 
Leah Foster is in her first year as a member of the Dartmouth women's basketball staff. The Gurnee, Ill. native came to Hanover after a two-year stint at Texas State University, where she served as a graduate assistant. Prior to Texas State, Foster was a four-year member of the women's basketball team at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas where she captained the Heartland Conference Championship team as a senior, while being named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar. Foster graduated cum laude with a degree in English literature in 2006, before earning her master's in physical education and sports management from Texas State in 2008. Foster has deep family ties to the Ivy League — her father attended Brown and Yale, her aunt played basketball at Penn and her uncle was a member of the lacrosse team at Brown. What inspired you to get involved in coaching? In a lot of ways, I was inspired to get involved in coaching by Ricky Byrdsong, former coach of Northwestern University men's basketball. He was a very close member of my family, and growing up in Chicago, my Sunday afternoons consisted of playing basketball at Northwestern for hours. I was young then but it was at that point that I began to learn the fundamentals of the game and developed a real love for the sport. Most importantly, he instilled in me the values of the game that sometimes get lost … hard work, loyalty, honor, consistency, and passion. Spending time with him and learning from such a great coach, I began to think maybe this is the path I would like to pursue in life. His influence remained with me and I saw this as a great way to mentor, train, and to devote my life to a sport I care very deeply about. What has drawn you to the Ivy League? The combination of athletics and academics that is characteristic of the Ivy League is extremely appealing to me. I really enjoy that balance in the League, and especially at Dartmouth. Here we have the "D Plan," a program that allows our student-athletes to potentially study abroad for a term. That opportunity is virtually unfeasible at any other institution. To give student-athletes the opportunity to get a great education, win championships, and have an overall great experience is very appealing. This is my first position as an assistant coach and I recognized that being in the Ivy Leagues would be an amazing start to my coaching career. I was also attracted to the fact that coach Wielgus has a very long winning tradition, and shares a lot of the same values that I do. She is a tremendous coach and a great representation of the League as a whole. It is an honor to be a part of her staff. Also, my father attended two Ivy League schools so I was very familiar with the Ivy experience and what it represented. What are some things that were not expected, or have taken you by surprise so far here as a coach in the League? What has taken me by surprise the most, I would have to say without hesitation, is the level of competition in the Ivy League. I mean this in every sense of the word. Obviously, with so many great conferences across the nation our League can be overlooked in terms of competition athletically. I cannot speak for other schools, but since I have been at Dartmouth, I have been overwhelmed byour kids’ ability to balance the rigorous educational demands and still perform at such a high level. This past season alone we took a Big Ten school into overtime, led an SEC team for the majority of a game, and still managed to have one of our players become a top-ten finalist for the Lowe's National Senior Award. Where else does this happen? I think it’s amazing and student athletes that have the ability to do this should be applauded. Given the resources, what is something you would change with regards to your job? The only thing I would think to change at this point is the fact that the Ivy League does not provide athletic scholarships for its student-athletes. In some regards I think this is a good thing for the League, but at the same time it can be difficult because we often lose recruits to schools that can provide scholarships. The schools in the Ivy League do a great job of providing financial aid, however, I do feel it would benefit the athlete, athlete's family, and the recruiting process to provide scholarships. What are some of your goals and aspirations? One of my goals is to become a head coach of a Division I program. My other aspirations that are equally important include starting a family, and the possibility of getting another Master’s Degree. At the present time my goal is to be a great assistant and do whatever is needed for our program to be successful. Based on your experiences, what can you say to help improve opportunities for minorities in college athletic administration and coaching? I think one of the most important things is to be confident in who you are, and really make a strong effort to network. In order to improve your opportunities, it’s imperative to keep in touch with the people you meet, follow up with phone calls, emails, etc. Also, realize that nothing comes easy. Essentially, hard work is hard work-there is no way to get around it. The Ivy League takes great pride in honoring February as Black History month. For all of the inspiring stories about former athletes that helped shape movements within African-American history, please check out Ivy Black History. |
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