October 28, 2022 • 30 mins
Tim Cates talks with CUI Women's Basketball Coach Christine Collins-Kiernan about her team and the upcoming 2022-2023 season. Coach Collins-Kiernan started as HS assistant coach, then an assistant coach at the D1 level, before taking over her own program at CUI and building it into one of the strongest DII women's basketball teams on the west coast.
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(00:00):
From an assistant coach at the Divisionone level to taking over her own program
at the Division two level. She'sbuilt that program into a West Coast powerhouse
and now her sixth season. Sheis Christine Collins Kiernan. She's the head
coach at Concordia University, Irvine,and she joins us now on episode forty
nine of the Masters in Coaching podcastLet's Go Well, welcome into episode forty
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nine. Yeah, episode forty ninealready of the Masters in Coaching Podcast.
Thank you for listening. Thank youfor watching whatever outletting platform that you are
watching and listening, and we certainlyappreciate it. Excited to talk to this
week's guest. She's going into hersixth season already as a head coach at
Concordia University Irvine the women's basketball program. She has Christine Collins Kernan, and
she joins us now coach. Welcome, how you doing, Hi, Thank
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you, thanks for having me.I'm doing really well. I'm right in
the middle of my day, soI need to go. And you guys
are getting ready to start your season. I mean we're about a week away
or so from you guys tipping offyour first non conference game. Just your
thoughts. I guess going into thisseason, how do you like your team
going in? I mean, Ireally like my team, to be honest
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with you, I think I returneda good portion of it. I definitely
returned like eighty percent of my scoringand a lot of my leadership. So
that has been like a great advantagefor me. It's just you know,
you talked to michaela last weekend,who pretty much grew up with me in
this program and getting it a jumpstart. So it's just been a little
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bit different, like figuring out howdo you go to that next thing when
she was such a big part ofwhat you did. Like somebody asked me
yesterday or last week, like,what's your inbounding philosophy? Who do you
like used to inbound? And Ilooked at my go Makayla vander Clutt was
my inbounding philosophy, Like I justdidn't even think about as she just inbounded
all the time. So now I'mgoing with, Okay, do I have
a post, Do I have aguard? Are we going personnel? Trying
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to figure that kind of stuff out. Yeah, We're gonna get into Michaeale
in a few Minis because what agreat young lady she is and doing great
things now playing professionally. What shehad to say about you, We'll get
into that as well. But yearsix already as the head coach there at
Concordia, how different does it feelnow from when you first started? And
have you kind of gotten to worry? Maybe you implemented what you wanted when
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you first got there, maybe theculture, the foundation and what you hope
to establish, at least early onyou have you kind of set that foundation,
you think. I definitely think thatwe've had a great culture shift.
I think when I came in,like I had a one, three,
five, and ten year plan andlike we're ahead of schedule and all of
those, and my number one planwas to change the culture here. We
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I mean, they had had fourcoaches in five years here, and there
was just a lot of trauma andturmoil. And I don't think that there
was like a brand, Like Concordiawomen's basketball did not have a brand to
it. And I think like nowwhen people think about Concordia women's basketball,
there's definitely like a brand to usand what people say about us, and
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I like, you can only beproud of what you've created into a sense
that to a big extent, Ifeel like I've had a big hand in
creating that. So I'm really proudof the way that they do talk about
us and the things that we've establishedhere, and that this is not just
like a joke anymore, if thatmakes sense, Like you have to prepare
for us, and you have tothere's like something going on here and that's
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been exciting. Yeah, talk aboutthat first year coach if you could,
and you know, two wins twoseasons before you got there. You talked
about how many coaches and the constantturnover. What did you What did you
think going in? What did youwhat were your feelings, like, Okay,
this is what I need to do. The first thing when I get
in there is to establish What wasit to get to the players, get
(03:42):
to know them and establish things offthe court? Then on the court?
Was it kind of outside in approach? How did you approach that? I
definitely am a relationship driven person,so like I always knew that, Like
you know, this is my firsthead coaching job too, so we could
have like sank really early and menot knowing what to do. But I
think it goes to the thing wheremy biggest philosophy is, if you build
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people, you'll build a program kindof deal, and the program will take
care of itself. And a lotof times, like I tell him,
I have a great assistant coach's exactopposite of who I am. I'm like
the extrovert here and she's an introverthere, and we like I got big
ideas and like I love people andstuff like that, and she's great at
travel plans and doing all those likelittle things that so stuff up. But
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like I knew I was going tohave to dive into players. I knew
I was going to have to spenda majority of my time getting to know
people's stories, because if you don'tknow their stories, it doesn't matter what
you have to say. They're notgoing to go through a wall for you,
and they're certainly not going to gothrough a wall for each other.
So we had to like really buildthat, and I was kind of shocked
at how quickly it happened. Iwas kind of shocked how willing they were
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to open up themselves and be transparentand vulnerable. But I think it goes
to show you that at a humanlevel, all we want is to be
connected and be connected to people.And I think if you have someone that
is a connector of people and reallylike like values people outside of what they're
like, I value who you areas a person more than I value as
(05:11):
who you are as a basketball player, and that kind of let the basketball
stuff take care of itself. SoI think, like me, going from
the inside out was a huge thing. And I, you know, to
be honest with you, I didn'teven know how many games they had won
the year before, and we hadplayed Point Loma at Point Loma and we
beat them. And as we're runningout of the gym, because the way
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they go as you go up andyou go down, I think it was
like one of the first times we'dever beat them in a big time years.
My starting point guard, who wasa senior, was laughing. I
was like, what's up, andshe's like, coach, we lost him
by forty last year And I waslike what. And then the next day
the next game, we played CBUhere and we beat them at our place.
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It was the first time we'd everConcorded had ever beat CBU. And
as we were the game was leavingand stuff, the girls looked at me.
They're like, coach, we lostlike one hundred and forty to like
fifty last year. And I waslike, what, She's like, Yeah,
they had like fifty threes against us, And I was I didn't even
look at that stuff because to me, I was only going to be present
where I was present, I youknow, and I just kept saying,
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Hey, this is a good team. We had eleven seniors and we had
a really talented freshman class come in, and I knew if I could get
them to buy into each other thatthat merge could be really nice. And
it was a great merge. Andabout halfway through the season, I looked
at my assistant coach, I go, I think we can make the playoffs.
I think we can make the tournament, I said, and I think
we should change that to be ourgoal. And we kind of and we
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did and we did so it wasgreat. I think we got picked to
finish ninth and we ended up finishingthird that year. Yeah, that is
awesome. And you're touched about alittle bit there about how to get them
players to buy in. When youtake over a program to buy in off
the court and then to see theresults on the court, you're talking about
winning at Point Loma and beating CBUand seeing the fruits. I guess at
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Labor all the Hallard work and practiceand changing that culture. I don't know
if that happens all the time thatquickly coaches it. It takes a couple
of seasons for a buy in,maybe a cycle of recruiting to buy in.
How for do you realize how Idon't know then fortunate it is or
kind of it just kind of linedup perfectly for you to all start that
ball moving in that first year.I always say that winning it involves a
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lot of luck, to be honestwith you, like you gotta hope you
don't get injuries. You gotta hopethe chemistry is really good. You have
to hope that the leadership stays consistent. And I think at like the end
of the day, I was justreally focusing on controlling what I could control.
And I knew that I could beconsistent as a human. I knew
I could be someone that was therefor them all the time. I knew
that I could be someone that wasgoing to hold standards like I'm not a
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yeller. I do not scream,we don't run sets of lines, but
to me, the standard is,well, you know, hard at head,
soft butt, you'll sit on thebench, you know what I mean?
Like, there's gonna be enough peoplethat want to do things the right
way, and I I believe thatif you hold discipline, that's what most
young people want. They just wantboundaries and then they want to be rewarded
when they stay within the boundaries.So I just tried to be that person
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for them. But I think itwas incredibly fortunate. I think I was
even a little bit shocked that ithappened as quickly as it did. Christine
Collins Carena is our guest. You'rehead coach at Concordia University, Irvine,
going into a sixth season, alreadyhere on the Masters in Coaching podcast.
Your family now is a basketball family, safe to say, kids play basketball.
Your husband's a basketball coach as well. You're a basketball coach. But
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what got you into coaching? Whatled you down this path and ended up
ultimately being a high school coach,assistant in the college level and now running
your own program going into your sixthWas this always the plan for you?
No? No, I think that'san absolute great question, because, like,
honestly, I lettered in six sportsin high school, and one of
the things I did was cheer.I like loved cheer. I love the
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competitive dness. I loved the flippingaround, the tumbling, all that kind
of stuff. And my sophomore year, after my sophomore year, my high
school made a role that you couldn'tcheer and do sports, that you had
to choose, and I went infull board, like Lawyer's style, Like
that's like so discriminatory, You're notyou're limiting who we are as athletes and
(09:15):
all this stuff, and I stilldidn't win. My mom and dad went
with me and stuff didn't win.So that was like my dad teaching me,
Hey, life's not fair, Sonow what's going to be your pivot?
And I really I didn't even startplaying basketball until I was like an
eighth grade or ninth grade, youknow, and getting really into it,
and I said, well, Ireally love sports. I think I want
to stick with the sports side.So I stuck kind of with the sports
side, and then I was playingin college. But the whole time I
(09:37):
was playing in high school, Ihad this like my high school coach.
He was wild, he was funny, he was brilliant. He's still a
really smart man. But he kepttelling me you should coach all these young
kids, and he would like haveme coach njAB teams. And I didn't
even know that that was what Iwas enjoying, but I just loved to
mentor, and I thought, reallyI wanted to be a broadcast journalist.
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That's really what I was going togo to school for. I initial started
as a communication major for that,and then I was kind of going through
the process and I was like,well, I really like to mentor people.
I like to teach. I liketo make big things small. I
don't really want to be roaming aroundthe country and stuff like that, because
that's what you're gonna have to doas a broadcast journalist. You're gonna have
to go from place to place toplace. So I said, maybe I
(10:20):
think I could be like a great, you know, English teacher and stuff
like that. So then I waskind of researching something that was a little
bit more in demand and that Iknew I would always have a job.
And then so I started, whatdo you call it, getting my degree
in communicative disorders to be a speechpathologist. And at the same time that
going into my junior year of college, my dad got diagnosed with terminal cancer,
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and that had to put me ina situation where I had to make
a lot of life decisions. Wewere incredibly close family, so I knew
I really wasn't gonna I needed tostay close to home. And my husband
now at the time, was afriend and he said, Hey, my
roommate just got hired at this highschool. He needs a JV head coach
(11:03):
and a varsity assistant. He goes, I really think he'd be great at
this, and I said okay,So I like called him and I said,
hey, I'm willing to walk awayfrom you know, playing and stuff
like that, but could my dadbe my assistant coach for this year?
He said absolutely, So my dadwas my assistant coach for JVS. So
him and I it was like whereyou play men and women at the same
time, but our JV team playedopposite site. So he would we would
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go coach this little JV team andthey I had like eight players on the
team. We lost one game thatyear. Those girls like talk about a
team that goes through a wall.That girl, that team went through a
wall. And then he would driveme over to the VARs where the varsity
was playing. He'd watch that gameand I'd sit on the varsity bench and
helped coach with the varsity team,and I was like, I think at
that point I was hooked, LikeI love this. I love the chemistry.
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I loved like the just the energyof these women coming together and like
teaching them not to be caddie,teaching them how to build, how to
work, and like this was ourtime. As I could see this time
for women starting to creep up,and I was like, what if I
could help women see that there's morethat you can do all of this,
you can break this glass ceiling.And my dad ended up passing away that
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June, and my husband now gotthe job at Troy High School and he
said, hey, I knew youfirst, You're gonna come help me.
And I was like, okay,And little did I know that that was
gonna turn into like such a greatsituation that I mean, it was just
(12:28):
perfect for me for what I wasgoing through and the people I was around
and building me, Like he reallybuilt me into being a really capable coach,
you know, Like I think it'sso funny when people talk to me,
I say, like, dude,I'm like the biggest loser in my
family. Like he's the winningest coachin California and my daughters won a state
championship, and like, you know, so everything I've wont has just been
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like he has been his assistant.And then like he pushed me into the
college game, like he's like,you need to go coach at the next
level, and I jumped to theDivision one level, and then I just
knew, like, hey, Iwant to be at this level, like
I love the Division two level well, and I wanted to build a program
for my daughter, and not necessarilythat she would come here, but I
just saw so much like shame goingon in the level I was at,
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and so much like just narcissism andonly looking at kids as wins and losses.
So I was like, you knowwhat if I built a program that
for my daughter, like it wouldbe a great place for her, that
it'd be a great place for everyone'sdaughter, and I could feel good about
that. So that's kind of howI got into coaching and why I'm here.
Well, it's the father of threedaughters. I love hearing that first
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off, and and and going throughthe recruiting process with one of them right
now, and Division one, Divisiontwo, division three, and see and
really seeing how different levels it's abusiness to a coach that kind of you
know, it's very communicative and andreally cares about you and wants to get
to know you better rather than justyou know your numbers and what you can
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do for her program. It isinteresting to see that, and I never
knew that going in to this,but now have even kind of go through
the process a little bit. It'sinteresting to see the difference between Division one,
Division two h and I guess moneyhas to do a lot of it
with it, you know, thebig money and sponsorships. But I'm glad
you brought that up. Coach,talk a little bit about Northridge and the
(14:13):
seasons you were there as an assistantcoach and taking that leap from high school
to college. But not only didyou make the leap, you also had
to make the drive from Orange Countyup here to the eight one eight where
I'm based out of and Burbery.And to make that drive and listen,
I couldn't make it one time aweek, let alone every day at the
week. How challenging was that assomebody who has got to commute back and
(14:35):
forth at the same time your you'reassistant coach at the Division one level.
I think I think when you're init, you don't even know that you're
in it, right, So itwas so funny. I remember when my
husband said, when you don't drive, when you're not doing this anymore,
you're gonna look back a month fromthat and go, how the heck did
I do this all the time?And right, because when I took I
(14:56):
took this job in April and thenin May. I gave my middle daughter
a yesterday and she was like,I want to go to Universal Studios and
go to Harry Potter World and stuff. I was like, Okay, we're
doing it tomorrow, let's go.And when I just drove to Universal Studios,
which is almost three quarters away there, I was like, this is
awful. How did I do thislike all the time? But yeah,
(15:18):
that was that was tough, andit was a big reason why I left,
to be honest with you. Butwhen I look back on it,
I met my best friend there,Like the one of the assistant coaches is
like my best friend for life.I grew a lot as a coach because
it helped me to really like understandhow I wanted to run a program.
And what I liked because I camefrom now, I was seeing like different
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styles I really got good at likeand you know, like people say Division
one is all business and stuff.Divisions one all business if that's what the
head coach wants it. Like everycoach has non negotiables, right, and
you just have to figure out whatthat coaches non negotiables are, and then
you can kind of figure out thetype of the way the programs are going
to be run. And I thinkthat at the Division one level, it's
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only business if you choose it tobe that way, you know. And
and I think and I get likeI could be let go at any time
here, you know, I geta one year contract, that's what I'm
on. But I just have tohave faith that I'm exactly where I'm supposed
to be at the time I'm atAnd like, if something were crazy to
happen here, I was no longerwanted here. I feel like I'd be
(16:23):
able to land on my feet anddo the next thing. Like I'm capable.
I'm confident, you know, Andthat's all I'm trying to teach these
girls that I'm working with, youknow, just be present where you're present
and like enjoy the process and theride, you know, because it's like
you're saying, this is my sixyear. That's wild to me, that's
my sixth six year. Yeah,it's crazy. But like when I my
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first practice at season, I camefrom Modern Day where I was assistant coach
there, and my my starting fivehad already at Modern Day committed to Yukon,
Stanford, to to USC and onewith going to Washington State. So
I step on at CSUN and theywere got awful, to be honest with
you, it was just a programthat was very similar to Concordia had been
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like forgotten about, not cared about, like all those kinds of things.
And I came home that day Iwas like, oh my gosh, babe,
like seriously, your team would beat our team by thirty right now.
And he was like, well,like we do have kids going to
like the time. I was like, yeah, I guess you're right,
but still these are like twenty yearolds or whatever and stuff and we would
struggle. But yeah, that wasjust that was why we went. We
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lost like our first twelve games ina row, and one our first game
like on New Year's Day, andit was like, I was like,
I will literally never take winning forgranted again, because we'd only like when
I was at Troy and modern day, I had a combined like fifteen losses,
So like, then I go thereand I've lost more in one year
that I lost in all my yearsof coaching. So yeah, well,
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why why do you think programs likelike cal State Northridge? I mean,
here in the valley, there's aton of basketball talent. I mean on
the boys side, you've got youknow, I mean Sierra Canyons here,
and you've got at Harvard Westside HighSchool here right here in the eight one
they and again those kids go onto other places and maybe north Ridge isn't
a PAC twelve or you know,an ACC type school, But on the
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men's and women's side, why whyis it high school? Like do you
think a school like cal State Northridgeor Cal State of Bulletin can't take that
big leap and be powerhouses in basketballsince they're literally embedded in southern California.
I think that's a great question thatI don't necessarily have the best answer for.
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I think one of the things thathave helped me here is that I
was a high school coach for solong, so I think that it's helped
me to be a better evaluator ofhigh school kids, like understanding, like
looking at their bodies and how theymove and their mindsets and how they react
to their current teammates and coaches tosay whether or not they're best basketball is
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in front of them or like alreadywhat they've got, you know. And
I sometimes think that if you don'thave that experience, that sometimes you might
struggle at that. I think thatsocial media has hurt schools that are local
like that or the mid major schoolsbecause everybody's fallen in love with, you
know, the big thing and stufflike that. I think money, to
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be quite honest with you, moneyis a big part of it. Like
you know, what those big schoolscan offer, and just the extra paycheck
that nil especially experience. Now it'sgoing to change. It might kill honestly,
it's probably gonna kill college athletics.So I mean there's just so many
of those type of factors that currentcoaches in this day and age in those
institutions can't control. So you've gotto be able to be I think,
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really good at understanding who's a diamondin the rough. I think you have
to be really good at development.And I think like that's the one thing
I pride myself on is developing.Like you look at someone like Michaela who
had two offers and I got ahold of her and she's, you know,
an All American by the time sheleaves here, and that's not me.
(20:00):
That was her her mindset. ButI was able to recognize that this
was going to be a kid thatwas going to be a dog with a
bone, right, and that shehad such a growth mindset, and that
if I just show her a fewthings, she's going to take it and
run. So you just got tohope that you're you can get somebody in
those places that can I guess recognizethat I don't know. Yeah, that's
(20:21):
a great point. You mentioned Mikaylavander Clette and we talked to her on
the last episode of the podcast,and and you just said it was her,
but it was it was you aswell. And she talked about your
guys' relationship and not always getting alongand kind of buttonhead sometimes along the way
from her freshman year all the waythrough her senior year. But the growth
(20:41):
you saw from her and her storyfrom tearing you know, her knees in
high school and and having that desireto play at the next level and then
getting with you, and she talkedso much about how you molded her and
poured into her on and off thecourt to make her who she is.
All American PACTE twelve West Conference,Uh, you know, player, they
talk a little bit about her andwhat she meant to your program. She's
(21:04):
like one of the strongest willed individualsI've ever met. So like, you're
a father of three, I'm sureyou have one of like I have two
of them and are critic I havefour kids, and I've got three daughters
too. I have one of mydaughters that's probably the strongest will I've ever
met in the history of ever.And she's incredibly hard to parent, like
you know, but I know ifI can get her there, she's gonna
(21:25):
be one of the best adults thatthere could possibly be. And I feel
like that's Michaela right. She wasso strong willed, so stubborn, so
like perfectionist driven within her own sportthat like a lot of it was me
guiding her to let go, youknow. And then finally she got to
the point where she was like,Okay, mistakes is where the magic kind
(21:48):
of happens. And she was willingto put herself out there and be vulnerable
and do that, and like shejust had such an incredible buy in on
leveling up every year. I don'tthink I've seen another player level up every
year at the rate that she did. Like the way she came in as
a freshman and the way she leftis a totally different player. But she
still averaged a double double every year. And like I told her, hey,
(22:10):
your freshman year, I told her, if you come here, you're
gonna be freshman of the year.And she looked me in the face and
said, Coach, like, literally, two schools from your conferences dropped me
last week. And I said,I don't care what two schools from my
conference have to say. I careabout what I have to say and what
you are going to say. Igo, if you come here, you'll
be freshman of the year. Andlike so the next day she committed,
and then that year she was freshmanof the year. And then when we
(22:32):
were prepping for a sophomore year,I said, Okay, now everything's changing,
Like you're gonna be double teams,You're gonna be the number one on
the Scout Report this year, Likeyou're not going to have that point guard
that you had your freshman year.The shooting is not going to be as
great because we lost a lot goinginto a sophomore year that I was trying
to figure out and rebuild. AndI said, so, and you're going
to be playing along two other freshman'sstarters. You're gonna be a sophomore,
(22:56):
they're going to be freshman's so likeit. We're going to be incredible young
and you're going to have to figureout how to like maneuver within that.
So these are the four skills you'regoing to have to have when you come
back in the summer after the summer, and she came back with them,
So I mean, like, Ithink I'm super demanding. I expect a
lot. We practiced very hard,like we don't have easy days and stuff,
(23:18):
and she just loved it, likeshe the biggest thing about her is
at her consistency, Like she nevermissed a practice, she never missed a
game, she never missed a weightsession of film session. And it wasn't
just the physicality of not missing it, it was also the mentality she showed
up both physically and mentally for everythingevery day, and like it was going
(23:38):
into her senior year and I said, oh my gosh, I've taken this
for granted. And that's when Ihad to realize like how special that was
and how I had to start preppingthe people that were going to be coming
behind her to start seeing that,like, hey, you miss for a
runny nose, you know what Imean. Like, so we have to
start figuring that out, like notgoing to have her next year, but
(24:02):
I don't know where we would beas a program if she hadn't taken a
chance on me and like first timehead coach at this program that had never
won in the middle of Orange Countythat nobody really knew about, right,
Like so my favorite thing is likeI bring people on campus and I show
them the school and stuff. Becausetypically, like I am an extrovert,
our phone conversations go very well,kids tend to like like my energy or
(24:26):
whatever that is, and then whenthey come on campus with their parents are
like, this is so much biggerthan I thought it was. You know,
this is unbelievable. This is beautiful, and it's just like, you
know, getting people to see howgreat it is here, you know.
And she was one of those likeshe was like, I love it here,
you know. And she walked awaysuper proud to graduate from Concordia.
(24:47):
And that's my goal. I wantwhoever leaves here to be like I played
for Concordia University or Vine right,and that that is something that they can
strut, that is something to weartheir gear proudly, that they're just so
proud of, you know. Andshe's made such a huge like footprint in
our program, and I just thinkshe's made a very big footprint at the
(25:07):
school as a whole, Like peopleknow her name here, and I think
that that's quite beautiful. Coach.I wish you'd coached women's lacrosse because I
would send my daughters to play foryou immediately. So I'm talking to you
and your energy and your your coachingstyle and and your love for for coaching
and pouring into the kids is contagious. I can feel it, and I
love it. And final thing herein our final couple of minutes, where
(25:32):
do you see yourself? Where doyou see the program? In the next
couple As you mentioned, when youtook over, we had a one three
five plan what's next? What doyou want to do next with this program?
I think, like I always tellthe girls, if you don't like
speak it in existence, it's nevergoing to happen. Like you can't harbor
little desires to yourself because then you'renot going to put yourself out there to
(25:53):
risk it. And so I'm like, Hey, we're gonna win the Pac
West Championship, Like that's my goal. I want to win that tournament.
I think this would be a greatyear for us to do that. I
know that the our conference is loaded. There's just so much talent in our
conference. Every team has leveled upthis year and gotten better just based upon
(26:15):
what I've seen on their roster.We have some excellent coaches in our conference.
But I still want I still saythat's our goal, you know.
I really want to do that,and I love to win, you know,
And I as much as everybody cheersfor the underdog, I always cheer
for the people that like have beendoing it great for a while, you
(26:36):
know, Like I think it's Ithink some people think it's fun to cheer
against Yukon because their times past orStanford or whatever that is. But I
think, like, do you understandthe mental fortitude to even like do that
for five years, let alone decades, right, And so like when I
took this job, as much asand I love to win, I love
like I wanted to be the Dtwo of Yukon, right. I wanted
(26:59):
to be the kind of detwo LikeI want to be that thing where people
talk about is like they're tough,They're always regionally ranked, they're always top
in their conference, regardless of whatmy resources are, regardless of what my
budgets are, Like, I usuallydon't complain, Like if I don't have
it, I find a way togo get it. And the one thing
I tell my team all the timeI try and tell my kids. I
was like, and I think mymom and dad they like I was that
(27:22):
strong willed child, right, Andthey would be like they would tell me
no, And I was like,so how long till I can turn that
into it maybe? Because like tome, like, no, it's just
like no right now, but it'snot gonna be forever, Like I want
to turn that into maybe two andthen once I get you at maybe,
oh, I know I'm getting youtoo, right, So, Like that's
just kind of like the way Iapproach life and kind of how I want
(27:45):
most of the kids to think.Here, we have forced to be reckoned
with however that is with your personality, you know, because I don't have
like, I have nineteen girls onmy roster right now, but I do
not have nineteen extroverts right So howdo I get them to be that force
even if they're not extroverted? Likethat quiet storm, that resiliency, that
like, that quietness that's still likeis persistent like a river and just runs
(28:10):
you down, rubs you down untilthey get what they want or to go
to the direction they need to go. Like, there's a way to do
things within your personality. You've justgot to be resilient and tough in it.
Coach, I love it. Ilove everything you're doing with the basketball
program. Continued success, success thisseason as well and in the years to
come. Thank you so much fortalking about your story, your career,
(28:30):
and we'd love the conversation. Hopeto do it again soon. Thank you
so much. Yeah anything, thanksfor taking your time. I appreciate it.
Well, maybe thanks to Christine Collinscuring in what a job she has
done five seasons now, going intoher sixth season as the head coach,
there of the Lady Eagles. Whata job she has done building up this
program and she's got it training intoa powerhouse in West Coast basketball at the
(28:53):
Division two level. Continued success toher and the program there is they get
ready to embark on the twenty twentyto twenty twenty three women's basketball season.
Again. If you want to findout more about Concordia University Irvine, in
particular the Masters in Coaching and AthleticsAdministration program Cui dot eedu slash coaching Cui
dot eedu slash coaching. The Winnerterm twenty twenty two begins in November.
(29:18):
You get a thousand dollars scholarship orsigning up for first time students. Find
out more, find out if theprogram is right for you, how it
fits into your schedule very easily onlinewith classes. It's for the working professionals,
built exactly for you to help youimprove your job and your future again
Cui dot eedu slash coaching. That'sCui dot eedu slash coaching. Make sure
(29:41):
you get out there and support coachCollins Kiernan and the women's Eagles basketball program
there at Concordia University Irvine. Theirfirst games coming up next week. You
can check out their schedule, getout there and support them as a race
for a conference championship. All right, that's episode forty nine of the Masters
in Coaching podcast in the books,until next time, Tim Kate saying so
(30:02):
long, everybody. M
From an assistant coach at the Divisionone level to taking over her own program
at the Division two level. She'sbuilt that program into a West Coast powerhouse
and now her sixth season. Sheis Christine Collins Kiernan. She's the head
coach at Concordia University, Irvine,and she joins us now on episode forty
nine of the Masters in Coaching podcastLet's Go Well, welcome into episode forty
(00:29):
nine. Yeah, episode forty ninealready of the Masters in Coaching Podcast.
Thank you for listening. Thank youfor watching whatever outletting platform that you are
watching and listening, and we certainlyappreciate it. Excited to talk to this
week's guest. She's going into hersixth season already as a head coach at
Concordia University Irvine the women's basketball program. She has Christine Collins Kernan, and
she joins us now coach. Welcome, how you doing, Hi, Thank
(00:52):
you, thanks for having me.I'm doing really well. I'm right in
the middle of my day, soI need to go. And you guys
are getting ready to start your season. I mean we're about a week away
or so from you guys tipping offyour first non conference game. Just your
thoughts. I guess going into thisseason, how do you like your team
going in? I mean, Ireally like my team, to be honest
(01:12):
with you, I think I returneda good portion of it. I definitely
returned like eighty percent of my scoringand a lot of my leadership. So
that has been like a great advantagefor me. It's just you know,
you talked to michaela last weekend,who pretty much grew up with me in
this program and getting it a jumpstart. So it's just been a little
(01:34):
bit different, like figuring out howdo you go to that next thing when
she was such a big part ofwhat you did. Like somebody asked me
yesterday or last week, like,what's your inbounding philosophy? Who do you
like used to inbound? And Ilooked at my go Makayla vander Clutt was
my inbounding philosophy, Like I justdidn't even think about as she just inbounded
all the time. So now I'mgoing with, Okay, do I have
a post, Do I have aguard? Are we going personnel? Trying
(01:56):
to figure that kind of stuff out. Yeah, We're gonna get into Michaeale
in a few Minis because what agreat young lady she is and doing great
things now playing professionally. What shehad to say about you, We'll get
into that as well. But yearsix already as the head coach there at
Concordia, how different does it feelnow from when you first started? And
have you kind of gotten to worry? Maybe you implemented what you wanted when
(02:17):
you first got there, maybe theculture, the foundation and what you hope
to establish, at least early onyou have you kind of set that foundation,
you think. I definitely think thatwe've had a great culture shift.
I think when I came in,like I had a one, three,
five, and ten year plan andlike we're ahead of schedule and all of
those, and my number one planwas to change the culture here. We
(02:38):
I mean, they had had fourcoaches in five years here, and there
was just a lot of trauma andturmoil. And I don't think that there
was like a brand, Like Concordiawomen's basketball did not have a brand to
it. And I think like nowwhen people think about Concordia women's basketball,
there's definitely like a brand to usand what people say about us, and
(03:00):
I like, you can only beproud of what you've created into a sense
that to a big extent, Ifeel like I've had a big hand in
creating that. So I'm really proudof the way that they do talk about
us and the things that we've establishedhere, and that this is not just
like a joke anymore, if thatmakes sense, Like you have to prepare
for us, and you have tothere's like something going on here and that's
(03:21):
been exciting. Yeah, talk aboutthat first year coach if you could,
and you know, two wins twoseasons before you got there. You talked
about how many coaches and the constantturnover. What did you What did you
think going in? What did youwhat were your feelings, like, Okay,
this is what I need to do. The first thing when I get
in there is to establish What wasit to get to the players, get
(03:42):
to know them and establish things offthe court? Then on the court?
Was it kind of outside in approach? How did you approach that? I
definitely am a relationship driven person,so like I always knew that, Like
you know, this is my firsthead coaching job too, so we could
have like sank really early and menot knowing what to do. But I
think it goes to the thing wheremy biggest philosophy is, if you build
(04:05):
people, you'll build a program kindof deal, and the program will take
care of itself. And a lotof times, like I tell him,
I have a great assistant coach's exactopposite of who I am. I'm like
the extrovert here and she's an introverthere, and we like I got big
ideas and like I love people andstuff like that, and she's great at
travel plans and doing all those likelittle things that so stuff up. But
(04:29):
like I knew I was going tohave to dive into players. I knew
I was going to have to spenda majority of my time getting to know
people's stories, because if you don'tknow their stories, it doesn't matter what
you have to say. They're notgoing to go through a wall for you,
and they're certainly not going to gothrough a wall for each other.
So we had to like really buildthat, and I was kind of shocked
at how quickly it happened. Iwas kind of shocked how willing they were
(04:49):
to open up themselves and be transparentand vulnerable. But I think it goes
to show you that at a humanlevel, all we want is to be
connected and be connected to people.And I think if you have someone that
is a connector of people and reallylike like values people outside of what they're
like, I value who you areas a person more than I value as
(05:11):
who you are as a basketball player, and that kind of let the basketball
stuff take care of itself. SoI think, like me, going from
the inside out was a huge thing. And I, you know, to
be honest with you, I didn'teven know how many games they had won
the year before, and we hadplayed Point Loma at Point Loma and we
beat them. And as we're runningout of the gym, because the way
(05:33):
they go as you go up andyou go down, I think it was
like one of the first times we'dever beat them in a big time years.
My starting point guard, who wasa senior, was laughing. I
was like, what's up, andshe's like, coach, we lost him
by forty last year And I waslike what. And then the next day
the next game, we played CBUhere and we beat them at our place.
(05:53):
It was the first time we'd everConcorded had ever beat CBU. And
as we were the game was leavingand stuff, the girls looked at me.
They're like, coach, we lostlike one hundred and forty to like
fifty last year. And I waslike, what, She's like, Yeah,
they had like fifty threes against us, And I was I didn't even
look at that stuff because to me, I was only going to be present
where I was present, I youknow, and I just kept saying,
(06:15):
Hey, this is a good team. We had eleven seniors and we had
a really talented freshman class come in, and I knew if I could get
them to buy into each other thatthat merge could be really nice. And
it was a great merge. Andabout halfway through the season, I looked
at my assistant coach, I go, I think we can make the playoffs.
I think we can make the tournament, I said, and I think
we should change that to be ourgoal. And we kind of and we
(06:36):
did and we did so it wasgreat. I think we got picked to
finish ninth and we ended up finishingthird that year. Yeah, that is
awesome. And you're touched about alittle bit there about how to get them
players to buy in. When youtake over a program to buy in off
the court and then to see theresults on the court, you're talking about
winning at Point Loma and beating CBUand seeing the fruits. I guess at
(07:00):
Labor all the Hallard work and practiceand changing that culture. I don't know
if that happens all the time thatquickly coaches it. It takes a couple
of seasons for a buy in,maybe a cycle of recruiting to buy in.
How for do you realize how Idon't know then fortunate it is or
kind of it just kind of linedup perfectly for you to all start that
ball moving in that first year.I always say that winning it involves a
(07:25):
lot of luck, to be honestwith you, like you gotta hope you
don't get injuries. You gotta hopethe chemistry is really good. You have
to hope that the leadership stays consistent. And I think at like the end
of the day, I was justreally focusing on controlling what I could control.
And I knew that I could beconsistent as a human. I knew
I could be someone that was therefor them all the time. I knew
that I could be someone that wasgoing to hold standards like I'm not a
(07:46):
yeller. I do not scream,we don't run sets of lines, but
to me, the standard is,well, you know, hard at head,
soft butt, you'll sit on thebench, you know what I mean?
Like, there's gonna be enough peoplethat want to do things the right
way, and I I believe thatif you hold discipline, that's what most
young people want. They just wantboundaries and then they want to be rewarded
when they stay within the boundaries.So I just tried to be that person
(08:09):
for them. But I think itwas incredibly fortunate. I think I was
even a little bit shocked that ithappened as quickly as it did. Christine
Collins Carena is our guest. You'rehead coach at Concordia University, Irvine,
going into a sixth season, alreadyhere on the Masters in Coaching podcast.
Your family now is a basketball family, safe to say, kids play basketball.
Your husband's a basketball coach as well. You're a basketball coach. But
(08:33):
what got you into coaching? Whatled you down this path and ended up
ultimately being a high school coach,assistant in the college level and now running
your own program going into your sixthWas this always the plan for you?
No? No, I think that'san absolute great question, because, like,
honestly, I lettered in six sportsin high school, and one of
the things I did was cheer.I like loved cheer. I love the
(08:54):
competitive dness. I loved the flippingaround, the tumbling, all that kind
of stuff. And my sophomore year, after my sophomore year, my high
school made a role that you couldn'tcheer and do sports, that you had
to choose, and I went infull board, like Lawyer's style, Like
that's like so discriminatory, You're notyou're limiting who we are as athletes and
(09:15):
all this stuff, and I stilldidn't win. My mom and dad went
with me and stuff didn't win.So that was like my dad teaching me,
Hey, life's not fair, Sonow what's going to be your pivot?
And I really I didn't even startplaying basketball until I was like an
eighth grade or ninth grade, youknow, and getting really into it,
and I said, well, Ireally love sports. I think I want
to stick with the sports side.So I stuck kind of with the sports
side, and then I was playingin college. But the whole time I
(09:37):
was playing in high school, Ihad this like my high school coach.
He was wild, he was funny, he was brilliant. He's still a
really smart man. But he kepttelling me you should coach all these young
kids, and he would like haveme coach njAB teams. And I didn't
even know that that was what Iwas enjoying, but I just loved to
mentor, and I thought, reallyI wanted to be a broadcast journalist.
(09:58):
That's really what I was going togo to school for. I initial started
as a communication major for that,and then I was kind of going through
the process and I was like,well, I really like to mentor people.
I like to teach. I liketo make big things small. I
don't really want to be roaming aroundthe country and stuff like that, because
that's what you're gonna have to doas a broadcast journalist. You're gonna have
to go from place to place toplace. So I said, maybe I
(10:20):
think I could be like a great, you know, English teacher and stuff
like that. So then I waskind of researching something that was a little
bit more in demand and that Iknew I would always have a job.
And then so I started, whatdo you call it, getting my degree
in communicative disorders to be a speechpathologist. And at the same time that
going into my junior year of college, my dad got diagnosed with terminal cancer,
(10:43):
and that had to put me ina situation where I had to make
a lot of life decisions. Wewere incredibly close family, so I knew
I really wasn't gonna I needed tostay close to home. And my husband
now at the time, was afriend and he said, Hey, my
roommate just got hired at this highschool. He needs a JV head coach
(11:03):
and a varsity assistant. He goes, I really think he'd be great at
this, and I said okay,So I like called him and I said,
hey, I'm willing to walk awayfrom you know, playing and stuff
like that, but could my dadbe my assistant coach for this year?
He said absolutely, So my dadwas my assistant coach for JVS. So
him and I it was like whereyou play men and women at the same
time, but our JV team playedopposite site. So he would we would
(11:26):
go coach this little JV team andthey I had like eight players on the
team. We lost one game thatyear. Those girls like talk about a
team that goes through a wall.That girl, that team went through a
wall. And then he would driveme over to the VARs where the varsity
was playing. He'd watch that gameand I'd sit on the varsity bench and
helped coach with the varsity team,and I was like, I think at
that point I was hooked, LikeI love this. I love the chemistry.
(11:46):
I loved like the just the energyof these women coming together and like
teaching them not to be caddie,teaching them how to build, how to
work, and like this was ourtime. As I could see this time
for women starting to creep up,and I was like, what if I
could help women see that there's morethat you can do all of this,
you can break this glass ceiling.And my dad ended up passing away that
(12:07):
June, and my husband now gotthe job at Troy High School and he
said, hey, I knew youfirst, You're gonna come help me.
And I was like, okay,And little did I know that that was
gonna turn into like such a greatsituation that I mean, it was just
(12:28):
perfect for me for what I wasgoing through and the people I was around
and building me, Like he reallybuilt me into being a really capable coach,
you know, Like I think it'sso funny when people talk to me,
I say, like, dude,I'm like the biggest loser in my
family. Like he's the winningest coachin California and my daughters won a state
championship, and like, you know, so everything I've wont has just been
(12:48):
like he has been his assistant.And then like he pushed me into the
college game, like he's like,you need to go coach at the next
level, and I jumped to theDivision one level, and then I just
knew, like, hey, Iwant to be at this level, like
I love the Division two level well, and I wanted to build a program
for my daughter, and not necessarilythat she would come here, but I
just saw so much like shame goingon in the level I was at,
(13:09):
and so much like just narcissism andonly looking at kids as wins and losses.
So I was like, you knowwhat if I built a program that
for my daughter, like it wouldbe a great place for her, that
it'd be a great place for everyone'sdaughter, and I could feel good about
that. So that's kind of howI got into coaching and why I'm here.
Well, it's the father of threedaughters. I love hearing that first
(13:30):
off, and and and going throughthe recruiting process with one of them right
now, and Division one, Divisiontwo, division three, and see and
really seeing how different levels it's abusiness to a coach that kind of you
know, it's very communicative and andreally cares about you and wants to get
to know you better rather than justyou know your numbers and what you can
(13:52):
do for her program. It isinteresting to see that, and I never
knew that going in to this,but now have even kind of go through
the process a little bit. It'sinteresting to see the difference between Division one,
Division two h and I guess moneyhas to do a lot of it
with it, you know, thebig money and sponsorships. But I'm glad
you brought that up. Coach,talk a little bit about Northridge and the
(14:13):
seasons you were there as an assistantcoach and taking that leap from high school
to college. But not only didyou make the leap, you also had
to make the drive from Orange Countyup here to the eight one eight where
I'm based out of and Burbery.And to make that drive and listen,
I couldn't make it one time aweek, let alone every day at the
week. How challenging was that assomebody who has got to commute back and
(14:35):
forth at the same time your you'reassistant coach at the Division one level.
I think I think when you're init, you don't even know that you're
in it, right, So itwas so funny. I remember when my
husband said, when you don't drive, when you're not doing this anymore,
you're gonna look back a month fromthat and go, how the heck did
I do this all the time?And right, because when I took I
(14:56):
took this job in April and thenin May. I gave my middle daughter
a yesterday and she was like,I want to go to Universal Studios and
go to Harry Potter World and stuff. I was like, Okay, we're
doing it tomorrow, let's go.And when I just drove to Universal Studios,
which is almost three quarters away there, I was like, this is
awful. How did I do thislike all the time? But yeah,
(15:18):
that was that was tough, andit was a big reason why I left,
to be honest with you. Butwhen I look back on it,
I met my best friend there,Like the one of the assistant coaches is
like my best friend for life.I grew a lot as a coach because
it helped me to really like understandhow I wanted to run a program.
And what I liked because I camefrom now, I was seeing like different
(15:39):
styles I really got good at likeand you know, like people say Division
one is all business and stuff.Divisions one all business if that's what the
head coach wants it. Like everycoach has non negotiables, right, and
you just have to figure out whatthat coaches non negotiables are, and then
you can kind of figure out thetype of the way the programs are going
to be run. And I thinkthat at the Division one level, it's
(16:03):
only business if you choose it tobe that way, you know. And
and I think and I get likeI could be let go at any time
here, you know, I geta one year contract, that's what I'm
on. But I just have tohave faith that I'm exactly where I'm supposed
to be at the time I'm atAnd like, if something were crazy to
happen here, I was no longerwanted here. I feel like I'd be
(16:23):
able to land on my feet anddo the next thing. Like I'm capable.
I'm confident, you know, Andthat's all I'm trying to teach these
girls that I'm working with, youknow, just be present where you're present
and like enjoy the process and theride, you know, because it's like
you're saying, this is my sixyear. That's wild to me, that's
my sixth six year. Yeah,it's crazy. But like when I my
(16:45):
first practice at season, I camefrom Modern Day where I was assistant coach
there, and my my starting fivehad already at Modern Day committed to Yukon,
Stanford, to to USC and onewith going to Washington State. So
I step on at CSUN and theywere got awful, to be honest with
you, it was just a programthat was very similar to Concordia had been
(17:08):
like forgotten about, not cared about, like all those kinds of things.
And I came home that day Iwas like, oh my gosh, babe,
like seriously, your team would beat our team by thirty right now.
And he was like, well,like we do have kids going to
like the time. I was like, yeah, I guess you're right,
but still these are like twenty yearolds or whatever and stuff and we would
struggle. But yeah, that wasjust that was why we went. We
(17:32):
lost like our first twelve games ina row, and one our first game
like on New Year's Day, andit was like, I was like,
I will literally never take winning forgranted again, because we'd only like when
I was at Troy and modern day, I had a combined like fifteen losses,
So like, then I go thereand I've lost more in one year
that I lost in all my yearsof coaching. So yeah, well,
(17:52):
why why do you think programs likelike cal State Northridge? I mean,
here in the valley, there's aton of basketball talent. I mean on
the boys side, you've got youknow, I mean Sierra Canyons here,
and you've got at Harvard Westside HighSchool here right here in the eight one
they and again those kids go onto other places and maybe north Ridge isn't
a PAC twelve or you know,an ACC type school, But on the
(18:14):
men's and women's side, why whyis it high school? Like do you
think a school like cal State Northridgeor Cal State of Bulletin can't take that
big leap and be powerhouses in basketballsince they're literally embedded in southern California.
I think that's a great question thatI don't necessarily have the best answer for.
(18:36):
I think one of the things thathave helped me here is that I
was a high school coach for solong, so I think that it's helped
me to be a better evaluator ofhigh school kids, like understanding, like
looking at their bodies and how theymove and their mindsets and how they react
to their current teammates and coaches tosay whether or not they're best basketball is
(18:56):
in front of them or like alreadywhat they've got, you know. And
I sometimes think that if you don'thave that experience, that sometimes you might
struggle at that. I think thatsocial media has hurt schools that are local
like that or the mid major schoolsbecause everybody's fallen in love with, you
know, the big thing and stufflike that. I think money, to
(19:18):
be quite honest with you, moneyis a big part of it. Like
you know, what those big schoolscan offer, and just the extra paycheck
that nil especially experience. Now it'sgoing to change. It might kill honestly,
it's probably gonna kill college athletics.So I mean there's just so many
of those type of factors that currentcoaches in this day and age in those
institutions can't control. So you've gotto be able to be I think,
(19:40):
really good at understanding who's a diamondin the rough. I think you have
to be really good at development.And I think like that's the one thing
I pride myself on is developing.Like you look at someone like Michaela who
had two offers and I got ahold of her and she's, you know,
an All American by the time sheleaves here, and that's not me.
(20:00):
That was her her mindset. ButI was able to recognize that this
was going to be a kid thatwas going to be a dog with a
bone, right, and that shehad such a growth mindset, and that
if I just show her a fewthings, she's going to take it and
run. So you just got tohope that you're you can get somebody in
those places that can I guess recognizethat I don't know. Yeah, that's
(20:21):
a great point. You mentioned Mikaylavander Clette and we talked to her on
the last episode of the podcast,and and you just said it was her,
but it was it was you aswell. And she talked about your
guys' relationship and not always getting alongand kind of buttonhead sometimes along the way
from her freshman year all the waythrough her senior year. But the growth
(20:41):
you saw from her and her storyfrom tearing you know, her knees in
high school and and having that desireto play at the next level and then
getting with you, and she talkedso much about how you molded her and
poured into her on and off thecourt to make her who she is.
All American PACTE twelve West Conference,Uh, you know, player, they
talk a little bit about her andwhat she meant to your program. She's
(21:04):
like one of the strongest willed individualsI've ever met. So like, you're
a father of three, I'm sureyou have one of like I have two
of them and are critic I havefour kids, and I've got three daughters
too. I have one of mydaughters that's probably the strongest will I've ever
met in the history of ever.And she's incredibly hard to parent, like
you know, but I know ifI can get her there, she's gonna
(21:25):
be one of the best adults thatthere could possibly be. And I feel
like that's Michaela right. She wasso strong willed, so stubborn, so
like perfectionist driven within her own sportthat like a lot of it was me
guiding her to let go, youknow. And then finally she got to
the point where she was like,Okay, mistakes is where the magic kind
(21:48):
of happens. And she was willingto put herself out there and be vulnerable
and do that, and like shejust had such an incredible buy in on
leveling up every year. I don'tthink I've seen another player level up every
year at the rate that she did. Like the way she came in as
a freshman and the way she leftis a totally different player. But she
still averaged a double double every year. And like I told her, hey,
(22:10):
your freshman year, I told her, if you come here, you're
gonna be freshman of the year.And she looked me in the face and
said, Coach, like, literally, two schools from your conferences dropped me
last week. And I said,I don't care what two schools from my
conference have to say. I careabout what I have to say and what
you are going to say. Igo, if you come here, you'll
be freshman of the year. Andlike so the next day she committed,
and then that year she was freshmanof the year. And then when we
(22:32):
were prepping for a sophomore year,I said, Okay, now everything's changing,
Like you're gonna be double teams,You're gonna be the number one on
the Scout Report this year, Likeyou're not going to have that point guard
that you had your freshman year.The shooting is not going to be as
great because we lost a lot goinginto a sophomore year that I was trying
to figure out and rebuild. AndI said, so, and you're going
to be playing along two other freshman'sstarters. You're gonna be a sophomore,
(22:56):
they're going to be freshman's so likeit. We're going to be incredible young
and you're going to have to figureout how to like maneuver within that.
So these are the four skills you'regoing to have to have when you come
back in the summer after the summer, and she came back with them,
So I mean, like, Ithink I'm super demanding. I expect a
lot. We practiced very hard,like we don't have easy days and stuff,
(23:18):
and she just loved it, likeshe the biggest thing about her is
at her consistency, Like she nevermissed a practice, she never missed a
game, she never missed a weightsession of film session. And it wasn't
just the physicality of not missing it, it was also the mentality she showed
up both physically and mentally for everythingevery day, and like it was going
(23:38):
into her senior year and I said, oh my gosh, I've taken this
for granted. And that's when Ihad to realize like how special that was
and how I had to start preppingthe people that were going to be coming
behind her to start seeing that,like, hey, you miss for a
runny nose, you know what Imean. Like, so we have to
start figuring that out, like notgoing to have her next year, but
(24:02):
I don't know where we would beas a program if she hadn't taken a
chance on me and like first timehead coach at this program that had never
won in the middle of Orange Countythat nobody really knew about, right,
Like so my favorite thing is likeI bring people on campus and I show
them the school and stuff. Becausetypically, like I am an extrovert,
our phone conversations go very well,kids tend to like like my energy or
(24:26):
whatever that is, and then whenthey come on campus with their parents are
like, this is so much biggerthan I thought it was. You know,
this is unbelievable. This is beautiful, and it's just like, you
know, getting people to see howgreat it is here, you know.
And she was one of those likeshe was like, I love it here,
you know. And she walked awaysuper proud to graduate from Concordia.
(24:47):
And that's my goal. I wantwhoever leaves here to be like I played
for Concordia University or Vine right,and that that is something that they can
strut, that is something to weartheir gear proudly, that they're just so
proud of, you know. Andshe's made such a huge like footprint in
our program, and I just thinkshe's made a very big footprint at the
(25:07):
school as a whole, Like peopleknow her name here, and I think
that that's quite beautiful. Coach.I wish you'd coached women's lacrosse because I
would send my daughters to play foryou immediately. So I'm talking to you
and your energy and your your coachingstyle and and your love for for coaching
and pouring into the kids is contagious. I can feel it, and I
love it. And final thing herein our final couple of minutes, where
(25:32):
do you see yourself? Where doyou see the program? In the next
couple As you mentioned, when youtook over, we had a one three
five plan what's next? What doyou want to do next with this program?
I think, like I always tellthe girls, if you don't like
speak it in existence, it's nevergoing to happen. Like you can't harbor
little desires to yourself because then you'renot going to put yourself out there to
(25:53):
risk it. And so I'm like, Hey, we're gonna win the Pac
West Championship, Like that's my goal. I want to win that tournament.
I think this would be a greatyear for us to do that. I
know that the our conference is loaded. There's just so much talent in our
conference. Every team has leveled upthis year and gotten better just based upon
(26:15):
what I've seen on their roster.We have some excellent coaches in our conference.
But I still want I still saythat's our goal, you know.
I really want to do that,and I love to win, you know,
And I as much as everybody cheersfor the underdog, I always cheer
for the people that like have beendoing it great for a while, you
(26:36):
know, Like I think it's Ithink some people think it's fun to cheer
against Yukon because their times past orStanford or whatever that is. But I
think, like, do you understandthe mental fortitude to even like do that
for five years, let alone decades, right, And so like when I
took this job, as much asand I love to win, I love
like I wanted to be the Dtwo of Yukon, right. I wanted
(26:59):
to be the kind of detwo LikeI want to be that thing where people
talk about is like they're tough,They're always regionally ranked, they're always top
in their conference, regardless of whatmy resources are, regardless of what my
budgets are, Like, I usuallydon't complain, Like if I don't have
it, I find a way togo get it. And the one thing
I tell my team all the timeI try and tell my kids. I
was like, and I think mymom and dad they like I was that
(27:22):
strong willed child, right, Andthey would be like they would tell me
no, And I was like,so how long till I can turn that
into it maybe? Because like tome, like, no, it's just
like no right now, but it'snot gonna be forever, Like I want
to turn that into maybe two andthen once I get you at maybe,
oh, I know I'm getting youtoo, right, So, Like that's
just kind of like the way Iapproach life and kind of how I want
(27:45):
most of the kids to think.Here, we have forced to be reckoned
with however that is with your personality, you know, because I don't have
like, I have nineteen girls onmy roster right now, but I do
not have nineteen extroverts right So howdo I get them to be that force
even if they're not extroverted? Likethat quiet storm, that resiliency, that
like, that quietness that's still likeis persistent like a river and just runs
(28:10):
you down, rubs you down untilthey get what they want or to go
to the direction they need to go. Like, there's a way to do
things within your personality. You've justgot to be resilient and tough in it.
Coach, I love it. Ilove everything you're doing with the basketball
program. Continued success, success thisseason as well and in the years to
come. Thank you so much fortalking about your story, your career,
(28:30):
and we'd love the conversation. Hopeto do it again soon. Thank you
so much. Yeah anything, thanksfor taking your time. I appreciate it.
Well, maybe thanks to Christine Collinscuring in what a job she has
done five seasons now, going intoher sixth season as the head coach,
there of the Lady Eagles. Whata job she has done building up this
program and she's got it training intoa powerhouse in West Coast basketball at the
(28:53):
Division two level. Continued success toher and the program there is they get
ready to embark on the twenty twentyto twenty twenty three women's basketball season.
Again. If you want to findout more about Concordia University Irvine, in
particular the Masters in Coaching and AthleticsAdministration program Cui dot eedu slash coaching Cui
dot eedu slash coaching. The Winnerterm twenty twenty two begins in November.
(29:18):
You get a thousand dollars scholarship orsigning up for first time students. Find
out more, find out if theprogram is right for you, how it
fits into your schedule very easily onlinewith classes. It's for the working professionals,
built exactly for you to help youimprove your job and your future again
Cui dot eedu slash coaching. That'sCui dot eedu slash coaching. Make sure
(29:41):
you get out there and support coachCollins Kiernan and the women's Eagles basketball program
there at Concordia University Irvine. Theirfirst games coming up next week. You
can check out their schedule, getout there and support them as a race
for a conference championship. All right, that's episode forty nine of the Masters
in Coaching podcast in the books,until next time, Tim Kate saying so
(30:02):
long, everybody. M
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