Privilege And Problem Coach Chosen For Women’s Basketball Team Has Honors To Gain, Sacrifices To Make
As most of her team finished a 3-hour practice by scrimmaging on the main court, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer worked at a side basket.
Taking the ball in both hands, she’d fire an overhead pass to center Rachel Hemmer, who’d pivot and shoot. Then VanDerveer would do it again - and again and again, encouraging, instructing and all the while keeping an eye on what was happening out on the court.
This was VanDerveer at her best, a student of the game, a tireless worker. Those traits have produced three Final Four appearances and two national championships for Stanford, plus three gold medals and a bronze for U.S. teams in international competition.
VanDerveer’s success has made her the odds-on favorite to coach the U.S. team in the 1996 Olympics, and if everything was the same as before, all USA Basketball would have to do is ask and VanDerveer would jump at the chance.
But things aren’t the same.
In May, tryouts will be held for the first true national women’s team, which is expected to become the U.S. team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. That team will start training in September and stay together until the Olympics, a drastic departure from the past when the U.S. team would be chosen only a few weeks before the Games.
The hangup for VanDerveer - or any other college coach who got the job - is she’d have to leave her team for a year. It could be the most difficult decision a coach ever had to make.
Leaving for a year could have a serious impact on a coach’s college team. On the other hand, how do you say no to your country?
“It would be a very tough decision for any coach to decide to be on a sabbatical,” VanDerveer said. “And I think it would take a lot of support from the university they work at. It would not be a coach’s decision as much as a joint decision with the team and the administrators.
“I haven’t been asked. I haven’t been in the situation where I’ve had to make a decision. But I’ve definitely thought about it.”
While coaching the national team would carry enormous prestige, the ties between college coaches and their players are strong. Many of those players are attending a school just because of who’s coach.
“That’s real tough,” said Iowa’s Vivian Stringer, who coached the U.S. team in the 1991 Pan-Am Games. “If you say yes, you lose more than the year. You lose the natural bonding that’s so important. You lose a recruiting year.
“It’s like going away from your children and then when you come back, they’re walking and talking.”
VanDerveer has relished her international experience. She guided U.S. teams to gold medals in the 1991 World University Games, 1993 World Qualifying Games and the 1994 Goodwill Games. Her 1994 World Championships team took the bronze.
During those times, she has worked with best players in the game - Teresa Edwards, Katrina McClain, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes.
“I love the international competition,” VanDerveer said. “I feel like I’ve been given great opportunities. I’ve learned a lot.”
Still …
“There’s a lot of questions about how it would actually work,” she said. “What the details would be, how it actually would be put in motion, the time commitment, the responsibility, the expectations. Any coach would have to really think about it.
“It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, but at the same time, it’s a major sacrifice for a program if that’s the direction they take.”
Lynn Barry, who’s in charge of women’s programs for USA Basketball, understands the sacrifice involved. But her organization believes it would be worthwhile.
“I think it’s a huge decision for a coach,” Barry said. “It is a lot to ask. But it’s a one-shot deal, a once in a lifetime opportunity. This thing has the potential to be one of the biggest things to happen to women’s basketball in the United States.
“We think to take a year out is worth it. They’ve got the rest of their life to devote to their schools. It will be very prestigious for whoever is selected.”
Barry said the national team coach can expect a salary similar to what he or she is paid by the university. VanDerveer and other top women’s coaches make more than $100,000 a year.
“How that would work out can take different fashions,” Barry said. “Sometimes when a school lets teachers and academicians take a sabbatical, they still pay 50 percent of the salary. We wouldn’t want a coach to give up their retirement plan at the institution by taking off a year.”
The 10 players selected at the tryouts also would be paid. Although no figure has been set, it probably will be around $50,000, Barry said.
While that’s less than they could make overseas, Barry noted that playing on the national team gives them a chance to stay in this country. Plus, USA Basketball hopes to create merchandising and endorsement opportunities for the players that could supplement their income.
“Just like we don’t want the coach to lose a lot of money to commit to this, we don’t want the players to undergo hardships, either,” Barry said.
Plans call for the coach to be chosen in time to consult with the player selection committee when it meets at the NCAA women’s Final Four in Minneapolis April 1-2 to decide who gets invited to the tryouts. Those are set for May 18-25 at Colorado Springs.
Despite what’s being asked of the coach, VanDerveer and others feel the United States has done the right thing in creating a national team. Since winning the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, U.S. teams have slipped in women’s basketball.
The United States settled for the bronze at the 1992 Olympics and 1991 Pan-Am Games in addition to its bronze at last year’s World Championships. The gold at the Goodwill Games came against a watered-down field.
“I think what should happen in our national program has to be the same as other countries,” said Rutgers’ Theresa Grentz, who coached the 1992 Olympic team. “Putting a team together for four weeks is not a good way to go.”
Barry said the whole idea is to have the U.S. team as fully prepared as possible for the Olympics. The team will play exhibition games with top college teams and take several international tours.
“One of the criticisms we’ve had is that we don’t have time to fully prepare for these teams that are together the year-round,” Barry said. “But in the last World Championships, we lost a game by three points (to Brazil). In the Olympics, we lost a game by four or five (79-73 to the former Soviet Union).
“So it’s not like we’re way down and have to catch way up. We just want to do everything we can to ensure our success.”