By: Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant Joe Huff '21
BEREA, Ohio – When student coach Cassidy Prather (Penn Yan, N.Y. / Penn Yan Academy) came back for her fifth-year she envisioned going back to her a role as leader and player on the team. However, the plans got shifted around when an injury hit, and she moved into her new role of student coach.
However, as she looks forward to her career after BW she can take some things with her from this experience. Prather would like to run youth lacrosse camps and she is gained valuable coaching experience having coached the team this season.
“The transition to a coach hasn’t been easy,” Prather explained. “I went back and forth with can I push myself to play or is the better option to just coach and help the team that way. It was hard because I have been playing lacrosse since I was five and I have been an athlete my entire life.”
Making this transition can be hard as you are no longer on the field and being in a position to make the play. However, it can be easier, with the people around it.
“Coach Nicole and Coach Shewbridge have been so amazing and helpful, and the team has been so nice.” Prather said. “My biggest worry was is the team going to listen to me when I have feedback and the team has come to me to ask for feedback on advice on the defensive end. Everyone has been so welcome and supportive.”
While the decision was hard to become a coach, she does feel it was worth it because it ultimately what she wants to do. She has done some work at YMCA lacrosse camps, and she wants to be able to run her own youth camps in the future. So, she does believe this new role is a beneficial one for her.
“Coach Nicole and Coach Shewbridge are both really great coaches.” Prather said. “Both of the coaches have taught me so much over the time they have been here. One of the things I learned is just how important it is to build that foundation from the ground up. Coach Nicole has really taught me how to balance being the hard coach but also being there for all the players on the team.”
“Coach Shewbridge has showed me just how fired up you can be about coaching. You can see how passionate you can be about it. I really admire that from her,” Prather said. “She also taught us how it is okay to take time to find out what you want to do. That is something I can really put into perspective as I wanted to be an athletic director, but I realized now that being involved with youth camps and caching is for me.”
As a new student coach, especially when you are near the same age as the players on the team, it can be intimidating to speak up and take on a coach’s role. However, the women’s lacrosse team as really pushed Prather to be proud in that role.
“The coaches have pushed to be able to speak up and provide feedback,” Prather said. “They are constantly pushing me to speak up and telling me that I can do it. They give me that platform to speak up and present my lacrosse IQ to the team.”
One of the things that is similar between being a player and a coach is execution. It looks different between the two roles, but you can always find it. As a player, execution is making a play or executing what the coach has taught you. As a coach, you find execution in creating a gameplan that works or teaching a new technique to the players that allow them to be more successful. This is where Prather finds her favorite thing about coaching.
“A few weeks ago in practice, one of the girls did something that could be improved upon,” Prather explained. “I went over to her and said why don’t we turn our body this way and do that. The next time through the drill it went perfectly, and that feeling of success and being like I do know what I am talking about, is my favorite part about coaching.”
As mentioned earlier, Prather didn’t want to be a coach when she first arrived on BW’s campus. She thought being athletic director would be the career for her, however, she figured out that was not the case, and she credits the BW Sport Management professors for helping her find that path.
“The classes and professors I have had, especially Dr. Charles Campisi, Dr. Dale Sheptak, Dr. Andi Lyons, and Professor Tony Dick, have helped me find my path in a way,” Prather said. “One of my old advisors, Professor Jesse Jones, really liked camps and helped me get into the recreation minor. Then I took some hospitality classes with Dr. Lyons, and I almost liked those more than the sport management classes.”
Over the summer, she also has been getting experience working youth camps and seeing how they run. The past four summers she has been working at YMCA camps. That experience and the recreation classes opened her eyes to what she really wants to do with youth camps and coaching.
Prather has come a long way from joining the lacrosse program five years ago when she was recruited by former head coach Kim Russell. She felll in love with BW upon meeting the coaches, players, and experiencing the BW community through tours and an overnight stay.
Prather became a four-year starter on defense and who is on the all-time games played list and caused turnovers list. Her transition to a coach was not an easy one but it was a rewarding experience as she helped coach the team back to the Ohio Athletic Conference Quarterfinals and a fifth place in the OAC.