In Memoriam
Coach Fall

She walked in to class on a Tuesday morning in August, immaculately attired in creased blue shorts and what I think is called a polo shirt. There were four of us in class that day; I, a sophomore transfer former ballerina, a senior Psychology major, a former gymnast, and the lone male. I'm not even sure that any of us knew why we'd enrolled in the class, even when she asked (which she did). I don't know whether the two girls who came later knew, either. It didn't matter that much; we were there, and we learned.

She told us she lost sleep over us. None of us were athletes; most of us had taken some form of sports, but for the most part she had to learn to relate the Psychology of Sport to us in laymen's terms. It was harder than it looked, I'm sure. She'd been teaching the class at college for years, but we were her first class of non-athletes.

She wasn't the young & perky type of teacher that so many people seem to like now. She'd been teaching at the school since my aunt attended and before; she'd founded the entire women's athletic program. Even with her focus on equal athletic opportunity for women, she wasn't one of the pushy feminist types who takes everything to an extreme. She was a patient teacher, she'd stop and answer questions, or stop and incite them; she didn't mind illustrating her points on the blackboard, with examples, or with a physical demonstration between two of us in the classroom. She was a thoroughly fabulous lady; she made me wish, then and there, that I were playing sports under her direction.

We read slowly. The class was only half a semester long, and we thoroughly delved into our textbook. But for those fourteen classes, I was given the gifts of inspiration, of renewed interest in sports, of an understanding of teamwork, and of an appreciation for the greatest athletes in the world.

I have to watch basketball this winter. Coach Fall said Michael Jordan's comeback would be astounding, and I guess if she won't be here to see it, I'd better make sure it happens just the way we discussed in class.

Thank you.

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