Hello WBCA members!

I thought my world (as yours) was supposed to be a little calmer during the summer months, but the sport of women's basketball is still going strong. As many of you are just coming off of a very busy recruiting schedule and stream of summer camps, I am sure that you are getting ready to buckle down for the preseason.

Since I last checked in with you all, Shannon Reynolds, WBCA Chief Operating Officer, and Betty Jaynes, WBCA Consultant, and I completed Vice Presidency 101 with Sherri Coale (Oklahoma). She was able to squeeze us in between camps, her anniversary and her personal vacation. As I have mentioned before, I think one of the coolest aspects of my job is being exposed to so many different leadership styles. Sherri will be my seventh president and I am very excited about her being a part of the presidential track.

Then, I was off on the Betty Jaynes publicity trail. Betty was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA or in other words the athletic director and administrator organization) Hall of Fame this year, during NACDA's 41st National Convention in New Orleans, La. I know Betty was flattered when Lisa Stockton (Tulane), Amy Champion (University of New Orleans) and many others attended Betty's induction luncheon.

Betty Jaynes accepts her award from
Tim Curley, NACDA President.

Also, while at the convention, I gratefully accepted an at-large position on the NACDA Board of Directors. I was able to speak on the Diversity and Inclusion Panel as well as catch up with many athletic directors and administrators who have such a huge impact on our lives through each of their campuses.

While in New Orleans, I attended Judy Sweet's (NCAA Senior Vice President for Championships and Educational Services) retirement celebration. Judy is the highest ranking female administrator at the NCAA. If you are ever in the NCAA's national office, she has her own conference room named after her. I do not know what you have to do to have a conference room named after you, but it seems like it is a lot of work and contribution! (I know people that have a bar stool named after them, but not a conference room.)

To say the least, it was eerie and overwhelming being in New Orleans. I applaud NACDA for being the first conference of its size to take their convention back to New Orleans. I actually stayed in the Marriott that has hosted two of the WBCA's National Conventions (1991 and 2004). As the first convention of its size since Hurricane Katrina, the Marriott had literally just gotten the staff back on-board, most of whom were being housed in Houston, Texas.

How quickly we forget what they are still dealing with on a daily basis. I cannot even put into words the resiliency of the Gulf Coast. While I was in the area, I went to Baton Rouge to meet our Habitat family, Wynethia Thompson and her children. I took them some swag and checked on the progress of them moving into the "Sue Gunter" home that the WBCA helped to build in partnership with the NCAA and Habitat for Humanity. Also, I checked on our efforts with one of our generous sponsors, New Balance, disbursing some product to the FEMA camps in Baton Rouge.

Beth Bass poses with Alliece Cole of The Healing
Place Church at the FEMA camps in Baton Rouge.

The following week, the WBCA Executive Committee had an extremely important engagement in Orlando, Fla., for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Summer Meeting. They gave up their time and prepped for an afternoon to meet with the committee and have dinner. WBCA President Doug Bruno (DePaul) was off winning gold medals with USA Basketball at that time and was not

able to attend. Past President Wendy Larry (Old Dominion) and Sherri Coale, along with other Executive Committee members, did a beautiful job expressing the WBCA's concerns and issues, and assured our commitment to move forward in the best interests of the sport.

The WBCA's Executive Committee takes
part in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball
Summer Meeting.

One afternoon in Orlando, a few of us had scheduled an internal meeting. Not that they were supposed to be in attendance, but Carol Stiff (ESPN) and Wendy Larry were nowhere to be found. We thought that we were going to have to send out "search and rescue" for the two, but luckily we found them doing important things - learning how to operate a paddleboat!

Carol Stiff and Wendy Larry take a break
on paddleboats in Orlando, Fla.

It was a pleasure as always to spend some time with Carol Stiff and see ESPN's corporate commitment. John Wildhack, Senior Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions at ESPN, came by and spent over an hour with our executive committee, discussing the road map of ESPN's partnership with the NCAA. We can never thank ESPN enough for what they have done for women's basketball. Thank you!

I had the opportunity to meet with people from Disney - and I am not talking about Goofy, Mickey Mouse and Pluto! I had a wonderful early morning breakfast with representatives from Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. We discussed how to have more grassroots marketing projects between ESPN and Disney.

From Orlando, I headed to the WNBA All-Star Game in New York. This past year we entered a formal agreement to cross-promote, cross-leverage and cross-pollinate with the WNBA. It was a quick trip, but I was able to spend some time with Dr. M. Dianne Murphy (Columbia University), former chair of the Women's Basketball Issues Committee and stomped around Madison Square Garden with Carol Stiff. Carol and I see more of each other than our families!

Home sweet home. I was able to catch up with many of you in the WBCA's backyard at the camps in Suwannee, Ga. I did notice a trend this year that there seems to be less individual instruction and more team format play. Also, there are obviously many more events and hopefully that is a reflection of an increase in talent pool and not just the "watering down" of existing talent.

Beth Bass runs into Agnus Berenato (Univ. of
Pittsburgh) and Kristy Guffey (Fort Scott CC) at the
Suwannee camps.

From there, I went to Chicago and spent the afternoon with Doug Bruno, prepping him for our in-person board meeting beginning on July 31. We are going to be hunkered down in Atlanta, Ga., from July 31 through August 2 for our yearly in-person Board of Directors meeting. This is when we recap our year and plan for the upcoming year in only two days.

I hope that you all have enjoyed this summer as you wrap up your recruiting and camp sessions. I know you are looking forward to another season of women's basketball just as much as I am! Until next time…

Your CEO,

Beth Bass

Registration for the WBCA's 2007 National Convention in Cleveland opens on Sept. 5!

Texas Tech Ranked Second in Attendance
The NCAA announced the national attendance figures for the 2005-06 Division I women's basketball season. Texas Tech finished the year ranked second in the country in home attendance with an average of 11,935 fans per game. Texas Tech has ranked in the top three in national attendance since the United Spirit Arena opened during the 1999-00 season. Tech was second behind Tennessee with a 15,356 average, while Connecticut was third at 11,521. Finishing fourth was New Mexico at 10,354, and rounding out the top five was Minnesota at 8,329.

MTSU Unveils Toughest Schedule in School History
Middle Tennessee women's basketball coach Rick Insell is always willing to test the limits of his team and his program, and the 2006-07 schedule is sure to do both. The release of the upcoming women's basketball schedule is full of challenges for the Blue Raiders. It is by far the toughest schedule in school history.

Big Ten All-Stars Conclude Tour Undefeated
The Big Ten Women's Basketball All-Star team concluded its four-game foreign tour undefeated today as the squad cruised to a 97-55 victory over Oslo/Akershus. Iowa's Megan Skouby netted four points and collected three rebounds, two steals and one block in the 42-point win. The Mentor, OH, native concluded the international tour averaging 6.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

WSSU is officially accepted in MEAC
The process took longer than expected, but Winston-Salem State has officially been accepted into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. WSSU becomes the 12th school in the conference, which expanded for the first time since Norfolk State joined in 1997, and all of its teams will have MEAC schedules in 2007-08.

HSU's Caldwell resigns
Jeff Caldwell resigned from the Henderson State University women's basketball helm and was named head basketball coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College. Caldwell replaces Don 'Bubba' Skelton.

Dominican tabs Litton head coach
Ana Litton has been named the new Head Women's Basketball Coach at Dominican University. Litton, a lifelong student of the game, comes to Dominican University with over ten years of coaching experience, including a four-year stop as an assistant coach at Randolph-Macon College where Litton helped guide the Yellow Jackets to four 20-plus win seasons.

Bolton to coach Millsaps women
Millsaps College has hired Mary Bolton as head coach of women's basketball. Bolton succeeds Robin Jeffries, who recently resigned to take a position as head women's basketball coach at Spring Hill College in Mobile.

Power Returns to Briar Cliff
Briar Cliff University (Iowa) has announced the hiring of Michael Power as head women's basketball coach. Power, one of the most successful coaches in school history, compiled a record of 127-93 while at Briar Cliff from 1992 through 1998 guiding the Charger women to three consecutive NAIA Division II National Tournament appearances.

Newman names new coach
Texas-Pan American associate head coach Tracy Anderson has been named head women's basketball coach at Newman University. Anderson, an Oakley native, has been an assistant at Cowley, a head coach at Bethel, and an assistant at Bradley and Pan American. She also coached the girls teams at Ell-Saline and Salina South after an all-conference career at Marymount.

WNBA receives top marks for diversity
With twice as many women CEOs this year as last and the only female league president, the WNBA remained the only pro sports league to receive top marks in a study released of gender and racial diversity in sports. The study by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport pointed out that the percentage of women employed in WNBA league offices was the lowest since 1998, falling from 90 percent in 2004 to 70 percent in 2005.

September 1, 2006:
Resumes are now being accepted for the Betty F. Jaynes Internship Class of 2007!

September 5, 2006:
2007 WBCA National Convention Early Bird Registration Begins!

September 11, 2006:
Nike's So You Want To Be A Coach application goes online.

September 12, 2006:
NAIA Conference Captain Call from 12-1 pm ET

October 2, 2006:
NCAA Division I Conference Captain Call from 12-1 pm ET

October 10, 2006:
NCAA Division II Conference Captain Call from 11 am-12 pm ET

NCAA Division III Conference Captain Call from 12-1 pm ET

October 13, 2006:
Official Start of Practice for NCAA Division I
(7 pm)

October 15, 2006:
Official Start of Practice for NCAA Division II and III

For information regarding these dates, the WBCA, or any of the WBCA programs, please contact:
WBCA
4646 Lawrenceville Highway
Lilburn, GA 30047
(770) 279-8027 :: Office
(770) 279-8473 :: Fax
wbca@wbca.org