Rosy Glow – The Little Engine That Could

By

Andrew DeMarco

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more you are a leader.”    John Quincy Adams

 While cleaning up my office files I came across an old article from the New York Times sports section from February 4, 2001. The article was entitled “The Little Point Guard Who Could” and the article was about my friends’ daughter Michele. At the time, Michele was a junior at the University of Richmond and told the story of how she was able to make it in Division 1 basketball with the handicap of being only 5 feet tall. The article tells her story from the time when she was a freshman in high school and was told she would never be able to play basketball let alone for a Division 1 team.

 In high school she was quite a good little athlete playing soccer, softball and tennis with softball being her real “natural” sport. When she was told she would not be able to compete, it only steeled her resolve to become a basketball player and really gave up softball to prove the naysayers wrong. Well she did and went on to become a two-time Westchester County player of the year. She went on to sign a letter of intent to play at the University of Richmond and by the time she graduated she was number 20 on the all-time NCAA career assist list and scored over 1,200 points. She still is the Richmond all-time assist leader and in the top 15 all time in scoring, and even played professionally in Greece for one year. So much for a handicap! It is interesting to note that Michele’s hero is appropriately Mighty Mouse.

 After graduating and playing in Greece for one year, basketball, which was never supposed to be her forte, was still in her blood and Michele was determined to become a coach. So she embarked on her career like most paying her dues as an assistant at Columbia, U Penn, Old Dominion and American U. Last April, Michele got the opportunity to become a head coach and accepted the position at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Her last name is Koclanes so Coach K was out of the question and she now goes by Coach Belle.

 I have known Michele since she arrived home from the hospital with her parents over 30 years ago and although she has never let anything get in her way she has always shown herself to be a leader both on and off the court and an inspiration to many who she has come into contact with. I remember when she was in high school and later on when she was home from college, how the younger girls playing CYO would flock to her and how receptive she was to all of them.

This was further proven a few weekends ago when my wife and I decided to join Michele’s parents for a weekend trip to Hanover. It was the last weekend of the basketball season which would close out Michele’s first year as a head coach. It was a tough season for Michele and the team and we figured she could use some moral support.

After a tough final weekend and the emotion of Senior Day, we were invited to join her, the team and parents for the season ending awards luncheon. My wife and I were honored to be part of the Coaches family and enjoyed the awards and the program that Michele and her staff put together. But it was the honoring of the seniors that really told the story and hence my quote by John Quincy Adams at the beginning of this Glow.

During the ceremonies, Michele got up and thanked her team for their effort and for accepting her as their new coach. She realized how difficult it was for them, since she brought in a new system, new ways of doing things and since none of them were recruited by her it made it all the more difficult. Then it was the seniors turn to speak and that is when I realized that Michele was no longer Michele, but truly Coach Belle.

 Nicola Zimmer the team captain got up and thanked Coach Belle for all she had done and then the waterworks started. She looked at Coach Bell and told her through tears that she thought she knew everything about basketball, life and being a team captain and leader, but she was wrong. She went on to tell Coach Belle that she had learned more in the one year that Michele was coach than she had in her three previous years playing for Dartmouth. With that statement, I looked over at the Coach’s parents and saw the pride in their eyes and gave them a thumbs up. After the ceremonies, I spoke with the other players and what Nicola had stated was pretty much the consensus among all of them, especially to those players that were returning and really looking forward to next year.

 So I realized that it really isn’t about the number of wins, and that Coach Belle is living up to John Quincy’s thoughts about leadership. Coach Belle is proving that it is about being a leader and educating and building those leaders for tomorrow. I have no doubt that eventually Coach Belle will put together that winning team, because she has proven that she can inspire, lead and teach others to do more. Knowing this I know gives her parents and all those that know her and who will be playing for her in the future, that feeling that Cousin Bob would call that…… Rosy Glow.