow expand. And
I love discipline. I love beingdisciplined. Let me repace that. And
I really love structure. And I'vehad so many wonderful men and coaches in
my life, including Dan Fisher,and including Lindsey. I always say her
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last name wrong, Bahanik, Ithink so, and yeah, she was
my coach here and now she's theOregon State coach and they're the Anyways,
I've had so many amazing mentors,coaches, colleagues in my life to really
drive that force. So since ayoung age, I've just been really motivated
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by being on a team, workingwith people, and it's just kind of
cultivated this whole shift for me.And I'm so sorry, there's a student
right here, right, Okay,We're good. It's cultivated. It's just
been a huge experience and I lostmy train of thought for a moment,
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But that's how it is at highschool athletics. You just get just sidetracked
all the time. Absolutely, you'rein high demand now, I mean being
athletic directory and I are in chargeof all these different sports. But collegiately,
playing as you did, and thesuccess that you had playing volleyball at
the collegiate level, it comes toan end for everybody you're playing days.
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What was it then that you wantedto do? Was coaching? Teaching,
getting at education, coaching volleyball?Was that something you immediately you knew you
wanted to do, or was theremaybe a different path you wanted to maybe
you know, pursue at that time. Yeah, I think for a long
time I wanted to be like aphysical therapist or an athletic trainer and be
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on that kinesiology sports medicine based track. And you know, every year of
volleyball at Concordia, it just therewas something inside me saying you're meant to
coach and be with kids, andthat's that passion that's driving. So I
started coaching club on the off seasonwhile I was you know, training,
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I think off seasons almost more challengingthan in season because you're lifting hard,
training harder, preparing for your nextseason, and I just kept getting drawn
back. So I decided to takea pause on the athletic training side of
everything and really deep dive into physicaleducation and athletics as a whole at the
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high school level, so supporting students. And then I ended up coaching high
school right after getting my degree insports medicine and kinesiology from Grengordia, and
that kind of just solidified it's timeto get your teaching credential and really make
that move. It's been the mostrewarding experience and it's been a challenge not
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having a team this year, buthaving twenty eight teams, you know,
working with all of them and nothaving your own, but I'm so grateful.
And from that moment when I wasteaching mister Roland Troy, I decided,
Wow, this job is incredible.I get to work with all athletics,
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not just one program, and that'skind of where my focus went in.
I went and got the Athletic AdministrationMasters and then I got my admin
credential, and I just felt,this is where my path is now,
is to support kids pursuing collegiate leveland just you know, aspiring to be
their best high school athletic selves.How why was it important for you then?
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To get that master's. Well,you mentioned to help the high school
students and you know, further yourcareer. But the masters and coaching Athletics
administration program, why the one atConcordia and why was important for you to
get that masters. I was veryfortunate. After I graduated from Concordia,
I had the opportunity and become agraduate assistant and work for the athletic department.
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I worked in sports information. Idid data for all sports, so
live data entry, and that wasanother taste of Wow, there's so many
opportunities athletics where we can be impactfulto students, and that aspired me to
get my master's an athletic administration.I didn't know if I would be an
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athletic director. I didn't know whereI was going. I graduated really young,
but I knew this was my firststep and opportunity to really just expand
my knowledge, expand my resume,and just kind of taste maybe this is
what I want to do. Maybeit's not. Because in that specific master's
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program, you can really take multiplepaths. You can become a really great
coach, you can really look atthe admin logistical side of it, compliance,
so there's it's a very broad umbrellaallowing you to hone in on what's
best for you. So for me, at the time, I knew I
wanted to continue my education. Iknew I was going to be a teacher,
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and I thought if I could justadd this master's to it, it
would really open doors for me andallow me to see where I wanted my
path to go and open that doorfor becoming an athletic director, because it
didn't sound like that was something.Maybe you're on your radar initially coaching teaching,
yes, but going through the programkind of seeing what else is out
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there you mentioned as a GA,you know, working in the sports information
department, kind of opening any thingsup and seeing that path maybe as an
athletic director that you maybe wouldn't haveseen before one. I don't think I
would be able to do this jobto the best of my ability if I
did not have that master's. Ityou can always envision and understand what an
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athletic director and an assistant principle ofathletics does for you when you're the head
coach. So I always knew whatsupport I had and what support I needed.
But I think without that master's II think that was only the tip
of the iceberg. I wouldn't haveknown ninety percent of what's needed in this
role from an administration standpoint without it, so very great, I took that
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leap of faith and continued my educationaljourney because it really did allow me to
open doors. It also allowed meto do administrative work for the club level.
So eleven U to eighteen U,I've been doing administrative work for Laguna
Beach Volleyball Club for the past fouryears while I expanded my family and I
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have a beautiful son and we gotmarried. So while I couldn't always do
club with the high school and theteaching and the goals of becoming an athletic
director, I still was able towork with kids and help them and build
that resume again. So hands down, whether it's collegiate, high school,
club level, this Master's program reallyit opened doors. It's the best analogy
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to say it allowed me to pursueany position I wanted. The cool part
for me talking to coaches and athleticdirectors that have gone through the Masters and
Coaching program University is to hear thedifferent coach, whether it's a baseball coach,
whether it's a football coach, whetherit's a lacrosse, soccer, or
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wrestling, whatever, whatever the coachis, that's their specialty. And to
go through the program, they getexposed to other sports and they learn from
a baseball coach, whether they're thesoccer coach, and you know, they're
learning about the sport maybe you knowx's and o's and the techniques, but
philosophies as well. But these philosophieswhich all these coaches tell, they say
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the same thing. It's like,Wow, I didn't realize how much it
kind of covered all these sports andthings I thought and philosophies I had,
and the way I run my programand the structures we have, the pillars
of our program. They're kind ofall the same around sports, and coaches
in all different sports kind of havethat same philosophy, which was kind of
fun to see. Oh absolutely,and I would say in the past four
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months, it's been so beautiful toknow that these skills and these assets that
I've had for the past thirteen yearsin my coaching experience, they really do
a place to every sport. Wejust started our beach volleyball program, and
we just started our girls flag footballprograms. So while being new to the
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position, I also got to bea part of two inaugural girls programs that
have been offered to a high schoolathletics. So it's just been a tremendous
opportunity to really pillars, culture,philosophies, all of it intertwined. Doesn't
matter what sport you play. Ultimately, we are building community members through sports,
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we are building leaders through sports,and it's just a beautiful it's a
beautiful process, hands down from yourlens looking at things. You've got the
background in volleyball coaching for over adecade thirteen plug years at the high school
level, club level as well nowas an athletic director, I'm curious what
you see in high school athletics thatcould be tinkered or maybe things that you
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thought were one way or maybe oranother. And you get that, you
get this now and you get toput your handprint on on Mission Viejo High
School and the athletics. There werethere some things you had in mind you
wanted to change or do or lookinto and kind of put your stamp on
this program in this athletic department.That's a great question and I absolutely do.
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I think for me this first yearhas been who are we in this
role and what do we represent atMischievo High School. I don't want to
come in and be like everything iswrong. There's a lot of beautiful things
that many years have been put inplace and design and cultivated to make this
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program athletically so successful. But withthat, there's there's been some things that
I'm super excited about. I'm lookinginto building an athletics Hall fame for our
high school. Recently, guys don'thave one in Mission Vieho. Can you
believe that we have exactions? Comeon, I know you should see our
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city and community. We have swimmers, diet we have olympias. It's wonderful.
So that's my first, my firstbig project that I'm excited about.
I want to honor all of ouralumni and I want to bring that back
in that community. And I thinkMischibio High School specifically, our community loves
our school, and I feel thatthere's spirit and energy within all programs and
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I really just want to bring thatpeace to it. And I want to
just absorb everything and you know,fine tune in as we go, but
really just proud and grateful of theposition at hand. So just working hard.
It's funny you bring up the alumnibecause you hear about all the time
at the collegiate level the alumni comingback and supporting programs and bringing them back
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to honor them and recognize them forchampionships or league titles, and I think
it's kind of got lost at thehigh school level, at least that's my
opinion. And I do think it'sare different, and you got the public
versus private, and yet all thatstuff happening. But I love that the
fact that you're you're going back tothe alumni, reaching back out to them,
the people who's that layed the foundationfor athletics at Mission Vah High School.
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I love that. I wish moreschools would recognize their past, not
only standouts, but the people thatput the blood, sweat and tears into
these programs where they're at now.I love this absolutely and I'm really proud.
I think we have an incredible alumni, and we had spoke previously about
just what kind of culture and communityyou could bring to your programs. I
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think it's it's so instrumental for studentsto hear from people that were in their
shoes, that were experiencing these sameblood, sweat, tears, same schedules,
and you know, I'm very proudof how academic our athletes are.
They really are student athletes. AndI had the opportunity last bring to coach
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boys varsity tennis. I had nevercoached tennis before, but I coached,
so I was like, I'm notgoing to let them down. So their
coach had, unfortunately some illnesses,personal stuff. They were about to cut
the program and I just said,nope, let's do this. I will
figure it out. And I invitedalumni in by my brother in law,
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who was semi professional, we hadparents come on saturdays. I didn't know
how to coach tennis, but Iknew how to coach. We built a
covenant, we designed rules and expectations, and they had the best record they
had in five years. And itwas really just inviting the community to support
me in supporting them. And that'swhere that alumni piece comes in. I
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could not be more grateful for allof those community and alumni helping me become
a tennis coach because I wasn't.And a lot of YouTube, so thank
you to the YouTubers out there.I watched a lot of your skill sets
that was a great experience for me. I was like, this is a
program where I don't want to loseit and I don't want these boys to
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not have a senior season. Soit was refreshing. It was you know
you get in those throughtines when you'rereally dialed into one program, and this
was all new to me, andit brought this sense of energy, empowerment,
and it was communication and building thatcommunity. So for me, that's
what I want in all twenty eightof my programs now. So that's kind
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of my lens where I'm going isI want everyone to feel they know there
was a legacy, they know theycan make their stamp and make their own
paths. So very grateful and excitedfor the future. I love it,
absolutely love it. Now. Youmentioned community a couple of times, and
I think that's important to address becausenowadays, you know, private versus public,
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and we kind of lose that identityof community because kids are traveling thirty
minutes to go to a school toplay sports or attend that high school,
and you really lost that neighborhood feel. I think to high school experience,
whether it's drama, whether it's banned, whether it's athletics asb whatever. The
experience I think is lost a littlebit. But admission vah, it's a
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little different. You guys aren't thenormal. It's still that small town field
to it. I don't mean tosay it's a small town, but I
guess it's just that community feel isstill there, the support is still there
where you see a lot of placesin Texas and other places, but how
important is that for you? Howunusual is that when you look around and
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see maybe other high schools in yourdivision or other high schools that you play
against. So South Orange County isvery competitive, as you know, in
the plethora of sports, many sports. And there's something that someone told me
once where our city's name is inthe title of our school, and it
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was very empowering to me and Iwas like, wow, that is it.
Truly is is a standout. There'sfour different high schools or three excuses
no four in the city of MissionBahip, but our name is in the
title. We take that with pride. You know, we have this connection
with our city council and we haveboard members that support us. So that's
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something that I got grandfathered into.We have continued those relationships and kept those
tight knit spiderweb community together. Butit takes a village. And now that
I'm a mom, I have anew lens. Where before, as a
younger coach, I might I mighthave had an armed distance. Like you
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are the parent and I am thecoach, and we work together. But
we need this, this boundary sothat we're able to grow and expand these
student athletes. But now I'm like, no, we need weed. The
more these children need more mentors,more adults, more people to guide them,
more vantage points to bounce ideas offof. So for me, it's
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bring it in, don't be inarmed distance away, but let's do this
together. And when they say ittakes a village, it does. And
I only have one, so andit takes a village. So from an
aspect of now I have sixteen hundredand eighty four students. We need we
need the grandparents, we need theneighbors, we need the kids supporting the
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kids. So for me, that'sthat's what I want to leave a mark
on and keep that connection going.I have three girls, and two of
them graduated high school, one stillin high school, and they go and
went to Village Christian High School,which is here nearby us. And the
saying is it takes a village,you know, to bring these kids and
to raise them up and to getthem through to being adults. And that's
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absolutely the case. You mentioned someof the people who have been influential in
your life and getting to you whereyou're at now. Talk a little bit
about those people, those mentors,those coaches that maybe you've borrowed from,
you know, philosophies, coaching stylesand good and bad like I like that
coaching did this this and I kindof grab and become who I am because
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of these coaches. Who are someof those people that helped form who you
are as a coach and as aleader now as an athletic director, I
am so blessed to say I havefive people, five mentors, five coaches
that have really just completely changed theway I think, open versus closed mindset.
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Like we can go so we coulddeep dive so far into this,
but at first I have to honorand thank Dan Fisher. He came in.
He was hired at Concordia my junioryear. I was apprehensive. I
didn't know what to do. Iloved the school, but it was a
change and it was a change Iwasn't anticipating, and I had the opportunity
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to be on the interview committee becauseI was the current captain and he just
the way he represented himself, theway he spoke to me as a captain
and a leader. We would dolunches together once a week and just be
like, hey, how are wedoing? What is it like as a
captain. He would kind of guideme, and it just it felt like
the most the most connected I've everbeen with a coach because I felt respected.
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I felt like he was allowing meto be my own authentic self,
but he was using all these toolsand guidances that he's had over his career.
And I bring him up first becauseI just texted him literally on Monday
because his name popped up. Theyjust lost in the quarterfinals last year,
the finals, semi final. He'sjust has this legacy going at pit right
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now. And on my email genericschool email, it says get the philosophies
of Dan Fisher. So I senthim a picture of that, like your
name's in my email at school andhe goes, you know all my secrets.
So for me, he's just he'sthe first person I really felt just
wholeheartedly. Collarbone up is what Isay, and not that mental piece,
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that mental game. I think Ibecame the national player of the Year because
he taught me collor bona. Ithink the physicality was there and my drive
was there, but he really justtotally opened my eyes and to just how
you think about it, how youread a person, how you lead a
team, how you lead a teamof twenty one girls. You're the twenty
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two. So that I just haveto always thank him for that. Elc
we called her that, but Lindsayshe's at Oregon State now, she wasn't
doctor on the podcast here. Yes, we share the same birthday. We're
both all Americans from Congordia, soshe's my girl. I love her.
I think that she allowed me tosee a strong female presence. She really
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you know, when you're a femaleathlete, you do have a lot of
male coaches, and she showed methere isn't a difference. It truly is
what are your beliefs, what doyou see, what is your vision?
What is your goals? And shereally showed me it doesn't matter who you
are, it's how you coach,how you love your players, how you
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design your program. So that tome. That was so I always knew
as a student athlete there what hergoals were. So I kind of watched
her do that and then thought tomyself, Wow, I do want to
coach as well. So she kindof inspired that coaching at my high school
coach he still coaches high school.I lost to him in the semi finals
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of CIF. I was so sadhe won the title, so he deserved
it, but he was He allowedme to be a starter. He allowed
me. I was pretty small,so he didn't care. He's like,
you got the vertical, just bea big bulldog. So he kind of
allowed me not to think, Okay, five eleven's not really big as a
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hitter. He just pushed me andis like it doesn't matter. But if
you have the grit and you wantto work hard, doesn't really matter.
So he kind of boosted me up. My last two we have Christi.
She played for a US national teamand she played All American at Illinois.
Again dominant female. I'm twelve yearsold. She gives me a shot and
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she was just a coach that justlit the fire that oh, I'm going
to play college boy ball. AndI said that at twelve years old.
To both my parents, I waslike, you watch, I'm gonna do
it, And she showed me thatbecause she was young and vibrant and just
so she was in it, shewould play with us. We're twelve.
And then my club coach, Michael, he still owns Slugunna Beat Volleyball Club.
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He just has so much wisdom togive. And I got the opportunity
to not only play for him,but coach for him my senior year.
He all twelve of us got scholarshipsto go play, and I don't think
many coaches can say that, Andhe holds a legacy to me where I
felt valued to him always. Sothose five coaches, just every time I
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thought I knew what I was doing, they would bring something to the table,
pivot, learn something new. Andnow I hear them all the time
in my head while I speak tomy student athletes, and it's special.
So I hope I'm one of themto all my students one day. That
is awesome. Hearing you talk,hearing your energy is fantastic. And I
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think about having three daughters and whatthey want to do as they go through
college and are trying to figure outwhat life has in front of them,
and they come from a school wherethey have a woman as an athletic director
and she's in a great role thathas done great things to help launch programs
and continue the success of the programsthat she inherited. And talking to you,
you know, another female athletic directorat a big time high school here
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in Southey, California. What doyou what do you say to the young
girls out there that are that arelooking at you as somebody who's in charge
and is overseeing the football, basketball, all these different programs, all these
student athletes and helping them through career, your career. Once there was a
lot of men in this position,a lot more females in the athletic director
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role, which is great. Thisis what I would say to them,
Go get them whatever you want todo. If you have the drive,
the tenacity, you're willing, you'rewilling to put in the work, there's
doors open for you. And Ithink we need more female athletic directors.
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I think we need more leaders inthis athletic world. I watch a lot
of sports. My husband is asports guy. I get the opportunity to
go to all these sporting events.It's my passion it's what's built me.
I want this to be my career. And I would say there was a
statistic I learned recently twenty four percentof all athletic directors are females, and
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three percent of all athletic directors atthe collegiate level are athletic directors. So
we are a small a small groupnow, but we're growing and my hope
is that one day that looks morelike fifty to fifty percent. So I
think, whatever you want to do, as long as you are willing to
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work hard and willing to work withall types of people, does it matter
who they are. There's something beautifulabout athletics. It connects us together and
we're all so different. So ifyou're willing to work with anyone and everyone
to get where you want to go, it's the doors wide open. And
I'm just so grateful that they reallyjust opened that door for me and allowed
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me to have this opportunity. Inour final minutes here talk a little bit
about the Masters and Coaching Athletics Administrationprogram, why it's such a good fit
for those who are looking to maybetake that career job, maybe looking to
further their education or get into anew career path, what your experience was
like in the program, and whyit's going to be beneficial for somebody maybe
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listening right now that wants to takethat leap. I would say that beyond
what I've already stated, it allowedme to really deep dive and digest what
it takes to an athletic charrector whatit takes to be a true coach that
has a path. Everyone's play notI shouldn't say that. Majority of us
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have had the opportunity to play sports, and a lot of us feel,
oh, anyone can coach, anyonecan be involved. It's not the case.
It's it's not the case. Alot of my best players have come
back to coach and they're like,wow, I had I had no idea.
Or I've mentored coaches and they've said, okay, so I built this
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whole two hour practice and we're donewith it in forty eight minutes. What
do I do for the other hourand twelve minutes? And that's been some
it's been some work. So thatmaster's program you get to take classes on
So I took a volleyball class.It was incredible. Who would have thought
I would have taken involve I beenplaying since I was nine. I don't
did you learn anything I did?I did? So for me, it
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was like how to write a lessonplan? With coaching? How how do
you handle those difficult conversations? Youknow, there's a lot that comes into
competitive equity, and there's a lotthat comes into opportunity and growth, hiring
and firing of your of your coachingstaff. You know, I think hiring
is wonderful. I don't think firing'sthe best. But these are things that
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that program allowed me to be.Like the hard stuff, we're going to
support you, We're going to allowyou to learn the challenging stuff. And
then the more beautiful piece to theprogram was philosophy. All of these professors
brought something really beautiful and powerful totheir classes. It was an online opportunity
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for me. I did it allonline. I did it at home.
I did it while coaching and teachingfull time. So for me, I
was able to work, expand mycareer and also get a master's. That
allowed me opportunities for financial because theywant our teachers educators to get more master's
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degrees and growth and professional development.It also allowed me to apply for this
position, which is huge I thinka lot of people don't think you need
certain things to go places, butthis program. If I wanted to coach
at the collegiate level, this programcould allow me to do that. If
I wanted to be an athlettricer,which I did, that was my major
goal. This allowed me to dothat. And there's so many paths within
(31:37):
it. I believe. Now theyoffer the master's program but with science backing,
so you can take some courses,more kinesiology base. You can have
a master's in science and coaching andathletic administration. So they're expanding and I
think there's I wouldn't change it forthe world. I go do it three
times over because it was so impactfulfor me. Well, Brooke, I
(32:00):
appreciate the time. I love hearingyour story. I love talking about the
program with you, love talking philosophieswith you. And the fact that you've
now taken this ball and run withit, so to speak. At Mission
va Ho, you got a CIFchampionship, state championship with your football program.
By the way, it's not likethis every year, right, you
(32:22):
know that you're not gonna win statechampionships every year. I was called the
lucky one this year. Well,hopefully there's more CIF championships here with the
winter sports and swing with the springsports as well. There's a rich history
in athletics at Mission va Hole HighSchool. I know you'll carry that torch
this year and into the future.Thank you so much for joining us,
sharing your story and talking to allthose out there about the masters in coaching
(32:45):
the athletics administration program. We reallyappreciate it. Thank you for having me
here. I've enjoyed every minute ofit, and you're wonderful. So go
Eagles. So proud of you guys. Well, there she goes Brooke Nicholson,
athletic director at Mission va Ho HighSchool, back to where it all
started for her as a high schoolstandout, went on to Concordia University,
Irvine, the NAIA Player of theYear back in twenty eleven, a three
(33:09):
time All American playing volleyball, longtimecoach at Mission Via High School and the
club circuit as well, and nowin her first year as athletic director at
Mission Via Ho High School, ather football program won a CIF championship and
a state CIF championship in her firstfew months on the job. Thank you
(33:30):
to Brook for sharing her story,telling us about what she's up to at
Mission via Hill High School and bringingthe alumni back on campus and having the
Hall of Fame started at that highschool. Long overdo with all the talent
that has come out of Mission VahHigh School. So thank you to Brook,
Thank you to you for listening andwatching Don't forget. You can find
out more about the Masters in Coachingand Athletics Administration program at Concordia University,
(33:54):
Irvine by going to CUI dot eduslash coaching. If you're thinking about it,
you're in the holidays, find outmore at the website, find out
where the next start time is,and if you're a new student of the
program, you get a one thousanddollars scholarship. CUI dot edu slash Coaching.
CUI dot edu slash Coaching Episode sixtynine now in the books until next
(34:16):
time, Tim Kay saying so long, everybody,
From standout volleyball player in high schoolto three time All American and NAIA Player
of the Year at Concordia University,Irvine. She went on to coach and
now athletic director at Mission Viajo HighSchool. She is Brooke Nicholson and she
joins us now on episode sixty nineof the Masters in Coaching podcast. Let's
(00:23):
Go Well, welcome into episode sixtynine of the Masters in Coaching podcasts here
on iHeartRadio YouTube. Wherever you getin your podcast or watch it, we
appreciate it to make sure you hitthe subscribe button. So looking forward to
this week's conversation. First year athleticdirector, longtime volleyball coach, former volleyball
(00:44):
standout, A player of the Yearnationally and All American three times. She
is Brooke Nicholson and she joins usnow here on the Masters in Coaching podcast.
Brook, how are you doing verygood? Thanks for having me here.
I'm excited to be representing this amazingprogram in school. Glad to have
you. I got to ask youfirst off, longtime volleyball coach and here
you are, year one as athleticdirector at Mission Via Hill High School.
(01:07):
How's it going so far, ithas been overwhelmingly exciting. I've enjoyed every
moment of it. A little bitof a backstory. Our football program just
won the CIF Southern Section Finals,the Regional Bowl finals, and then the
state championships. So for year one, I've learned a lot in that program,
(01:32):
and it's been just so rewarding tokind of have my hands dipping in
all programs versus just volleyball. Sovery grateful, and it's just been full
speed ahead. What's it like takingover this athletic department after your predecessor was
there for so long? Absolutely?Troy Roland. He's actually a adjunk professor
(01:56):
for the MCAA program at Concordia.He was our athletic director for almost twenty
years, and he actually had theopportunity become an assistant principal of athletics for
Mission VO. So he's been myathletic director, my mentor, a person
I can rely on for a verylong time. So stepping into this role
(02:16):
has been really rewarding, challenging,but I always feel like I have a
great support system with him, justknowing what he was doing, the legacy
he brought to this role, andyou know now I'm trying to brookify it
and enhance it a little more anduse that masters to make it my own.
So it's been it's been great.We have a saying here at Mission
(02:38):
that tradition never graduates, but traditioncan be enhanced. So that's what we're
focused on right now. Before weget into how you're brookifying this athletic department
at Mission Viaho High School, andcongratulations to your football program, I want
to go back to how you gothere in the first place. You're a
former standout volleyball player at Mission viaHill High School. You go on to
(02:59):
the collegiate level, you're the NAIAPlayer of the Year, three time All
American. Athletics was something very importantin your life, I imagine, and
helped you get to where you're atnow. But growing up, how big
was athletics for you? And goingto college and playing athletics, How important
was that for you? It wasso so impactful. At a very young
age, I found volleyball. Itwas It just happened at nine. I
(03:22):
don't think that's the greatest age tostart to high net. It's a heavy
ball. I think that sixth grade, seventh grade age is wonderful. But
my stepsister played, and I justgravitated to this amazing sport and I just
leached onto it. It almost becamean addiction. So for me, I
(03:44):
think that sports have just cultivated anopportunity for me to grow expand. And
I love discipline. I love beingdisciplined. Let me repace that. And
I really love structure. And I'vehad so many wonderful men and coaches in
my life, including Dan Fisher,and including Lindsey. I always say her
(04:06):
last name wrong, Bahanik, Ithink so, and yeah, she was
my coach here and now she's theOregon State coach and they're the Anyways,
I've had so many amazing mentors,coaches, colleagues in my life to really
drive that force. So since ayoung age, I've just been really motivated
(04:26):
by being on a team, workingwith people, and it's just kind of
cultivated this whole shift for me.And I'm so sorry, there's a student
right here, right, Okay,We're good. It's cultivated. It's just
been a huge experience and I lostmy train of thought for a moment,
(04:46):
But that's how it is at highschool athletics. You just get just sidetracked
all the time. Absolutely, you'rein high demand now, I mean being
athletic directory and I are in chargeof all these different sports. But collegiately,
playing as you did, and thesuccess that you had playing volleyball at
the collegiate level, it comes toan end for everybody you're playing days.
(05:10):
What was it then that you wantedto do? Was coaching? Teaching,
getting at education, coaching volleyball?Was that something you immediately you knew you
wanted to do, or was theremaybe a different path you wanted to maybe
you know, pursue at that time. Yeah, I think for a long
time I wanted to be like aphysical therapist or an athletic trainer and be
(05:31):
on that kinesiology sports medicine based track. And you know, every year of
volleyball at Concordia, it just therewas something inside me saying you're meant to
coach and be with kids, andthat's that passion that's driving. So I
started coaching club on the off seasonwhile I was you know, training,
(05:54):
I think off seasons almost more challengingthan in season because you're lifting hard,
training harder, preparing for your nextseason, and I just kept getting drawn
back. So I decided to takea pause on the athletic training side of
everything and really deep dive into physicaleducation and athletics as a whole at the
(06:15):
high school level, so supporting students. And then I ended up coaching high
school right after getting my degree insports medicine and kinesiology from Grengordia, and
that kind of just solidified it's timeto get your teaching credential and really make
that move. It's been the mostrewarding experience and it's been a challenge not
(06:36):
having a team this year, buthaving twenty eight teams, you know,
working with all of them and nothaving your own, but I'm so grateful.
And from that moment when I wasteaching mister Roland Troy, I decided,
Wow, this job is incredible.I get to work with all athletics,
(06:58):
not just one program, and that'skind of where my focus went in.
I went and got the Athletic AdministrationMasters and then I got my admin
credential, and I just felt,this is where my path is now,
is to support kids pursuing collegiate leveland just you know, aspiring to be
their best high school athletic selves.How why was it important for you then?
(07:23):
To get that master's. Well,you mentioned to help the high school
students and you know, further yourcareer. But the masters and coaching Athletics
administration program, why the one atConcordia and why was important for you to
get that masters. I was veryfortunate. After I graduated from Concordia,
I had the opportunity and become agraduate assistant and work for the athletic department.
(07:46):
I worked in sports information. Idid data for all sports, so
live data entry, and that wasanother taste of Wow, there's so many
opportunities athletics where we can be impactfulto students, and that aspired me to
get my master's an athletic administration.I didn't know if I would be an
(08:07):
athletic director. I didn't know whereI was going. I graduated really young,
but I knew this was my firststep and opportunity to really just expand
my knowledge, expand my resume,and just kind of taste maybe this is
what I want to do. Maybeit's not. Because in that specific master's
(08:28):
program, you can really take multiplepaths. You can become a really great
coach, you can really look atthe admin logistical side of it, compliance,
so there's it's a very broad umbrellaallowing you to hone in on what's
best for you. So for me, at the time, I knew I
wanted to continue my education. Iknew I was going to be a teacher,
(08:50):
and I thought if I could justadd this master's to it, it
would really open doors for me andallow me to see where I wanted my
path to go and open that doorfor becoming an athletic director, because it
didn't sound like that was something.Maybe you're on your radar initially coaching teaching,
yes, but going through the programkind of seeing what else is out
(09:11):
there you mentioned as a GA,you know, working in the sports information
department, kind of opening any thingsup and seeing that path maybe as an
athletic director that you maybe wouldn't haveseen before one. I don't think I
would be able to do this jobto the best of my ability if I
did not have that master's. Ityou can always envision and understand what an
(09:37):
athletic director and an assistant principle ofathletics does for you when you're the head
coach. So I always knew whatsupport I had and what support I needed.
But I think without that master's II think that was only the tip
of the iceberg. I wouldn't haveknown ninety percent of what's needed in this
role from an administration standpoint without it, so very great, I took that
(10:00):
leap of faith and continued my educationaljourney because it really did allow me to
open doors. It also allowed meto do administrative work for the club level.
So eleven U to eighteen U,I've been doing administrative work for Laguna
Beach Volleyball Club for the past fouryears while I expanded my family and I
(10:22):
have a beautiful son and we gotmarried. So while I couldn't always do
club with the high school and theteaching and the goals of becoming an athletic
director, I still was able towork with kids and help them and build
that resume again. So hands down, whether it's collegiate, high school,
club level, this Master's program reallyit opened doors. It's the best analogy
(10:46):
to say it allowed me to pursueany position I wanted. The cool part
for me talking to coaches and athleticdirectors that have gone through the Masters and
Coaching program University is to hear thedifferent coach, whether it's a baseball coach,
whether it's a football coach, whetherit's a lacrosse, soccer, or
(11:07):
wrestling, whatever, whatever the coachis, that's their specialty. And to
go through the program, they getexposed to other sports and they learn from
a baseball coach, whether they're thesoccer coach, and you know, they're
learning about the sport maybe you knowx's and o's and the techniques, but
philosophies as well. But these philosophieswhich all these coaches tell, they say
(11:28):
the same thing. It's like,Wow, I didn't realize how much it
kind of covered all these sports andthings I thought and philosophies I had,
and the way I run my programand the structures we have, the pillars
of our program. They're kind ofall the same around sports, and coaches
in all different sports kind of havethat same philosophy, which was kind of
fun to see. Oh absolutely,and I would say in the past four
(11:48):
months, it's been so beautiful toknow that these skills and these assets that
I've had for the past thirteen yearsin my coaching experience, they really do
a place to every sport. Wejust started our beach volleyball program, and
we just started our girls flag footballprograms. So while being new to the
(12:09):
position, I also got to bea part of two inaugural girls programs that
have been offered to a high schoolathletics. So it's just been a tremendous
opportunity to really pillars, culture,philosophies, all of it intertwined. Doesn't
matter what sport you play. Ultimately, we are building community members through sports,
(12:31):
we are building leaders through sports,and it's just a beautiful it's a
beautiful process, hands down from yourlens looking at things. You've got the
background in volleyball coaching for over adecade thirteen plug years at the high school
level, club level as well nowas an athletic director, I'm curious what
you see in high school athletics thatcould be tinkered or maybe things that you
(12:56):
thought were one way or maybe oranother. And you get that, you
get this now and you get toput your handprint on on Mission Viejo High
School and the athletics. There werethere some things you had in mind you
wanted to change or do or lookinto and kind of put your stamp on
this program in this athletic department.That's a great question and I absolutely do.
(13:18):
I think for me this first yearhas been who are we in this
role and what do we represent atMischievo High School. I don't want to
come in and be like everything iswrong. There's a lot of beautiful things
that many years have been put inplace and design and cultivated to make this
(13:39):
program athletically so successful. But withthat, there's there's been some things that
I'm super excited about. I'm lookinginto building an athletics Hall fame for our
high school. Recently, guys don'thave one in Mission Vieho. Can you
believe that we have exactions? Comeon, I know you should see our
(14:01):
city and community. We have swimmers, diet we have olympias. It's wonderful.
So that's my first, my firstbig project that I'm excited about.
I want to honor all of ouralumni and I want to bring that back
in that community. And I thinkMischibio High School specifically, our community loves
our school, and I feel thatthere's spirit and energy within all programs and
(14:26):
I really just want to bring thatpeace to it. And I want to
just absorb everything and you know,fine tune in as we go, but
really just proud and grateful of theposition at hand. So just working hard.
It's funny you bring up the alumnibecause you hear about all the time
at the collegiate level the alumni comingback and supporting programs and bringing them back
(14:50):
to honor them and recognize them forchampionships or league titles, and I think
it's kind of got lost at thehigh school level, at least that's my
opinion. And I do think it'sare different, and you got the public
versus private, and yet all thatstuff happening. But I love that the
fact that you're you're going back tothe alumni, reaching back out to them,
the people who's that layed the foundationfor athletics at Mission Vah High School.
(15:15):
I love that. I wish moreschools would recognize their past, not
only standouts, but the people thatput the blood, sweat and tears into
these programs where they're at now.I love this absolutely and I'm really proud.
I think we have an incredible alumni, and we had spoke previously about
just what kind of culture and communityyou could bring to your programs. I
(15:39):
think it's it's so instrumental for studentsto hear from people that were in their
shoes, that were experiencing these sameblood, sweat, tears, same schedules,
and you know, I'm very proudof how academic our athletes are.
They really are student athletes. AndI had the opportunity last bring to coach
(16:00):
boys varsity tennis. I had nevercoached tennis before, but I coached,
so I was like, I'm notgoing to let them down. So their
coach had, unfortunately some illnesses,personal stuff. They were about to cut
the program and I just said,nope, let's do this. I will
figure it out. And I invitedalumni in by my brother in law,
(16:22):
who was semi professional, we hadparents come on saturdays. I didn't know
how to coach tennis, but Iknew how to coach. We built a
covenant, we designed rules and expectations, and they had the best record they
had in five years. And itwas really just inviting the community to support
me in supporting them. And that'swhere that alumni piece comes in. I
(16:44):
could not be more grateful for allof those community and alumni helping me become
a tennis coach because I wasn't.And a lot of YouTube, so thank
you to the YouTubers out there.I watched a lot of your skill sets
that was a great experience for me. I was like, this is a
program where I don't want to loseit and I don't want these boys to
(17:04):
not have a senior season. Soit was refreshing. It was you know
you get in those throughtines when you'rereally dialed into one program, and this
was all new to me, andit brought this sense of energy, empowerment,
and it was communication and building thatcommunity. So for me, that's
what I want in all twenty eightof my programs now. So that's kind
(17:27):
of my lens where I'm going isI want everyone to feel they know there
was a legacy, they know theycan make their stamp and make their own
paths. So very grateful and excitedfor the future. I love it,
absolutely love it. Now. Youmentioned community a couple of times, and
I think that's important to address becausenowadays, you know, private versus public,
(17:51):
and we kind of lose that identityof community because kids are traveling thirty
minutes to go to a school toplay sports or attend that high school,
and you really lost that neighborhood feel. I think to high school experience,
whether it's drama, whether it's banned, whether it's athletics asb whatever. The
experience I think is lost a littlebit. But admission vah, it's a
(18:12):
little different. You guys aren't thenormal. It's still that small town field
to it. I don't mean tosay it's a small town, but I
guess it's just that community feel isstill there, the support is still there
where you see a lot of placesin Texas and other places, but how
important is that for you? Howunusual is that when you look around and
(18:33):
see maybe other high schools in yourdivision or other high schools that you play
against. So South Orange County isvery competitive, as you know, in
the plethora of sports, many sports. And there's something that someone told me
once where our city's name is inthe title of our school, and it
(18:53):
was very empowering to me and Iwas like, wow, that is it.
Truly is is a standout. There'sfour different high schools or three excuses
no four in the city of MissionBahip, but our name is in the
title. We take that with pride. You know, we have this connection
with our city council and we haveboard members that support us. So that's
(19:15):
something that I got grandfathered into.We have continued those relationships and kept those
tight knit spiderweb community together. Butit takes a village. And now that
I'm a mom, I have anew lens. Where before, as a
younger coach, I might I mighthave had an armed distance. Like you
(19:36):
are the parent and I am thecoach, and we work together. But
we need this, this boundary sothat we're able to grow and expand these
student athletes. But now I'm like, no, we need weed. The
more these children need more mentors,more adults, more people to guide them,
more vantage points to bounce ideas offof. So for me, it's
(19:56):
bring it in, don't be inarmed distance away, but let's do this
together. And when they say ittakes a village, it does. And
I only have one, so andit takes a village. So from an
aspect of now I have sixteen hundredand eighty four students. We need we
need the grandparents, we need theneighbors, we need the kids supporting the
(20:19):
kids. So for me, that'sthat's what I want to leave a mark
on and keep that connection going.I have three girls, and two of
them graduated high school, one stillin high school, and they go and
went to Village Christian High School,which is here nearby us. And the
saying is it takes a village,you know, to bring these kids and
to raise them up and to getthem through to being adults. And that's
(20:41):
absolutely the case. You mentioned someof the people who have been influential in
your life and getting to you whereyou're at now. Talk a little bit
about those people, those mentors,those coaches that maybe you've borrowed from,
you know, philosophies, coaching stylesand good and bad like I like that
coaching did this this and I kindof grab and become who I am because
(21:03):
of these coaches. Who are someof those people that helped form who you
are as a coach and as aleader now as an athletic director, I
am so blessed to say I havefive people, five mentors, five coaches
that have really just completely changed theway I think, open versus closed mindset.
(21:23):
Like we can go so we coulddeep dive so far into this,
but at first I have to honorand thank Dan Fisher. He came in.
He was hired at Concordia my junioryear. I was apprehensive. I
didn't know what to do. Iloved the school, but it was a
change and it was a change Iwasn't anticipating, and I had the opportunity
(21:44):
to be on the interview committee becauseI was the current captain and he just
the way he represented himself, theway he spoke to me as a captain
and a leader. We would dolunches together once a week and just be
like, hey, how are wedoing? What is it like as a
captain. He would kind of guideme, and it just it felt like
the most the most connected I've everbeen with a coach because I felt respected.
(22:11):
I felt like he was allowing meto be my own authentic self,
but he was using all these toolsand guidances that he's had over his career.
And I bring him up first becauseI just texted him literally on Monday
because his name popped up. Theyjust lost in the quarterfinals last year,
the finals, semi final. He'sjust has this legacy going at pit right
(22:33):
now. And on my email genericschool email, it says get the philosophies
of Dan Fisher. So I senthim a picture of that, like your
name's in my email at school andhe goes, you know all my secrets.
So for me, he's just he'sthe first person I really felt just
wholeheartedly. Collarbone up is what Isay, and not that mental piece,
(22:56):
that mental game. I think Ibecame the national player of the Year because
he taught me collor bona. Ithink the physicality was there and my drive
was there, but he really justtotally opened my eyes and to just how
you think about it, how youread a person, how you lead a
team, how you lead a teamof twenty one girls. You're the twenty
(23:18):
two. So that I just haveto always thank him for that. Elc
we called her that, but Lindsayshe's at Oregon State now, she wasn't
doctor on the podcast here. Yes, we share the same birthday. We're
both all Americans from Congordia, soshe's my girl. I love her.
I think that she allowed me tosee a strong female presence. She really
(23:42):
you know, when you're a femaleathlete, you do have a lot of
male coaches, and she showed methere isn't a difference. It truly is
what are your beliefs, what doyou see, what is your vision?
What is your goals? And shereally showed me it doesn't matter who you
are, it's how you coach,how you love your players, how you
(24:06):
design your program. So that tome. That was so I always knew
as a student athlete there what hergoals were. So I kind of watched
her do that and then thought tomyself, Wow, I do want to
coach as well. So she kindof inspired that coaching at my high school
coach he still coaches high school.I lost to him in the semi finals
(24:27):
of CIF. I was so sadhe won the title, so he deserved
it, but he was He allowedme to be a starter. He allowed
me. I was pretty small,so he didn't care. He's like,
you got the vertical, just bea big bulldog. So he kind of
allowed me not to think, Okay, five eleven's not really big as a
(24:48):
hitter. He just pushed me andis like it doesn't matter. But if
you have the grit and you wantto work hard, doesn't really matter.
So he kind of boosted me up. My last two we have Christi.
She played for a US national teamand she played All American at Illinois.
Again dominant female. I'm twelve yearsold. She gives me a shot and
(25:11):
she was just a coach that justlit the fire that oh, I'm going
to play college boy ball. AndI said that at twelve years old.
To both my parents, I waslike, you watch, I'm gonna do
it, And she showed me thatbecause she was young and vibrant and just
so she was in it, shewould play with us. We're twelve.
And then my club coach, Michael, he still owns Slugunna Beat Volleyball Club.
(25:32):
He just has so much wisdom togive. And I got the opportunity
to not only play for him,but coach for him my senior year.
He all twelve of us got scholarshipsto go play, and I don't think
many coaches can say that, Andhe holds a legacy to me where I
felt valued to him always. Sothose five coaches, just every time I
(25:56):
thought I knew what I was doing, they would bring something to the table,
pivot, learn something new. Andnow I hear them all the time
in my head while I speak tomy student athletes, and it's special.
So I hope I'm one of themto all my students one day. That
is awesome. Hearing you talk,hearing your energy is fantastic. And I
(26:17):
think about having three daughters and whatthey want to do as they go through
college and are trying to figure outwhat life has in front of them,
and they come from a school wherethey have a woman as an athletic director
and she's in a great role thathas done great things to help launch programs
and continue the success of the programsthat she inherited. And talking to you,
you know, another female athletic directorat a big time high school here
(26:41):
in Southey, California. What doyou what do you say to the young
girls out there that are that arelooking at you as somebody who's in charge
and is overseeing the football, basketball, all these different programs, all these
student athletes and helping them through career, your career. Once there was a
lot of men in this position,a lot more females in the athletic director
(27:04):
role, which is great. Thisis what I would say to them,
Go get them whatever you want todo. If you have the drive,
the tenacity, you're willing, you'rewilling to put in the work, there's
doors open for you. And Ithink we need more female athletic directors.
(27:25):
I think we need more leaders inthis athletic world. I watch a lot
of sports. My husband is asports guy. I get the opportunity to
go to all these sporting events.It's my passion it's what's built me.
I want this to be my career. And I would say there was a
statistic I learned recently twenty four percentof all athletic directors are females, and
(27:48):
three percent of all athletic directors atthe collegiate level are athletic directors. So
we are a small a small groupnow, but we're growing and my hope
is that one day that looks morelike fifty to fifty percent. So I
think, whatever you want to do, as long as you are willing to
(28:10):
work hard and willing to work withall types of people, does it matter
who they are. There's something beautifulabout athletics. It connects us together and
we're all so different. So ifyou're willing to work with anyone and everyone
to get where you want to go, it's the doors wide open. And
I'm just so grateful that they reallyjust opened that door for me and allowed
(28:33):
me to have this opportunity. Inour final minutes here talk a little bit
about the Masters and Coaching Athletics Administrationprogram, why it's such a good fit
for those who are looking to maybetake that career job, maybe looking to
further their education or get into anew career path, what your experience was
like in the program, and whyit's going to be beneficial for somebody maybe
(28:56):
listening right now that wants to takethat leap. I would say that beyond
what I've already stated, it allowedme to really deep dive and digest what
it takes to an athletic charrector whatit takes to be a true coach that
has a path. Everyone's play notI shouldn't say that. Majority of us
(29:18):
have had the opportunity to play sports, and a lot of us feel,
oh, anyone can coach, anyonecan be involved. It's not the case.
It's it's not the case. Alot of my best players have come
back to coach and they're like,wow, I had I had no idea.
Or I've mentored coaches and they've said, okay, so I built this
(29:41):
whole two hour practice and we're donewith it in forty eight minutes. What
do I do for the other hourand twelve minutes? And that's been some
it's been some work. So thatmaster's program you get to take classes on
So I took a volleyball class.It was incredible. Who would have thought
I would have taken involve I beenplaying since I was nine. I don't
did you learn anything I did?I did? So for me, it
(30:07):
was like how to write a lessonplan? With coaching? How how do
you handle those difficult conversations? Youknow, there's a lot that comes into
competitive equity, and there's a lotthat comes into opportunity and growth, hiring
and firing of your of your coachingstaff. You know, I think hiring
is wonderful. I don't think firing'sthe best. But these are things that
(30:27):
that program allowed me to be.Like the hard stuff, we're going to
support you, We're going to allowyou to learn the challenging stuff. And
then the more beautiful piece to theprogram was philosophy. All of these professors
brought something really beautiful and powerful totheir classes. It was an online opportunity
(30:52):
for me. I did it allonline. I did it at home.
I did it while coaching and teachingfull time. So for me, I
was able to work, expand mycareer and also get a master's. That
allowed me opportunities for financial because theywant our teachers educators to get more master's
(31:14):
degrees and growth and professional development.It also allowed me to apply for this
position, which is huge I thinka lot of people don't think you need
certain things to go places, butthis program. If I wanted to coach
at the collegiate level, this programcould allow me to do that. If
I wanted to be an athlettricer,which I did, that was my major
goal. This allowed me to dothat. And there's so many paths within
(31:37):
it. I believe. Now theyoffer the master's program but with science backing,
so you can take some courses,more kinesiology base. You can have
a master's in science and coaching andathletic administration. So they're expanding and I
think there's I wouldn't change it forthe world. I go do it three
times over because it was so impactfulfor me. Well, Brooke, I
(32:00):
appreciate the time. I love hearingyour story. I love talking about the
program with you, love talking philosophieswith you. And the fact that you've
now taken this ball and run withit, so to speak. At Mission
va Ho, you got a CIFchampionship, state championship with your football program.
By the way, it's not likethis every year, right, you
(32:22):
know that you're not gonna win statechampionships every year. I was called the
lucky one this year. Well,hopefully there's more CIF championships here with the
winter sports and swing with the springsports as well. There's a rich history
in athletics at Mission va Hole HighSchool. I know you'll carry that torch
this year and into the future.Thank you so much for joining us,
sharing your story and talking to allthose out there about the masters in coaching
(32:45):
the athletics administration program. We reallyappreciate it. Thank you for having me
here. I've enjoyed every minute ofit, and you're wonderful. So go
Eagles. So proud of you guys. Well, there she goes Brooke Nicholson,
athletic director at Mission va Ho HighSchool, back to where it all
started for her as a high schoolstandout, went on to Concordia University,
Irvine, the NAIA Player of theYear back in twenty eleven, a three
(33:09):
time All American playing volleyball, longtimecoach at Mission Via High School and the
club circuit as well, and nowin her first year as athletic director at
Mission Via Ho High School, ather football program won a CIF championship and
a state CIF championship in her firstfew months on the job. Thank you
(33:30):
to Brook for sharing her story,telling us about what she's up to at
Mission via Hill High School and bringingthe alumni back on campus and having the
Hall of Fame started at that highschool. Long overdo with all the talent
that has come out of Mission VahHigh School. So thank you to Brook,
Thank you to you for listening andwatching Don't forget. You can find
out more about the Masters in Coachingand Athletics Administration program at Concordia University,
(33:54):
Irvine by going to CUI dot eduslash coaching. If you're thinking about it,
you're in the holidays, find outmore at the website, find out
where the next start time is,and if you're a new student of the
program, you get a one thousanddollars scholarship. CUI dot edu slash Coaching.
CUI dot edu slash Coaching Episode sixtynine now in the books until next
(34:16):
time, Tim Kay saying so long, everybody,
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