INDIANAPOLIS – Eleven collegiate female assistant coaches will participate in the 2006 Black Coaches Association Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) Program for minority women in Indianapolis, IN, from June 4 to June 7.

“Participants of this program represent the crème de la crème of assistant coaches out there,” said Floyd Keith, Executive Director of the BCA.

This year’s participants are:
• Natasha Adair (Wake Forest)
• Renee Bostic (Robert Morris College)
• Itoro Coleman (Clemson)
• Marcia Foster (Cal State Fullerton)
• Dena Head (Central Connecticut)
• Bobbie Kelsey (Virginia Tech)
• Tasha McDowell (Wisconsin)
• Jacqueline Moore (Nevada Reno)
• Sharrona Reaves (West Virginia)
• Charmin Smith (Stanford)
• Andrea Williams (Jacksonville)

According to Keith, the ACE program is a positive and unique program that is specifically designed to enhance opportunities for women of color in collegiate basketball. “ACE provides intensive learning sessions to enhance the individual’s preparedness to become a head coach,” he said.

“ACE prepares you for every aspect of being a head coach,” said Daynia La-Force Mann, Northeastern University women’s basketball head coach and ACE graduate. “It also helps you assess if head coaching is something you want to do. There was a point when I was unsure if I wanted to be a head coach, but after the program, I was assured.”

Since the 2003 debut of the ACE program, there have been 25 participants. Of those 25, six head coaching position have been filled by an ACE graduate. Most recent hires include Northeastern University’s La-Force Mann, who is fulfilling her second appointment as head coach and Merrimack College’s Helen Williams.

Other ACE graduates who hold head coaching positions include: Tracee Jones (Tennessee State), Carole Owens (Northern Illinois) and LaVonda Wagoner (University of Oregon).

Now in its fourth year, this program is made possible through a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) matching grant program for minority female coaches. Activities for the ACE program is divided into “on-court” and “off-court” instruction to help enhance opportunities for women of color in collegiate basketball.

“I am extremely proud of the progress of our ACE program,” Keith said. “At the very heart of the program is the testament which acknowledges that 20 percent of our participants have achieved head coaching status after participating in the program.

This 20 percent ratio far exceeds the current 9.6 percent of African-American coaches currently in the capacity of women’s head basketball coach on the Division I level in NCAA women’s basketball.”

For additional ACE information, visit www.bcasports.org or contact Floyd Keith, BCA Executive Director at fkeith@bcasports.org.