Valpo women's basketball graduate student Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) has been selected to take part in the 2025 "So You Want To Be A Coach" program, a two-day workshop hosted by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association April 3-4 during the WBCA Convention in Tampa, Fla. in conjunction with the Final Four.
 
The "So" program increases the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women's basketball, increases the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduces female basketball players to coaches and administrators and raises awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women's basketball. "So" participants will learn about the administrative side of coaching, recruiting, how to get hired, skill development, the importance of knowing the rules, and how to balance work and life.
 
Qualified candidates must have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or have graduated within the past year and must be nominated by their WBCA-member head coach. Each participant is selected based on her academics, contributions to women's basketball on and off the court, professional resume´ and a written recommendation from their head coach.
 
Earnest is one of just 80 program participants this year, sourced from across all divisions of women's college basketball. She will become the sixth Valpo student-athlete over the last eight years to take part in the program.