16 April 2008
Always Play for Big Goals
Olympic gold medalist goes to the Beijing Games as a coach
By Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley is a five-time all star in U.S. women’s professional basketball and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, representing the United States in 1996, 2000, and 2004. She coaches Temple University women’s basketball and will be a coach for the 2008 U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team. Her foundation creates and supports educational and sports programs for at-risk youth in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
I’m fortunate because this will be my fourth time participating in the Olympics. The first three times I went as a player, and this year I’m going as a coach. Any time I get to represent my country in an event like the Olympics, it’s truly an honor because not a lot of people get to participate in something like that.
I love being associated with the U.S. Olympic basketball team because it’s like Utopia for me. Players are brought together with the one goal of winning the gold medal, and nothing interferes with that.
The first time I went to the Olympics in 1996, it was the most incredible feeling. It takes so much sacrifice, work, discipline, and perseverance to get there. To be a part of the Olympics was a lifelong dream of mine, and when you achieve your dreams, it’s a feeling that you want everyone to be able to feel.
As a coach I know my team, like all teams, may face challenges during the 2008 Olympics. If they do, I’ll tell the players that from the very beginning of the games, you have to always play for big goals. Every team is going to play their best game against us regardless of their rank, so we have to play our best game from the very beginning, with the ultimate goal of winning the gold medal always in mind.
But there are always successes and failures, and those experiences are learning tools. When things aren’t going your way, in sports and in life, you still have to persevere.
That’s why I founded the Dawn Staley Foundation in 1996. We target at-risk young people and offer an after-school program, a summer basketball league, and mentoring programs for girls. I want to teach young people how to be disciplined and do something positive.
We want to make sure the students are excelling in the classroom and have the necessary tools to go on to high school and college and to beat the odds.
I also have an incredible sense of wanting to beat the odds. Where I grew up, the odds weren’t always favorable. I always heard people say that I couldn’t go to the Olympics or graduate from college. When people told me I couldn’t do something, it motivated me even more.
I’ve seen poverty, and I now have a good job and live comfortably. What’s important to me is that I have a balanced life and that I’m an example to the young girls in our program. That’s fulfilling to me.
I’ve always had high goals. I grew up as the youngest of five children. I always had to compete for attention and to play with my older brothers. My biggest thrill used to be playing basketball with guys on the playground: It was fun and competitive and allowed me to focus on something positive. That’s where I set my goals. When I used to watch women playing in the Olympics, on the world stage, I knew I wanted to play on that platform.
One thing I’ve learned is that many people think they can generalize about your abilities because of how and where you grew up, but I don’t like that. That’s why I like to talk to people and understand their experiences.
At the Olympics there are people from all walks of life. What I enjoy most about the Olympics is that I know what it took for each and every athlete to get there. One out of 10,000 athletes participates in the Olympics, and when you’re there, you can feel the joy of being around people who have worked as hard as you to get where they are.
