OMAHA, Neb. -- Marine Corps Recruiting Command partnered with WeCOACH during the 2022 WeCOACH Breakthrough Summit in Omaha, Nebraska, December 16, 2022. MCRC has partnered with WeCOACH and its community of coaches to connect Marines to influencers that may become advocates who can be relied on to support their local recruiting activity.
WeCoach is an organization who represents more than 5,000 coaches, dedicated to the recruitment, advancement, and retention of women coaches of all sports and levels. They utilize educational programs, workshops, forums and learning platforms to foster and cultivate a diverse and inclusive community and serve as the collective voice of women coaches.
The 2022 WeCoach Breakthrough Summit was a free digital leadership summit with this year’s American Volleyball Coaches Association annual convention designed to develop and empower women in sports while recognizing the allies who have helped women break through.
“We had a day long summit to provide coaches and administrators inspiration,” said Vanessa Fuchs, CEO of WeCOACH, a native of Tallahassee, Florida. “We talked about critical issues impacting sports and we talked about how we offer strategies on how to navigate those challenges best and successfully breakthrough those challenges.”
Guest Speakers were also awarded a Lifetime achievement award during the live show. The award is given to recognize their contributions in the coaches’ career. After the awards, they took a short break and started up again introducing a U.S. Marine guest speaker and interviewer.
U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Dennielle Howes, air defense control officer, Marine Air Control Squadron 2, Marine Air Control Group 28, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was selected as a guest speaker as she is a former coach.
“The stars aligned to have 2nd Lt. Howes join us and we are so grateful,” said Fuchs. “She is actually a former volleyball coach and in 2021 she decided she wanted to join the Marines and it was because she was at AVCA convention and it led her to signing up for one of the Marines Coaches’ Workshops.”
During the summit live show, Howes shared how attending and having the opportunity to attend a Coaches Workshop inspired her to want to serve and join the Marines. The Coaches Workshop is an event hosted on Marine Corps Base Quantico that provides coaches and athletic directors an opportunity to learn how Marine officers are recruited, trained, and developed into leaders from a pool of highly qualified college students.
“I went to the Coaches Workshop and I pretty much fell in love with the process,” said Howes as she described her path from being a coach to being a Marine. “I felt like there was a sense of belonging being on base and around the Marines. So, I went back to the recruiter and he recommend my name to the officer selection officer … I commissioned about two years later.”
Howes asked questions to the guest speakers along with the host LaChina Robinson about their experiences, challenges and overcoming them. At the end of the summit, coaches had an opportunity to talk to Howes about her experiences as a coach or now as a Marine in a reception area.
“We want continue our impact but, also together, my hope is that in the next 3-5 years we can impact history in a lot of ways increasing and empowering our women and coaching,” Said Fuchs. “I really do think that the work the Marines are doing impact people and WeCoach and I think it’s really exciting to see what to future brings.”