Kelly McNiff – Interview

I began coaching sports at various levels in 2001. I was a student assistant basketball coach at UW-Oshkosh where I had just finished my playing career. I was an assistant basketball and softball coach at a local high school in Oshkosh as well. I moved up to Green Bay, WI in 2002 and started coaching basketball at area high schools there. In 2005, along with coaching junior varsity girls? basketball, I began a 2 year stint as an infield coach for the softball team at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. But I soon realized basketball was my true passion, so I decided to focus my coaching efforts in basketball only. My first varsity basketball head coaching experience came in 2007 at Green Bay Southwest High School. I held that position for 2 years and then moved on to De Pere High School. In my first season, we were Wisconsin Division 1 State Runners-up. 2 years later were the 2012 Wisconsin Division 1 State Champions. Combining that run and a winning streak into the next season, we won 44 games in a row, and in a total of 4 years at De Pere High School, we went 96-11. After the 2012-2013 season, I was contacted by Brad Fischer, current head coach here at UW-Oshkosh. He was in need of an assistant and asked me to join his staff. After much deliberating, I felt the timing was right to jump from the high school to college level, especially with it being an opportunity to return to my alma mater.

During the season, my day is spent mainly watching and breaking down game film. Coach Fischer and I split scouting responsibilities for every other game, so every week I have one team I dedicated my focus to. I also help with practice planning and working with our guards during guard-post breakdowns within practice. If classes are in session, I meet with half of our players individually once every other week. We meet to discuss academics: how are their classes going, do they have tests or projects coming up, where are they at grade-wise for the semester, etc. Our goal as a program is to finish the year in the Top 25 athletically & academically, so these meetings are very important! Other daily/weekly duties include planning events such as Alumni Day, Youth Day, Senior Day, and our annual Pink Game. Add on top of that doing practice laundry & planning meals for away games, my day (as any coach’s day) is quite jam packed!

I hope it helps, I truly do. With women now being seen in higher profile positions in higher profile leagues (including women officiating men’s sports), I would think this can only help promote interest in the field. Personally, I got involved in coaching because of my female college coaches-they were my role models. And I am sure women absolutely look up to Coach Hammon & Coach Lieberman. However, I think, that at least here in Wisconsin, we have seen fewer and fewer female coaches. It’s not an easy profession?long hours, you always bring your work home with you, time away from family & friends, a lot of travel, low pay, success often based on the performance of teenagers/young adults, etc. is incredibly stressful. But really, no job is super easy & all have their pros & cons. But, it’s not for everyone and you have to be in it for the right reasons & truly love the sport in which you coach. Coaching may not be a glamorous job, but for me, it is a very rewarding job. Helping young women develop into well-rounded individuals is my favorite part of the job. I love strategizing & preparing for opponents, I love the X’s & O’s, but building relationships with my players that will last a lifetime is a truly wonderful experience.

To be honest, there has been a fight for more equal treatment with women in sports for decades. However, because of new technology, social media, and with comments made by our current president, these women’s issues are brought to the forefront now more than ever. Even when we think there has been progress, a story comes to light that makes you stop and realize we still have a long way to go. For example, the Wisconsin Boy’s State Basketball Tournament celebrated its 100^th year of existence in 2015. And for the first time ever, there was a female official for one of the tournament games. It was a celebratory event, but somewhat hard to fathom at the same time. 100 years is a long time for a sport that has plenty of female officials! So even though a story like this or seeing women coaching in the NBA are positives, you still shake your head. And ultimately, regardless of the political climate, it’s on us to use our voices, actions, and strength in numbers, such as the Women’s March, to continue making equality issues important.

Early in my coaching career, I think I put more of an emphasis on wins & losses. I was a young coach that just wanted to win, and win immediately. When I took a step back and re-evaluated what I really wanted out of coaching, I feel I started to blossom as a coach. I didn?t need to yell or scream to get a point across or teach a play or correct a mistake. I wanted to coach the kids the way I was coached, the way I learned, and it just didn?t work that way. As I looked at the big picture, as I adjusted the way I coached individuals, the wins & successes-on and off the court- started to come.