Tampa, Fl. - Augusta basketball player
Mone Florence has one goal in mind, to become a coach. Florence is an intense player on the court and is using that intensity to make strides towards reaching her goal. She knows it will take a lot of hard work and networking and has already taken steps towards reaching that goal.
Recently Florence was in Tampa, Fl. for the So You Want to be a Coach program. The two-day workshop allowed student-athletes to participate in a variety of workshops to give participants an understanding of what skills are necessary to become a coach and what all is involved on the administrative side of the position. It also allowed the women to interact with current coaches and administrators so they could showcase their talent off the court.
Florence had some high expectations going in and she said it was exactly what she was looking for.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it. The couple of days I was down there was not enough. My biggest takeaway for me was to get out of my comfort zone and network, network and network, and to be my authentic self no matter what," said Florence.
One coach who made an impact on Florence was LSU assistant Bob Starkey. She said he talked about his journey from being a graduate assistant to his current position and what steps he took to become a better coach and the battles he faced along the way.
But that wasn't all. She also found out when you are an assistant coach, you should strive to be a step ahead of the head coach to anticipate anything and everything that may come up.
"It definitely took me by surprise because I though it was the head coach leading the assistant and you do what they say, but no, it's that they are both leaders, just in their own way," added Florence.
She was able to network and made connections with some college coaches which could lead to something down the line. As much as anything, the conference proved to Florence this is the career choice she wants to make.
"I would even say on the first day I was like this is what I need to do," said Florence. "I got to go harder to make sure this is where I get to where I want to be."
