NEW YORK – Drake University head coach Jennie Baranczyk attended the first session of the 2013 edition of The Center for Coaching Excellence (CCE) last week, as 32 WBCA-member college women's basketball coaches completed the invitation-only, two-and-a-half day elite leadership program hosted by Columbia University.
Created in 2011 through a partnership between Columbia and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, and funded in part through a grant from the NCAA, the CCE provides an unparalleled, exclusive learning experience for attendees. This marked the fifth session of the program (two sessions were previously held in both 2011 and 2012), which has now enriched the lives of more than 140 coaches of women’s basketball.
“It was a great, unique experience for me to help enhance our game,” said Baranczyk. “All levels and areas of women’s basketball were represented. We discussed ideas to help programs get involved in each of our communities as well as building relationships and the most important aspect of how to mentor the young women we coach.”
Capitalizing on the resources of Columbia University, one of the world’s leading research universities, and utilizing collaborative and interactive learning sessions along with lectures and panel discussions featuring experts in college athletics, the CCE gives college women’s basketball coaches valuable networking opportunities with their peers and top industry leaders.
“To sit down with my peers and have group discussions and to listen to different speakers was great,” said Baranczyk. “We talked a lot about leading with integrity, which fits with what we are doing here at Drake. Having the event at an outstanding university was unbelievable. To have a certificate from Columbia is pretty cool.”
For more information on the WBCA, please visit WBCA.org.