S4E2: Kelly Lawrence, Boston University, Women’s Soccer, Associate Head Coach

This month’s guest is Kelly Lawrence, Associate Head Women’s Soccer Coach at Boston University. Kelly explains her philosophy for building a winning team culture, keeping the welfare of the student-athletes at the forefront, and being nimble enough to make decisions as a coach. The Women Coaches Academy and Academy 2.0 graduate talks candidly about how she is intentionally growing and readying herself to be a head coach while embracing her role as a LGBTQIA advocate.

Host: Megan Kahn
A co-production of WiSP Sports and WeCOACH

Recorded October 19, 2021

For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [e-mail].

Episode Transcript

(00:09):
Welcome so season four, Episode twoof the Week Coach podcast presented by Huddle.
I'm your host, Megan con CEOof Week Coach, and as always,
we're sitting down for cannon conversations withwomen coaches and women leaving their mark
in sports. Speaking of mark,make sure to mark your calendars for December
fourteenth and register today to hear fromlegends such as Julie Faudie, Becky Hammond,

(00:30):
Doctor Connell, Lisa Rice, andmany more during our Breakthrough Summit co
hosted with Huddle. Visit wee coachforce dot org or Breakthrough Summit dot Live
to view the full agenda and registerfor free. For more information on how
Huddle is helping teams compute with confidenceand make every moment count, please visit
huddle dot com. Today I'm sittingdown with my dear friend, Boston University

(00:52):
Associate Head Coach Kelly Lawrence, oneof our NCAA Academy two point zero graduates
and one of our most engaged WeekCoach members. Wait if you that I
did there? Kelly engaged, whichwe're going to talk about that later.
Kelly brings nine years of D oneexperience, most recently serving as an assistant
at Cyrcuse before joining the BUTH Soccerstaff three seasons ago. Let's chat with
Kelly. Kelly, thanks so muchfor being on the Week Coach podcast.

(01:15):
Thank you so much Megan for havingme. Okay, are you laughing?
Like, do you see how you'reworking that engaged piece of it? I
did? Yeah, I know we'renot going to lead with that. There,
We're gonna we're gonna come back.We're gonna come back to that.
We got a lot of other stuffto chat about first, but honestly,
how are you doing? The lasttwenty months have been crazy for anyone,
let alone a coach. Uh,you know, navigating a pandemic which we've

(01:38):
had no playbook for. So really, how are you doing? Yeah,
doing pretty well. Um. Ithink we're all kind of you know trying
to hit that you know, additionalreset. We kind of took a reset,
you know, when the pandemic hit. We hit a reset, and
now it's just trying to reprogram ourselvesfor a little bit closer to his normal
life. Um, so doing fromthe for the grand scheme of things.

(02:00):
I think we're all kind of umalso trying to you know, fight that
little bit of a bug that's goingout there. That's nothing to do with
COVID, So UM doing doing prettywell. Um, we're in the middle
of our season and um fighting tostay at top of the league right now.
And UM, you know, it'shonestly, it's it's we're just really
grateful to just be able to becompeting and close to normal circumstances. Yeah,

(02:23):
speaking of competing and post the normsfor costances, soccer was one of
the sports that got punted to thespring last year. So you have a
spring season, then you have thisvery short summer before you guys were back
at it in early August. Sothe team has obviously responded well. Can
you talk more about how they've beenable to bounce back with just a short
recovery period. Yeah, I mean, I think we had we had a

(02:49):
you know, we would say forour programs and goals we set. We
underperformed in the spring season. Welost in the semifinals UM in ot which
actually was pretty remarkable considering everything thathappened UM in the fall and then going
into the spring. So again truetrue coaches setting up all pretty high and
UM, you know, through thethrough the summer, were really proud of

(03:12):
the work that our players did tocome in and just be be as prepared
as possible. I think it reallymotivated them even more. And knowing that
they were going to get um,you know, and trusting that they were
going to get a season that wasyou know, again close to normal circumstances.
UM couldn't be prouder of the workthat they put in. UM.
I think probably one of the thingsthat was kind of eye opening was understanding

(03:34):
that we had sophomores who were actuallyreally first years because they only got five
games in the spring. So UM, that that made us realize that our
squad, UM, normally you havea young enderclassman, Um, we have
a really we had a really youngunderclassman UM coming in. So UM,
that was something that was an interestingthing as a coach, as a coaching

(03:55):
staff for us to really um beaware of in terms of our expectations and
how we were going to you know, help the development of the squad as
as a whole. Yeah. Sowith everyone being so young, only five
games last year, how are youcontinuing to build team culture with so many
young folks. Yeah. So that'ssomething that just has been ingrained in our

(04:19):
program. You know, every everysingle day. It's something that we're talking
about UM. And one of thegreat things about being a part of this
program is one of the big reasonswhy I came to be you is being
able to work with Nancy Fellman,who is just you know, someone who
just has some phenomenal best practices onhow to build culture, you know,
kind of our ideas. If youturn up corner and there's you know,

(04:41):
five or six of our student athletesall chatting and talking with each other that
you couldn't tell who was a freshmanand who was a senior UM and so
just you know the fact that wecan be a little bit more interactive,
we can be in each other's spaces. We were able to go back to
a spot that we love to goto UM up in New Hampshire, UM
during preseason so wretched, able tobeat with each other in cabins and UM

(05:05):
you know, being able to dosome things UM something's nothing nothing related to
soccer, UM, you know,jumping off of UM bouncy inflatable floaties in
the lake and UM having you know, bonfires and and and then doing some
things you know off the field thatwe're a little bit more communicative and you
know, caused a little bit offriction and adversity and got the players to

(05:27):
interact. Um. So Um,those are just some of the things that
we're able to do in preseason.Um. There's a lot of things about
our program that um, you know, uh, you know, kind of
cultivate the culture. We have buddieswithin our within our program, we have
you know since Squitterias. We havepacks as well that make up freshman solom
with judiuson seniors. Um. Soit's just constantly you know, having the

(05:49):
having the group share each other's,share with each other, share experiences,
um, communicate. Um. Justas simple as having training activities instead of
the coaches bringing everyone in, youknow, telling telling the groups to go
off and have conversations and trying tosolve problems. So um, yeah,
it's just made it a lot easiernow that we're not everything's over zoom can
actually be in each other's spaces.Yeah, speaking of everything over zoom,

(06:13):
are there things that you implemented duringCOVID that you found to be really beneficial
now that you're in person and you'veactually kept them. Um, I think
we just we just were able tomake some of the things that are really
sticky about our program. UM.We were fortunate with technology these days to
keep those things going. So Imentioned, you know, the packs like
having our sophomores, our freshman sophomore, juniors and seniors being able to get

(06:38):
into breakout rooms and um even justhave you know, fifteen minutes after a
team meeting to just chat and checkin with how they're doing. You know,
how are you doing it? Youknow, just in in yourself as
a person. UM. I thinkpre COVID, we were trying to focus
on talking about them as human beings, talking about them as students, talking
about them as athlete. We hadthem in these three different buckets. But

(06:58):
I think there's even there's just beenso much more of an emphasis on,
you know, the overall welfare umof of players. UM. For for
instance, we just came off ofa game on Saturday, and we're gonna
we took Sunday Monday off. Wemade sure we didn't have any communication with
our players on Monday because we knewthat that's important, and then Tuesday we
made it the lift. So justbeing you know, really aware of you
know, where are they at rightnow, where where are they mentally?

(07:21):
UM? What do they need UM, you know, we have a leadership
group within our team. UM that'smade up of UM captains, UM,
a freshman, a sophomore, ina junior. UM. That make sure
we have good touch points within thegroup. And so we in the first
questions, how is everyone doing?What's the post of the team not?
You know, you know, what'straining going to look like? And UM,

(07:41):
you know, you know where arewe in terms of a culture and
accountability and those things. That's kindof like that that's the next step.
The first step is like how iseveryone doing? Anyone will need to check
in with so UM. I thinkit's just it's just it's just been amplified
since COVID would just continue to findways to, you know, make sure
that we're just you know, constantlyaware of UM, everybody just mentally.

(08:03):
So I always love to ask thisquestion because I think so many coaches approach
it differently. How do you guysdeal with team captain? Yeah? So,
UM, we had an interesting situationthis year where we had a fifth
year come back who had been acaptain for a couple of years. UM,
and UM, she's already a coach. UM, her dad was a
coach. You can just tell it. It's it's who she is and she's

(08:26):
so sharp and and so UM.We did still have our our team vote
UM, but we were pretty surethat she was going to get the votes
and she definitely did because she's justearned the respect. So that one was
easy. UM. The way thatwe did it this year is we had
UM, you know, our seniorgroup. Because we had such a big
senior group, UM, we electedto just just make it an option for

(08:52):
the seniors this year. UM.That was not the case in previous years.
We'd had juniors to be captains before. UM, but we uh,
you know, we had them basicallyalmost like apply. UM. We asked
them to let us know that they, UM, they wanted to be captain.
And then UM we had some briefmeetings with UM, with all the

(09:13):
seniors that wanted to be captain andjust ask them, you know a few
questions. You know, what isUM, what is leadership to them?
You know, what strengths would theybring as a captain? UM? You
know, how would the how wouldthe position allow them to grow? UM?
You know, simple questions like thatand UM, just so that we
could get an idea, UM andalso have them spend some time or really

(09:35):
thinking about UM. You know,you know, it's exciting to be the
captain, but do they really understandthe responsibilities of it, UM, you
know, to have they really donethe work to to think about how this
this role is really one of service, UM, and so and then UM
we you know, we took sometime and let those UM seniors really UM,

(09:58):
you know, model it. UH. And then we put it to
a vote UM. And then asas coaches, we got to vote to
UM. Fortunately, the voting itwasn't a case that the coaches had to
sway anything, so UM the votingwas pretty clear, and we ended up
with four captains this year. Theinteresting thing about it, UM is we
knew that two of the two ofthe four captains would be UM injured and

(10:20):
not play this season UM, andone of them would have a chance UM
and the other one without you know, touchwood, without any injuries in the
future, would be playing. Andso it's been it's been interesting that for
the season we've had three captains thathave not been on the field UM,
and and they've done it. They'veall done a marvelous job. We're very

(10:41):
connective with our captains. We meetwith them UM every Tuesday, morning,
we meet with the captains over coffeeUM, and they're just really well connected.
UM. It helps to have afifth year that that's been been around
the block a couple of times andunderstand what it's about and UM. But
then we support those captains with aleadership group, so it's not all on
the captains. We have the leadershipgroup. Leadership Council, which I think

(11:03):
I mentioned before was made up ofa freshman, sophomore, junior, and
senior UM. It also is madeup of a senior that isn't a captain
UM and so that the captains don'tfeel the full weight of it. But
there are conversations that happen with thecaptains that that don't happen with UM,
the leadership group, and sometimes decisionsare made just with the captains. But
it is their job to you know, continue the message of the coaching staff.

(11:24):
Be a be a bridge. Alsolet us know, hey, you
know, sometimes they can challenge us, so they can say, hey,
have you have you thought about this? UM, And we try to do
our best to really make sure thatthey feel feel heard. So those lines
of communications can stain, can standopen. But I think the one thing
I've learned from coach Um Coach Felmanis that is, you know, not

(11:45):
to have a heart or fast ruleabout how you're going to do things.
So there's flexibility every year on howwe might decide on something like that,
UM, like a captaincy, orwhere we might train or or you know,
whether we decide to train at alocation versus train at home before we
travel, things like that, Justto be pretty nimble in that regard.

(12:07):
Yeah, it's interesting that you talkabout three of your four captains aren't on
the field because as we approached theend of the season for folks in the
fall of the academic year, UM. And I think, no, you
know this because we've watched our gradsengage around this topic in some of our
cat rooms. Do you start seniorson senior night? And now you have
three captains that aren't even necessarily onthe field, UM, And if they're

(12:31):
senior then certainly, UM, theywouldn't be starting on senior nights. So
I think that's very interesting. Andthat's something that UM has been a case
for for coach filming at BU wherethat has been a rule that that actually
is one of the very few rulesthat she had. Is it is not
an automatic that seniors will start hereat bu UM. We talk a lot

(12:52):
about legacy at bu UM, youknow, honoring UM those that have you
know, helped build a foundation ofthis program, who have UM put their
blood, sweat and tears into thisprogram both on the field and off the
field. And the way that wehonor their legacy is we continue to UM
compete every single day and strive forexcellence and win championships. And so you

(13:13):
know, our our first goal is, you know, to win the game.
And we're going to continue to operatethe way we have with our with
our selection of our starters and ourreserves and and how we make changes within
a game. UM. But oursecondary goal is that we want to honor
our seniors and can we do thatin a way that UM, you know,
it's helpful if the team UM,you know, can help us put

(13:37):
a few goals in the net,so we can make sure that we can
really honor the seniors by and youknow, UM giving them opportunities on the
field. UM. And and ifnot, then are there still some opportunities
where we can still include them UMwithin you know, the way the tactics
or the system of what we wantto do on game day. UM.
The other thing we do, whicha lot of programs do, is we

(13:58):
do a ceremony before um, beforethe game, and so you know that's
that's the big piece of honoring ourseniors. But um, you know,
we want to bring a championship toour seniors every every year. And so,
UM, if we can bring achampionship at the end of the year
and on our seniors in that way, which is a goal that they want
to achieve, they want to leaveas a senior of winning a championship.

(14:18):
UM. You know that that's theway. That's the ultimate way that we're
going to be able to do that. Um. So it's worked well,
it's always a sticky, hard one. I think the best way to handle
it is just to be really transparentand communicate that that's how things are going
to be early. So it's notlike, you know, the day before
a game they're finding out. UM. So it's it's seemed to go down

(14:39):
okay. Here, we've got aninterest in situation. We have two seniors
actually that m due to COVID,we're not able to actually be at our
recent Senior day, and so they'regoing to get their own mini ceremony this
weekend. Um, just the twoof them because we have ten seniors,
so eight eight we're able to behonored last week and so we're gonna have
to. So you kind of gotsplit up a little bit, but um,
you know it's going to be greatto at least on he then see

(15:01):
that's your testament to be nimble rightthere. Yeah, I want I want
to pivot our conversation. I wantto backtrack to how you got your starting
coaching. You grew up, youplayed on the English youth national teams,
You have a stellar collegiate career atIndiana, and then you know, as
your approach graduation, did you alwaysknow you wanted to be a coach.

(15:22):
Talk to us about how you gotyour starting coaching. Yeah, so,
um, I wanted to play professionally. UM, I had an opportunity,
actually it was offered, a reallygood master's opportunity or not a school out
in Long Island. Um, rightout of school. And UM I remember
the ad turning turning to me onthe interview and saying, hey, you
know, basically resume you know you'dbe able to fashtrike to go pro You
know, I don't, we don'twant to offer you this opportunity and then

(15:43):
um, you end up deciding,you know, you want to go play
pro soccer. And I was like, no, no, no, no,
I want this opportunity. I wantto go to go into coaching.
I want to get my masters.Well, of course I left that visit
and then I had that little,you know, kind of nudging feeling,
Okay, you really done with playing, And so I did end up turning
around and deciding to go play professionallyfor a couple of years, and you

(16:04):
know, really wanted to stay intouch with the game and ended up with
a great opportunity in New Jersey andcoaching with Really I started with the little
ones. I started like this littleprogram called Itty Biddie Bowl, Like That's
where I started, and worked myway up all the way through all the
age groups. High school. Ihad a great experience as an assistant coach
at Pingry High School and then hadhad a great opportunity at Mama University.

(16:26):
Chrissy Turner gave me a great opportunityas a as a young coach as a
volunteer assistant, and we were verysuccessful. I think I had thirty two
wins in two years and UM.And I remember at the end of the
end of my time there, sheturned around and said, hey, you
know, it's not always going tobe like this, and I'm like,
yeah, yeah, yeah, Idon't know. You know, this is
great. And you know, fromthen on made the next step to go

(16:51):
to Syracuse University and coaching the ACC, which was a huge jump UM in
terms of level and UM. Wespent some years not winning a lot of
UM, and uh, you know, I learned a lot UM. I
look back now and I realized Ilearned so much more from the from the
losing than I did the winning UM. And you know, you can pick

(17:12):
out things that were there when youwere winning, but in the in the
losing times, UM, you doa lot of reflecting. There's a lot
of trial and era UM. AndI think you just you just you just
learned a lot UM. And thenfrom there kind of got to about six
or seven years into college coaching atthe point UM ended up actually being an

(17:32):
interim head coach for about four orfive months, which was which was which
was another interesting phase of my careerof now being the person is making decisions,
UM, not being the person who'ssupporting UM. The vision of the
head coach UM, and really foundmyself in a place where I thought I
knew what I needed for the nextstep. I think what happens is as

(17:53):
as a young coach is you justfocused on getting the job UM and getting
a job UM. And then asyou get yet more and more experience,
she started as Okay, where theholes, where the gaps? What do
I need? UM? You knowyou look more for when you look forward
five years and you think, okay, well, how do I need to
be prepared for five years from now? And UM, three things are really
really important for me. Where Iwanted to work in an athletic department that

(18:15):
was really close knit, cared aboutevery single sport, including the women's sports,
cared about its UM staff as wellas student athletes, and the head
coach UM. And I found thatMBU. UM. You know, an
aflete department that you know, focuseson development. It's assistance as a program
leadership program within its afletic department specificallyfor assistance UM. And they've you know,

(18:37):
empowered me to get involved in otheryou know, other things like athlete
ally and social justice inclusion UM.And then the other two things where I
wanted to work for somebody who hadbest practices and was a female role model,
and UM, Nancy Filment has provenall all throughout her career what a
legend she is and UM how hardit is as well, UM to be
successful and UM and you know,I've learned so much in the last three

(19:02):
years and I'm so grateful for theopportunity. UM. And then the last
thing was I wanted to work fora successful program. Wanted to be a
part of a program that UM knowswhat it takes to win and has all
the elements to win and has thesupport to win and being a competitor,
UM, you know, always readyto to to join a program that UM
you know still needed someone to comein and help a little bit. But

(19:25):
UM, you know where I couldlearn a lot from UM And UH it's
been great so far, and Ijust want to continue to help the program
be successful. I think it's awesome, UM to hear you sort of map
out all those things, because oneof the things I wanted to be chat
with you about it is UM.Obviously we already alluded that you're and see
double a Women Coach Academy graduator shoutowsClass forty five, and I know your

(19:47):
academy to win O class number three. Uh. Fellow fellow coaches are going
to be listening to this, soshout out to all of them. But
it sounds like you've been very intentionalabout how you're preparing for that next step,
which I I know you want tobe a head coach. So can
you expand a little bit more onhow you're continuing to grow now you've been
at three great programs, talks aboutthe lessons learned. What is that next

(20:10):
step to becoming a head coach?Yeah? I think, UM. I
think what's interesting is UM, Ithink it started my career is very focused
on on the next steps, andI think what has for me transpired in
the last three years. I justreally trying to soak everything up every day.

(20:30):
How can I grow, How canI be of assistant assistance, how
can I support my head coach?How can I support the program? And
really being ingrained in UM, youknow, in that kind of mindset UM
and uh, you know, ina way it's kept everything very present a
very short term and in a wayof trying to just trust that, UM,

(20:52):
if I continue to grow every day, things will come and good things
will will happen and kind of beingokay actually on not knowing what's what's the
next step and just focusing on wherecan I grow and UM and what what
can I what can be developed.UM. I'm also fortunate to work for
a head coach that is very investedin in me developing and preparing me to

(21:18):
be a head coach. UM.And you know, she's empowered me.
She's given me more and more responsibilitythe longer I've been here. UM.
We have a great trust, umamongst each other, and I think you
know, I've worked very hard atthat. That's been important to me.
UM. It's also really important tome to support her. UM. It's
it's kind of like the sub goalof mine. UM. You know,
sometimes the head coaches need to knowwhen they're doing well. And I think

(21:41):
you know, I've seen head coacheswhere you know, it can be hard
at the top where a lot ofthe feedback is coming from top down,
and you know, and sometimes Ineed to hear from the assistance when they're
doing well. UM. So that'sthat's been important for me. UM.
You know, I just I've justlived in that space for the last three
four years of just trusting and everythingI'm doing if I just continue to work
hard and um, you know,and then you know the past will kind

(22:03):
of open up and um and uhyeah, I think that's almost you know,
almost easy to the angst about whereis the next step or where am
I going to be or what isit going to look like when I've just
focused on, you know, moreof the smaller goal and smaller lens um,
you know, as I as Ilooked towards the next step off the

(22:26):
pits. I'll say, personally,one of the ways I've seen you grow
the most is how you speak morevocal about using your platform, your personal
experience to enhance and to cultivate anduh invite in conversations around LGBTQ community diversity
and inclusion. Talk to us moreabout the athlete ally student nasty group that

(22:47):
you're working with on campus and sortof how you've embraced this new role.
Yeah. So, um, youknow, almost within six weeks of being
at BU back in twenty nineteen,UM, I went to what was called
already is at BU and it's likebasically like the sps UM And there was
a young man who stood at thefront and his name was Johnny Kemps and

(23:08):
he you know, talked about hisexperience and the support that he had gained
from the athletic department and the chapterthat he had started at BU colde Athlete
Terry athlete Ally, and immediately Iwas like, okay, I want to
get involved UM. I had beeninvolved in UM trying to UM you know,

(23:29):
create a better, you know,better or more safe environment for student
athletes when I was at Syracuse WritersI was leaving and that was really one
of the one of the things Iwas most concerned about when I was moving
on, was you know, isthat work going to get continued on?
It sounds like it is being continuedon, but you know, having moved
to BU, I basically, youknow, went to Johnny and said to
him, how can I help?What can I do UM to support h

(23:52):
the student athletes at BU and andbasically have kind of become, you know,
kind of a coach, UM,ambassador advocate to the athletic apartment UM
within the athlete allied side of things. Uh. You know, I think
the place where the athlete Ally chapterwas was at the start there was a
lot of allies within the group UMand kind of the goal was if we
continue to do good work, youknow, there will be more actual lgbtwo

(24:15):
QIA members joining the group and beinga part of it. UM and UM,
you know the you know, it'sone of the things that I've gotten
a lot out of coaching in general, is just I'm so inspired by these
young student athletes. They're so driven, UM, they dream really big and
UM. The group has just grownand grown and grown. UM. And
they're so smart as well. UM, you know, and just the direction

(24:37):
and how they're trying to get thingsdone and workshops and you know what presents
us to bring in and UM andthose things. And now they're starting to
get to a place where okay,well we want this athlete allied group to
also be just a social place,a place for LGBT, B t QIAM
STEEN athletes to actually be able tojust be social and just you know,
feel safe and supported and vironment.So UM, you know, it's it's

(25:03):
something that I'm really really proud of. UM. I'm proud of be you.
I'm proud of you to to supportthis UM, this organization within our
athletics department. UM. It's somethingI never had as a student athlete.
UM. And so you know,it's definitely something that has been important.
And then within our team specifically,we had our have our own athlete allied
group within our team UM. Andyou know the things that they are great

(25:26):
about our organization, I think thehealth of our culture is UM. Our
student athletes are running that organization.It's not coming from me. UM.
They're leading, leading our our planningmeeting, They're going to lead the workshops
that are going to happen within ourteam in the future. UM. And
I think that that's something that's that'sreally cool. It's growing them as leaders,
it's growing them as you know,project managers having conversations with peers UM.

(25:49):
And then we as staff are ourjob is to create the opportunities to
have those organizations and groups. Andthen also the time, you know,
end of team meetings or start ofteam meetings, give group ten minutes to
speak in front of the team oror or run a team activity. UM.
So yeah, something that I'm reallyreally proud of. And then UM.
You know, the other thing thatI've been involved in with with the

(26:10):
athletics is a Social Justice Inclusion CommitteeUM, which was UM was starting in
twenty twenty UM and has continued onUM. Christie Bauers, our our senior
women's administrators is kind of leading thatthat charge and UM making sure that we're
using all the resources that we haveon campus to support our athletics department and

(26:30):
and UM you know an education andadvocacy UM and engagement UM. So you
know, it's you know, arereminded to ourselves is not to try to
bite off too much. UM.You know, there's a lot of student
athletes are going through and UM,but one thing I'm really proud of is
that we're trying to do the workat the administrator level, the staff level,
and the student athlete level. It'snot all focused on you know,

(26:51):
growing and developing the student athletes.I applaud you. That's important work UM
with you know, Athlete out likegroup and as well as the Social Injustice
Inclusion Committee and what you're doing onboth of those. Thanks so much for
your leadership around that. Before wewrap up, though, I want to
get to the big personal news thatyou have. Do you want to tell

(27:15):
us a little bit about that?Yeah? So, UM, you know,
I was fortunate to get into theUM the grad two point zero programs,
and I remember, UM, Ithink I think it might have been
you and I who are having atext exchange, and I was just trying
to decide if it was the righttime to do the next UM Wee Coach

(27:37):
because I had just been a partof UM the Wee Coach grad the one
point oh the year before, andI would said no, like, this
is the time, you know doit. You're in so you should do
it, And so I said,I said yes, and UM got myself
out to Colorado and obviously had ablast and had a big shout out to
UM class three, UM who havejust been such a big support system and
UM and uh, you know,it was fortunate to me UM Alison Coomey

(28:03):
who I sat one one person downfrom shout out to La who sat between
us, UM and uh yeah.So I met Alison and she is funny.
She had a m our families fromSyracuse m she worked at BU.
We never crossed paths UM, andwe became you know, good friends after
after the UH after the conference inColorado and then UM, slowly but surely

(28:27):
that turned into um, you know, us being engaged two years later.
UM so uh really awesome dates pickedJuly twenty twenty three. UM so,
uh yeah, I've heard it's notthe first we coach engagement, but um,
it might be the first we coachengagement in the class. I don't

(28:48):
know, um, but yeah,super excited. Um and and lots of
thanks to we Coach for bringing ustogether. I'm going to put CEO and
Mathmaker by might there we go?Ok? You know Noe for real?
Congrats. I'm so happy for bothof you. I adore both of you
and just so happy it's a greatmatch. And congratulations. Thanks so much

(29:10):
for sharing that story, just becauseI love that it did begin with roots
in Colorado. So as you know, we end every episode with rapid fires.
I could put you on the hotseat here. Well that wasn't the
hot seat. That wasn't No.I know I made to sweat a little
bit, but it's actually just funand want to make you sweat. What

(29:30):
can we most likely find you doingon an off day? Netflix? Pun
my seat up for sure? Yeah. Name something on your bucket list?
Oh, I'd love to go toSan Francisco. What's your go to karaoke
song? Cool? Um? Oh? What is it? Build me up
but a cup? The thing youlove most about living in Boston being by

(29:56):
the Charles anywhere along waters when I'mhappiest, it's awesome, and last,
it's not least. If you couldsend a tweet to all the young girls
and women in sports to aspire tofollowing your footsteps or to be a coach,
what would you tweet? I wouldtweet you have the opportunity to inspire
so many young girls and women justlike you. Great advice. I love

(30:18):
it. Kelly, thanks so muchfor chatting with us. I wish you
the best of luck as you wrapup the rest of your season. Thank
you so much, thanks for listeningto today's episode, and thanks to our
podcast partners Huddle and with Sports.Please visit Breakthrough Summit dot live for the
fullest for our speakers and sessions forDecember fourteenth, and make sure you get
registered until next time. All Sports, one voice, We Coach