Coach inspiring students for 25 Years
Kathie woods has been coaching for 25 years and still loves it
By
Andrea Simpson - The Clackamas Print
February 03, 2008
Dedicated. Hardworking. Hilarious.
These are just a few words that Head Volleyball Coach Kathie Woods’ colleagues use to describe her. Not many have worked at the college as long as Woods. She is celebrating 25 years of coaching at Clackamas.
Woods has led the volleyball team for all 25 of those years, and in the ’80s she coached men’s tennis until the program was dropped.
“I have always been involved in athletics, and not just volleyball,” she said. “I have a passion for it, I guess. I just believed that the next step after competition for myself was to be a coach. That way, I could still be involved in competition. It was the natural thing to do.”
Kathie grew up in Dallas, Ore., and graduated from Dallas High School in 1974. She went on to Oregon State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Administration in 1978 and then finished with a Master of Education in 1981.
While at Oregon State she was a multi-sport athlete, playing for the OSU volleyball team during the 1974-76 seasons, as well as the softball team during the 1974-75 season.
Breaking it down
Woods started coaching freshman volleyball at Lakeridge High School in the course of her student teaching.
“I got my teaching certification as something to fall back on as advice from my parents,” she said. “I never even imagined that I would love to teach as much as I do.
“Teaching and coaching are so much alike. I love breaking things down and trying new ways to explain things. I love to tell real-life stories in my teaching because I think it helps to relate to the topic better when it is something that has been experienced.”
Assistance Coach Lindsay Schiely, who is also a former Clackamas volleyball player, agrees that Woods’ coaching style differs from most.
“Kathie is a good motivator,” Schiely said. “She is not the type of coach to sit and yell or be angry at players to get a response. She motivates through positive reinforcement, and she never gives up on trying to correct mistakes.”
Woods is also an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She initiated the chapter at Clackamas, and last year was chosen as FCA College Coach of the Year for the Portland metropolitan area.
Serving, swinging, sliding, being
Woods doesn’t simply encourage her team members to improve as players; their nature as people is just as important.
“She believes in her players and pushes them to be the best,” Schiely said. “She stresses being a better person, which is not common for most coaches.”
Tracy Swisher, the Cougars' web developer and photographer, said, “Kathie stresses her philosophy in giving 100 percent in school, volleyball and life. Her athletes work hard at becoming not only better volleyball players, but also successful students and community leaders.”
But although Woods knows how to play hard on the court and in life, she is well-known for her sense of humor. Each year is filled with longstanding team traditions. They include going to the beach for a team retreat and ... a KFC bucket?
“Every year there is the annual scavenger hunt,” Schiely explained. “[Team members] are given a set time limit. They have to have their fingernails painted red and blue. They have to bring back a KFC bucket, a pizza box … all sorts of crazy things!”
This year, the team had fun in the preseason by setting up a giant slip-and-slide on the hill next to the track.
“Everyone was sliding down on inflated air mattresses, and Kathie was just sitting there in an inflatable kiddie pool on the side,” Schiely recalled. “It was so much fun!
“The team loves going on the merry-go-round in Spokane; or if we see a swing set, Kathie will make the team squish on, and no one’s feet can touch the ground. We are always having fun together.”
Accepting the answers
So how does Kathie look back on her 25 years at Clackamas?
“I still coach because I love young people and I have a passion for coaching,” she said. “I love competition. I feel competition brings out so much in a person. Competition helps in the development of character."
“I do love my teams – every single one of them – no matter if we win or lose. I accept every team as a direct answer to prayer. Every year I pray for exactly the team God wants me to have. Then I feel a responsibility for each team to do the best I can at helping them grow as a person and as a student and as a volleyball player. They may not realize it or not, but they are my life.”
