The craziness of the spring season is here, and the Tenacity staff is somewhere every day of the week coaching at youth practices, high school practices, watching current players in their games, and watching alumni on their college teams! I am often overwhelmed by how much there is to do in a day as we try to prepare for the summer practices, camps, tournaments AND try to be a presence in the girls’ lives during the spring seasons! But the interaction with the girls is the fun part, and while giving our coaches’ jobs context and meaning, I also think it’s the consistent presence- POSITIVE presence- that makes the difference for the players on a daily basis. I have been very inspired recently watching coaches and Tenacity staff members demonstrate PRESENCE in many ways!
This past week I saw CHELSEA RANDEL in action at a practice for Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California. Immediately when you walk on a field where Chelsea is coaching, you feel her contagious energy and positivity, and I was so excited for all of the girls who get to work with her on a daily basis. Chelsea is knowledgeable about the game, has played at a high level, and has now coached for years (summers in college, and through working for Tenacity since 2014). She continues to evolve as the game changes, and she is a great teacher for any age group now, but most of all, she’s an amazing PRESENCE on the field.
LAUREN YEE is a new Tenacity Coach and Program Coordinator working with our groups north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and she has quickly become a consistent and positive presence in the girls’ lives at Drake High School, Ross Valley Grizzlies practices, and Novato Nighthawks clinics. She is another coach who understands that to make a difference in girls’ lives, it’s about showing up every day, working hard, and leading by example. We say at Tenacity, that we don’t have to score behind the back, we just have pick up the groundballs and win the draws. To be that impactful presence, it’s simple- be THERE.
Yesterday we had our first Elite team meetings in the San Francisco Bay Area to set the tone for the 2017 year, and our coaches were joined by all of our Tenacity staff which was a blast! MEGAN CARMAZZI, who is our Marketing Manager for The Tenacity Project, led some of our bonding games, and her energy was palpable as she got 40 girls at a time playing games to get them outside their comfort zones. At our staff retreat this past fall, we assigned everyone a word that represented who they are to our organization and our community, and for Megan, that word was PRESENCE. She embodies this in many ways, including the way that she is in charge of our brand through social media and marketing. Megan is a person that everyone wants to be around, and her consistent presence for both the girls and our staff is sort of her super power!
We have a lot of incredible people involved in The Tenacity Project, and I will continue to write about them throughout the next few weeks. I hope that everyone experiences the positivity that comes from being present and also BEING A PRESENCE for young people, because I continue to love my job more every day watching these coaches and girls BE there for each other. #PlayWithTenacity #CoachWithTenacity
Theresa Sherry, CEO & Founder
March 7th, 2017