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A Status Symbol During the 2021-22 academic year, three head coaches decided to hang up the whistle. Replacing them, however, is not as easy as it may seem.

The face of every Springfield College head coach has been drawn by hand and framed in glass on Craig Poisson’s office wall.

They’re all done by the same caricature artist, who is given a picture of a newly-hired head coach, and a few facts or characteristics about the individual. He brings their images to life in a way only a human hand can do — a literal staring reminder of who Poisson, the Director of Athletics for the College, must support.

These 21 head coaches are pillars to the Humanics philosophy — spirit, mind and body — and they implement that philosophy beyond their fields, courts, and mats as teachers in the classroom. A point of reference for Poisson, he looks to the wall to remind himself of his own mission: to grow these coaches personally and professionally.

“Coach” is a status symbol on campus, and Poisson says it comes from their immediate link to not just student-athletes, but the like-minded body of learners that is the school community. The coaches themselves are what makes the title so special, and it’s because of the unique experience of being a Springfield College head coach that makes it so valued.

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Bidding farewell after their seasons this year are three head coaches who have deeply impacted their respective programs. Melissa Sharpe, Charlie Brock and John Gibson are drastically different people, but each has been an invaluable asset to Springfield athletics.

Sharpe, head field hockey coach, came to the College as an undergraduate student, and has bled maroon for almost two decades since. After playing the sport for four years, Sharpe became a field hockey GA at Springfield and continued to support legendary head coach Dottie Zenaty, right up until Zenaty announced her retirement midway through Sharpe’s second year in graduate school.

Sharpe applied for the job immediately, and after an arduous process, she was told the job was hers the day before she graduated with her Master’s.

“I think those of us that have been here a long time, you live your life here, you’re going to go through some life experiences, losses in your family,” Sharpe said.

“And then you see your colleagues around you, just so supportive, and people make meals for each other, and they bring things to each other’s house… that family feeling is probably the biggest thing that stands out to me being a coach here.”

But being committed as a Springfield College head coach engulfs all other priorities in one’s life — and as a mother to a 9 and 7-year-old, Sharpe says she can no longer bring the same kind of attentive energy required.

“Both of my kids are very athletic and involved, and I was missing so much of their activities. And then to stay at the level of success that I had earlier in my career … the volume of recruiting has grown, so the last couple of years I’ve really struggled,” Sharpe said.

“It was not an easy decision, but it was a decision I made last year … I don't want the program to suffer if I tried to put my kids first. And I felt that that would happen.”

Brock is in a similar boat — after 24 seasons as head coach of men’s basketball at the College, along with it being his 42nd season as a head coach of men’s basketball overall, Brock feels he, too, is ready to step back from the massive commitment.

With practices, games, recruiting, and everything else in between, coaches are required to stand on the sidelines for hours at a time — and in season, those hours turn into multiple days’ worth of being physically upright. Brock has, as he puts it, “some things in my leg that aren’t supposed to be there.”

Though he’s healthy and fit, after 45 years of standing on hardwood floors, it’s getting more difficult for him to be present without minding the pain from having had both knee and ankle replacement surgery.

“I’ve been doing it a long time, and sometimes when you do something for a long time, the little nuances sort of escape,” Brock said.

“I thought the timing for me was good … the timing for the team is good. They’re all very, very young, and they’re going to get a good new person working with them and have them for three years.

“My hope is that the person can come in and be patient with the situation, because it's going to take some time and be comfortable enough in their own skin to do things the way they think they need to be done, not the way that someone else thinks they ought to be done,” Brock concluded.

As for Gibson, stepping back from the women’s soccer team was something he felt was just right for the point he’s at in life. Like Sharpe, he has family members who require much of his attention and like Brock, he feels a younger person with more energy is the answer to keeping his team going.

Gibson was 11 years old when he knew he wanted to be a coach. A native of London, England, he wrote to the Football Association of Wales — the Welsh governing body of soccer — to inform them he was ready to begin his training as a coach. Someone from the Association wrote back kindly, encouraging Gibson’s dreams, and he has manifested them into reality by being head coach at Springfield for 22 seasons following coaching and teaching at other schools.

“I think it’s better to stop before … I say, ‘I don’t feel like I’m where I need to be,’ and the players say, ‘What do you mean? You’re fine,’ and my colleagues and teams agree. But it’s better to stop before they’re all going, ‘You should probably quit.’ It’s probably better to leave a couple years early than late; it’s just kind of blunt, but that’s what you get from it,” Gibson stated.

When each coach was asked what they would miss most about Springfield College, their answers were all the same: the people.

Current head coach of women’s volleyball for the past 11 seasons, Moira Long, summed up their points eloquently.

“I think it always comes down to the people, right? This is unique to Springfield; I’ve been at two other institutions, and I could ask any person on the campus what their philosophy is, and they wouldn’t have a clue. They wouldn’t know what they were about as an institution,” Long stated.

“I think what’s unique about Springfield is that we understand what it means to be Humanic, and we strive to be Humanic in all parts of our life. That coupled with being in a community that all are striving for the same thing … it always comes down to the people here that believe in being Humanic.”

Finding the right people who will fit in with the College’s philosophy, though, is a task the Department of Athletics and the School of Physical Education, Performance and Sport Leadership takes very seriously when it comes to hiring new teacher-coaches.

Though Sharpe’s position has now been filled by Mia Olsen — former assistant coach at Amherst College and Westfield State University — the process of finding a new head men’s basketball coach and head women’s soccer coach is ongoing.

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To replace three coaches simultaneously is not an easy position for any institution to be in, and especially when it’s done in Springfield College fashion. Unlike other schools, coaches need to have a master’s degree in order to be considered for the position. Ideally, the degree should be in something related to Physical Education, but the College accepts degrees related to athletics. Applicants also need CPR and AED certification, but most importantly, they must possess a passion for teaching -- after all, they’re faculty members.

Poisson and Sue Guyer, the Dean of the School of Physical Education, Performance and Sport Leadership (PEPSL) are now in the process of filling the gaps left by Gibson, Sharpe, and Brock. As with every new teacher-coach hiring process, the pair first puts together a screening committee composed of teacher-coaches, staff, and then pedagogists or other instructors or professors in the PEPSL school.

“These are academic appointments; these are teacher-coaches, and it’s in large part no different than how the institution would hire a chemistry professor. The academic side of the house is involved, between the chair of the physical education, health education program, and the Dean of PEPSL, Dean Guyer,” Poisson said.

As for what the College looks for in candidates, it’s not only important to the institution the person has prior collegiate coaching experience, but experience in a classroom. Because each coach is also a faculty member — a professor of Physical Education — it’s imperative the candidate has a passion for teaching students as well as athletes.

The selected screening committee will go through the pool of applicants and choose anywhere from six to ten semi-finalists to have a Zoom interview with. Then, the pool is cut down to three or four candidates who get to physically come to campus.

“I call their time on campus ‘the gauntlet’ because there’s a lot of people they meet with on campus,” Poisson said.

"Being a coach on this campus is a pretty big deal; there's a level of respect that a lot of institutions don't have. You're looked at as more than just a person who is in the gym or on the field, you're looked at as a faculty member. And because you teach, you have input, so how does it compare?" - Naomi Graves

Each person goes through a full roster of individuals. They begin by meeting with Poisson himself and then go to the chair of the department, the Dean and the head athletic trainer. This year, Poisson added the strength and conditioning and support staff, along with an assistant coach or teaching fellow if they’re available.

“We select team representatives depending upon the outgoing coach’s recommendation, typically rising seniors — they interface with the candidate,” Poisson said.

Finally, the screening committee gets to speak with the finalist in person as well. The committee collects feedback from all involved, and there is an open forum that all of the PEPSL school and the Admissions Office is invited to interact and hear from the candidate.

“The screening committee chair puts together all the feedback and submits it to myself and Dean Guyer. The chair of the PE Department weighs in, and then Dean Guyer and I get together and go after who we think is going to be the most impactful for the student-athlete experience,” Poisson said.

This intensive process has worked well for the College’s teacher-coach model, especially to reinforce a coach’s status symbol on campus. Though head coaches are always professors of Physical Education, their classes vary according to their areas of expertise, educational backgrounds, and personal interests.

Michelle Moosbrugger, Chair of PEPSL, knows these teacher-coaches more intimately than most. Moosbrugger received her bachelor’s from Springfield in 2000, and knows many of the coaches from her time here. Now, she works as a mentor to support all of the faculty members in the department, including the teacher-coaches.

“When we hire a new teacher-coach, part of that process includes interviewing with me, and I see them teach a sample lesson,” Moosbrugger said. “Once they're hired, we bring them on board; I work with them to find out what their strengths are as a teacher and what they can bring to the table for the department.”

All teacher-coaches teach either one three-credit course per semester or multiple one-credit courses. Moosbrugger helps find the courses that best fit a coach’s expertise — for example, Gibson teaches a three-credit sports philosophy grad class because he has his PhD in the philosophy of sport.

“If you go to class with a teacher-coach, you’re learning firsthand things that are happening right now. They are on the cutting edge of everything because this is it, they’re doing it … you’re learning from someone who’s hands-on in it right now,” Moosbrugger said.

“It fits really well at Springfield College, because we think of the whole person, we think of the Humanics philosophy, and our teacher-coaches are really able to foster that … it works well because of the types of majors we have, and the emphasis on being active as well.”

Students who are not involved on a team get to interact with these head coaches, which makes them all that more involved off the field and in daily campus life — and they’re still endowed with the title of “Coach” everywhere they go.

However, those inside and outside the community also feel it is also important for these students and student-athletes alike to be taught and coached by individuals that look like them.

Diversity is a hot topic at the College; there have been calls to action by students, faculty, and administrators to bring in more BIPOC individuals across the board while also creating an inclusive environment, and those in positions of leadership are trying to answer those calls.

As the College searches for candidates that fit their ideal of the Humanics philosophy to fill the two remaining empty head coaching positions, they’re looking to hire from programs and initiatives that give opportunities to BIPOC individuals.

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Out of the 21 head coaches, only two are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color). Men’s golf coach Joe Eadie is Black, and head coach of men’s and women’s tennis Mike Louis is Asian.

Eadie has been a head coach at Springfield for the past 30 years and has been involved in various Western Mass. golfing organizations for about 35. He said he’s seen about 40 to 50 of his students over the years go on to work in careers related to golf, and he feels honored to have had an impact on them as much as they have on him.

“Being a coach at Springfield has helped me grow more as a person than I expected to,” Eadie said. “I have 11 or 12 young men on my team every year for 31 years; I have 11 or 12 personalities each year, and that has helped me to grow as a coach and as a parent ... I would say this much: I wouldn’t coach anywhere else than in Springfield because of the support I have gotten from Dr. Poisson.”

Louis is only in his fourth season at the College, and though he has almost two decades of prior coaching experience between the University of Connecticut and the University of Hartford, he too has fully bought into all that it means to be a coach at Springfield.

“When I went through the whole interview process with Dr. Poisson and the whole hiring staff, I’d never been to a place that felt just so comfortable, where everyone was talking the same lingo,” Louis said. “It really resonated with me; it’s year 18 or 19 coaching college for me, and with that interview process, I had never had that feeling.”

Regardless of how welcomed and respected the two feel, the lack of BIPOC coaches is still an issue the Department of Athletics is continually working on -- one that has presented itself in the lack of BIPOC head coaches at the College, and is perpetrated through national daily issues of prejudice.

When Poisson joined Springfield in 2015, he said it was part of his personal mission to “listen” to the concerns of those around him and work toward a diversified Department of Athletics. And he’s done just that; the College is involved with an array of initiatives, organizations, training programs, and other methodologies created to attract more BIPOC individuals to join Springfield’s athletics.

However, when Poisson set out to fill the head field hockey coach position this fall, he came across a staggering statistic: there are only two D-III field hockey coaches in the entire country who identify as non-white. This is not indicative of the efforts colleges are making to bring in BIPOC coaches, but of the systemic problems that prevent BIPOC individuals from even considering collegiate coaching as a career.

Part of the issue, Louis believes, is the fact that many sports are considered to be “traditionally white,” or a “country club sport.” His sport of tennis, for example, has typically attracted white students to his team. Though Louis experienced diversity in his youth playing in New York City, he believes many of the problems come from stereotypes surrounding certain sports.

“My family and I have always been fortunate, just middle class, but a lot of my buddies came from really tough situations, where if they didn’t discover tennis because of a junior tennis league or an after school program, then their options are very limited,” Louis said.

“Looking from an integral sport, if you don’t have a first path to grow participation in a diverse way, then the coaching and the teaching, the leadership aspects, are kind of hard to find.”

Keith Bugbee, head coach of the men’s lacrosse program in his 39th season with the team, also acknowledged that his sport is stereotypically and predominantly white. In his experience with recruiting players, he said the communities that usually produce the best lacrosse players are the ones with money in their programs. This is because the efforts and resources used to support athletics in these predominantly white, wealthy communities are more plentiful and accessible than those same efforts and resources available to those in poorer areas.

And, systematically speaking, individuals who populate those poorer areas tend to be BIPOC — they’ve been pushed there because of years of prejudice and lesser opportunities due to the color of their skin. With the Black Lives Matter movement gaining momentum back in 2020, these conversations that should have started decades ago have begun, but the effects of systemic racism still pervade through every aspect of society. A career in coaching is not spared.

Springfield College Athletics is working hard behind the scenes, though, to make the institution an inviting place for BIPOC coaches to work. Poisson said that, along with the new implicit and explicit bias training the screening committees must go through before the hiring process begins, the College is involved with multiple NCAA initiatives designed to increase teacher-coach and athletics diversity.

"We don't want people to come here to build their careers and move on; we want people to come here and stay because they belong." - John Gibson

“(The NCAA) has maybe 13 to 15 different initiatives that deal with diversity, and Springfield College is actively engaged in the vast majority of them,” Poisson said.

“For example, the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s internship grant started around the year 2000. A two-year internship, Springfield College has been the beneficiary of that internship four times — other institutions might have gotten it more, but I doubt it.”

The first time the College was a recipient of the grant, Poisson was not yet the Director of Athletics, but he recalls a white woman being hired as part of the grant. Though she was not considered BIPOC, hiring a woman is considered to be a step toward diversification.

In the second time around with the grant, Poisson said the woman hired “may have passed the eyeball test as a white woman, but was not.” For the third hire, another white woman, Poisson said the College again was happy with its steps toward diversification but, “the goal was to hire more diversity based on skin color.”

However, Springfield has not been a recipient of the grant for about four years now, though it has applied each year. Poisson said this is because other colleges and universities applying for the grant were upping their ante; that is, they were adding their own financial incentives to the positions at their schools on top of what the NCAA was already offering.

Poisson went to President Mary-Beth Cooper and informed her of the issue, and the pair worked together to rewrite the College’s grant offering. Their efforts came to fruition with the hire of Adaeze “Daisy” Alaeze-Dinma with the grant — there happened to be an opening with the athletic department’s leadership team, and she moved into the position in 2020.

“It took literally four iterations to get what the previous Director of Athletics was trying,” Poisson said.

Working internally, the College has been able to hire students of color to positions within the athletic department, and regularly track BIPOC students during their time at Springfield they feel would be strong candidates for teaching fellow positions in particular sports.

Another program from the NCAA is the “Leadership Collective.” Poisson said he has been in communication with the leader of this initiative, who organizes a sort of “pool” specifically for BIPOC professionals, administrators, and coaches. Colleges and universities are able to check the pool of vetted candidates, but Poisson said it’s competitive for a variety of reasons.

“You could imagine Division I schools are looking to hire a coach, Division II and Division III. And you could well imagine the going rate of coaches at Division I versus Division III … it’s your personal choice what drives you, and sometimes compensation is that driver,” Poisson said.

According to the springfield.edu website, 21% of the student population self-identifies as a person of color. The undergraduate enrollment data from 2016-2020 on the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s page also shows there has been no insignificant increase nor decrease in BIPOC student enrollment during those four years.

So, when specifically asked why a BIPOC individual would want to come to Springfield College to become a head coach, Poisson said when candidates are looking for a job, “that person also has to feel it’s a fit and it’s a match, and that in of itself may prevent people from applying.”

When it comes to Springfield, Poisson said the match truly has nothing to do with skin color — it all goes back to just being the right kind of person.

“The whole thing to me is teaching, because coaching is teaching, and you’re doing it in the classroom with walls and the classroom without walls. I think that’s the attractive piece about us that regardless of the color of your skin, or however you define diversity, I hope would be attractive to others,” Poisson said.

It appears the issue of the lack of BIPOC head coaches at Springfield is fueled by a variety of reasons from the top down, but it’s something Poisson and the rest of the College is well aware of and working to change — especially with the open positions in basketball and soccer.

Becoming a “diverse” institution is something Springfield has worked hard to accomplish and promote, and because many of the hurdles it faces are systemic, it is only natural that something that has been an issue for centuries will only be solved through time, hard work, and dedication.

Perhaps in the near future, a new BIPOC coach will be featured in a frame on Poisson’s wall.