Rounding the Bases checks in with first-year assistant coaches at new programs and shines a spotlight on their coaching styles and perspectives. Some may be rookies in the coaching world, while others may be seasoned veterans who have simply moved to a new locale.
Check out previous articles in this spotlight series:
- Samantha Santillo, Robert Morris
- Rachel Huggins, Eastern Illinois
- Brad Posner, Bucknell
- Campbell Hutcherson, George Mason
- Mary Stephens, Northwestern State
- Kris Richards, George Washington
- Courtney Vierstra, Miami
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Still just two seasons removed from her playing career at Michigan State, Katey Hendershott is already a Division 1 assistant coach. After beginning her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Purdue Fort Wayne, she returned to her home state this fall when she was hired as an assistant coach at Oakland.
A Michigan native who spent her college playing career close to home at MSU, Hendershott comes from an athletic family that also has deep roots in the state; both parents played college sports at Grand Valley State. After beginning her playing career at Lake Superior State, Hendershott move to become a Spartan and went on to earn a trio of Academic All-B1G honors.
Extra Inning Softball: When did you know that you wanted to pursue coaching as your career path?
Katey Hendershott: I knew I wanted to become a coach from a very early age. I had huge coaching idols starting out with when I played basketball, idolizing coaches like Pat Summit, Dawn Staley, Muffet McGraw; I knew that this is what I wanted to do in my life. Then when I got serious in softball and I knew that I couldn’t give it up, I knew I was meant to be a softball coach. The sport has given me so many opportunities and truly impacted me as a person and becoming a coach is an opportunity to give back to the game that I owe so much to.
Extra Inning Softball: Describe your coaching style. What do you feel are your biggest strengths as a coach?
Katey Hendershott: I would describe my coaching style as much like a teacher. I try to build genuine and authentic relationships with players and by getting to know them, I am able to find how they learn and perform best, thereby providing different tools and opportunities for them to learn and perform best. I feel that my best strength is that I can be very relatable to student-athletes. Throughout my college experience, I have been the role player trying to earn a spot; I have been the injured player trying to come back from injuries; and I have been a leader on a team, trying to be a role model to the younger players. I have been in the shoes that many of the athletes are in right now and I know personally what that is like and can help guide and encourage them through those situations or support them through their own personal journey.
Extra Inning Softball: Tell me what you gleaned from your time on staff at PFW. What did beginning your coaching career there instill in you to help build the remainder of your career on?
Katey Hendershott: I learned so much from my time at PFW. Working closely with Coach Amber [Bowman], I was able to learn and grow as a person and as a coach. One lasting thing I learned is that just as wins and losses do not define the players, they also do not define me as a coach. Looking at the lasting relationships we made and the growth shown as a team is way more defining than anything in the win-loss column and has more of a reflection of me as a coach.
Extra Inning Softball: What do you take from your experiences as a player at Michigan State that has helped you grow and succeed as a coach?
Katey Hendershott: I am very grateful for my time at Michigan State. It was an amazing opportunity that I would have never thought I would have gotten. Being able to be coached by and learning from Coach [Jacquie Joseph] has taught me so much about the game of softball. Even now I find myself repeating a lot of the phrases she used with us so much because it is ingrained into me. Coach J gave me an opportunity to attend one of the best universities, continue playing the game I love at the highest level, and have experiences that I will never forget. I learned so much as a player about the game, but also about myself. I had a very unique college experience and I wouldn’t change anything about it because it shaped me into the person I am today. I was blessed to have been coached by some of the most amazing coaches that I aspire to be like every day. It is because of their impact on me that has left a lasting impression that I strive to have that kind of positive impact on my players.
Extra Inning Softball: Outside of the promotion in position and title, tell me about moving jobs within the same conference. Does that make the transition easier? Will it be tough to face your old club?
Katey Hendershott: Moving within the conference is nice in the aspect that I am already super familiar with the conference, teams, and travel schedule. I feel that the transition is a little easier because I already know the lay of the land. It will definitely be tough facing PFW, just because of the relationships I made there with all the players and staff. But that is the joy of coaching; it’s such a small network of people that you are always going to have to compete against people you have worked with or have friendships with.
Extra Inning Softball: The last couple of years have not been easy for anyone in the coaching world… even though you entered the coaching profession post-pandemic, have the challenges of the current times in college athletics affected you much – or at all?
Katey Hendershott: Being one who had their playing career end because of Covid, I have been able to see the effects of the pandemic both as a player and as a coach. It definitely has a lasting impact on everyone, and keying in on the mental health aspect is extremely important. The mental health aspect has affected me greatly not only as a player but as a coach as well, and these post-pandemic times make you really try to pay attention more and educate yourself and players as much as possible about making mental health a priority in athletics.
Extra Inning Softball: Let’s say we’re having this conversation one year from now, once you have a full season at Oakland under your belt. What needs to have happened during that season for you to be able to say ‘this was a successful year?
Katey Hendershott: While a championship is always the goal, there are other ways to measure success. Being a really young team this year, a determinant of success would be the growth of the team, the development of leaders, and our success off the field. Really focusing on showing growth within our younger players setting the tone for the years to come; I like to think about success in a similar light as the famous John Wooden definition of success – “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming.” Seeing our players grow and develop as people and players is what it’s about.
