BALTIMORE - Haverford College sophomore Sarina Manetta (women’s lacrosse) and freshman Anna Dekle (women’s soccer) joined head women’s soccer coach Jamie Schneck at the 2015 Snell-Shillingford Symposium hosted by the Centennial Conference at Johns Hopkins University on January 24-25.
The 16th annual weekend-long event brings together female athlete representatives and coaches from the conference’s member schools to participate in sessions designed to empower women in the coaching profession and to encourage them to take up the legacy of those who have gone before them.
Manetta and Dekle were members of a group of participants from the 11 conference schools that spent time listening to guest speakers as well as an assortment of current Centennial coaches, who imparted the lessons they have gleaned over the course of their careers. Coach Schneck shared the importance of planning with the end in mind during her presentation on Saturday while other sessions touched on topics such as different coaching styles, ethics, leading with personality, equity and inclusion, developing your coaching philosophy and interview strategies.
Manetta, reflected on the symposium’s impact it made on her personally. “The Snell-Shillingford Symposium was a great opportunity to interact and network with players and coaches within the conference and the world of athletics. My favorite presentation was on the many "hats" of coaching, which highlighted that a coach’s job is really more like 15 jobs that are rolled into one title. I think a lot of athletes don't realize the time and effort that our coaches put into coaching a team and building a successful program. The Title IX presentations were also very interesting because this generation of female athletes have no idea why they are able to play sports at educational institutions. A lot has changed for women in sports over the last 40 years, but some statistics on athlete participation and coaching still have room for improvement.”
Dekle also emphasized the impact the weekend's events made on her. "It was amazing to experience a symposium where there were a variety of women with different insights and ideas of what they want to do in the future coming together to discuss various topics. I truly enjoyed the "Leading with Personality" talk because it opened my eyes to how different personalities contribute to the way in which someone leads. It immediately made me more understanding of my peers and how I can work better on a team with people who may not all be the same in how they carry themselves.”
The symposium, which took place at Haverford in 2012, honors the contributions and commitment of two of the most influential women in the coaching profession, Eleanor Frost Snell and Jen Shillingford. Miss Snell, as she was known to her students, served Ursinus College as a professor of health and physical education, coach, and head of the women’s physical education department for four decades, from 1931 to 1971. In keeping with the program’s emphasis on mentoring and passing on the education of coaches from one generation to the next, the symposium also bears the name of Snell’s student and mentee, Jen Shillingford, who served as field hockey coach and athletic director for over 20 years at Bryn Mawr and president of the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA).