We interrupt this blog post to encourage you to visit my Upcoming Workshops page to see my exciting new summer offerings! Now back to “The Season of Sports.” 

By Dawn Crim

As told to Sarah White at a story capture event for A Fund For Women’s book, What She Said.

I accepted a position as assistant women’s basketball coach at University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1996. I coached for four years, and in two of the four years I was able to recruit classes that were ranked in the top ten. One year I actually signed the number one player in the country.

Sports give many gifts to the girls who participate. Obviously, you get fitness, understanding the importance of taking care of your body. You learn to compete. You also get the opportunity to learn how to work toward a common goal as a team and how to face adversity, with a little a. You learn camaraderie, leadership, how to operate under pressure, how to adapt to a variety of environments situations. You learn how to be compassionate and to build friendships.

You get the gift of opportunities. I’d never flown before, but because of sports in college, I flew for the first time—to a basketball game. I’ve now traveled to 43 of the states and three foreign countries. I’ve lived in Germany because I played professional basketball. Sports are life-changing!

Dawn talks about her inspirations, challenges, and observations in this excerpt from the story-capture event for What She Said, the book created for the 20th anniversary of AFFW. To get your own copy of What She Said, contact Melinda Heinritz at affw@madisoncommunityfoundation.org or (608) 262-1763.

Dawn Crim with First Lady Michelle Obama at a tea held in Madison, Wisconsin

Dawn Crim at Mother and Daughter Tea

Dawn Crim, a native of Philadelphia, has called the Madison area home for the past 19 years. An engaged administrator at UW Madison, Dawn has nearly 25 years of higher education experience in advancement, university relations, and athletics.

What has been the role of competitive sports in your life? Comment! Or better yet, send me your stories to publish. See guidelines here.