WALTHAM, Mass. – Last week, the Bentley Athletics Be A Force Speaker Series was launched with Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, four-time Olympian gold champion and 2023 Dick Enberg recipient Tamika Catchings speaking via Zoom to the Bentley University women's basketball team.
Created by Rick Miller '80, the first-ever Executive in Residence for Bentley Athletics and a 2023 inductee into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, and Grace Carter, the Manager for Student-Athlete Development at Bentley, the speaker series is scheduled for three additional Zoom sessions this fall, each with a different team.
"The Bentley women's basketball program would love to thank Rick and Grace for coordinating one of the most incredible zoom sessions our program has had to date," said head coach
C White. "The biggest THANK YOU goes to Tamika herself for giving of her time as well as her authentic self for our players and staff members to learn from."
When asked about takeaways from the session with one of the greats in basketball, team captain and grad student
Brooke Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greeley HS) had this to say. "Be great people at the end of the day, basketball doesn't define you as a person. There is so much more to us than just a basketball player and sometimes in the moment that can get lost in translation."
Catchings was more of a quiet, lead-by-example type of leader. Obar said "her best advice to someone stepping into a leadership position was to figure out who you are as a person. Be confident in your voice, lead by example, hold your teammates and YOURSELF accountable and people will begin to hop on board. You'll never see success as a leader if you don't hold people accountable."
Another takeaway from Obar was "Never be satisfied with where you're at. Celebrate your successes but continue to set high expectations for yourself. Don't become accustomed to being mediocre people, continue to push yourself to be better, learn more, and achieve more."
The Bentley women's basketball program has a lofty tradition that includes 38 NCAA Division II tournament appearances and the 2014 D-II national championship. Last year's team captured a third straight Northeast-10 tournament title and reached the NCAA East Regional semifinals.
"Tamika is truly among the Best of the Best," praised White. "Aside from her unmatched accomplishments throughout her career, she is the epitome of CLASS. She embodies the definition of humility and character and reflects the "Bentley Way". We couldn't be more thankful for her time and of course, the sharing of not just her experience, but her overall knowledge.
By the way, Catchings was part of the 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame induction class that also included Barbara Stevens, Bentley's legendary women's basketball coach who headed the Falcon program from 1986-2020.
The Speaker Series will continue with Frank D'Amelio, a recognized leader in corporate finance, strategy, governance and operations, speaking with the football team on October 1. D'Amelio is a former Division I football player who was ranked among the top CFO's in America for 13 years by Institutional Investor Magazine.
Tracy Warren, a 1995 inductee into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, will speak with softball in November. Warren, who won a Division III national championship while at Trenton State, specializes in labor and employment law, litigation, class actions, and trade secrets and employee mobility. She serves as outside counsel for Women Leaders in College Sports, and has experience in conducting investigations involving sexual harassment, hostile work environment, bullying, fraud and retaliation.
The final speaker of the fall semester, 2023 Academic All-America Hall of Famer inductee Andy Cain, will speak with the baseball team in December. A graduate of Rose-Hulman College, Cain has an MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School and serves as one of the twelve commanders of America's premier nuclear submarines. He is currently assigned to the USS Ohio, the largest submarine ever built by the United States Navy.
"This speaker series is intended to introduce our current student-athletes to former student-athletes who were or are role models for the Be A Force strategy for sustainable success," said Carter.
"Be a Force is about being outstanding in class, on the field and in the community as well," said Miller. "I think the Be A Force message is one that Bentley got right. It is about integrity, it's about inclusion, it's about having an impact, both professionally and in the community."
Incredible leaders like Frank, Tracy and Andy give our student-athletes a view of what Be a Force looks like when their playing days are over. And while many think of Tamika solely as a sports legend, her current work as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, as the Founder of both the Tea's Me Café and the Catch the Stars Foundation, continue to inspire many.
