AUGUSTA, Ga. – On Sept. 28, Coker College student-athletes had the opportunity to participate in the Women in Athletics Seminar hosted by the Peach Belt Conference in Augusta, Ga. The event drew nearly 100 female student-athletes along with eight panelists and a keynote address. 

This year's keynote speaker was Katie Willett, Associate Commissioner for Compliance and Governance at the BIG EAST Conference.  Willett, who has also been a panelist at the PBC Women in Athletics Seminar, also serves as the conference's Senior Woman Administrator.  A former hockey player at Providence College, Willett served at the NCAA national office in Academic Membership Affairs.  She has also been an assistant commissioner in the American East Conference and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (DII). 

The seminar began with a panel discussion featuring eight professional women from all areas of collegiate sports.  The panelists were: 

• Kayla Adams, Director of Internal Operations & Administration, South Atlantic Conference
• Shannon Coulombe - Women's Golf Graduate Assistant, University of North Georgia
• Kaitlyn Lamb - Operations/Production Management, Fox Sports Southeast
• Erika Lang Montgomery - Head Women's Basketball Coach, Flagler College
• Sherika Montomery - Associate Athletic Director, Winthrop University
• Michelle Naval - Senior Community Affairs Coordinator, Augusta Sports Council
• Lindsay Reeves - Director of Athletics, University of North Georgia
• Dana Thomas - Director of Digital Communication, NCAA

The panel discussion was the most interactive the seminar has seen with questions coming over the course of two hours.  Attendees also got to spend some time in small groups with the panelists and Willett and shared lunch together.

Below, Coker student-athletes share their experiences from the seminar:

Trisha Thompson - Women's Soccer                                     Elizabeth Kincaid - Women's Basketball

"The Women in Athletics Seminar was an amazing opportunity where we were able to connect with inspirational and hard-working women from all areas and levels in various sporting professions. This experience enabled us to listen, learn, and interact with women who have careers that we share similar interests with. The seminar provided us with insightful information and provided us the tools that we may utilize for our future career goals."

"I had such a great time at the seminar meeting new people and learning so much from very successful women. My biggest take away from all of these women was to take risks and view them as opportunities, no opportunity is too big or too small."

Syndey Shull - Women's Basketball                                 Caitland Considine - Women's Basketball

"The Women in Athletics Seminar opened my eyes to many possibilities for me to be able to stay in the sports arena. Many of the women talked about going after what you want and what you are passionate about. I love this because I feel that I can fully pursue a career in the sports arena. It was a great honor to hear from some very inspiring women."

"Understanding and being able to see that there are so many different people out there for women's athletics that are rooting for our success as female athletes is outstanding. It gave me more motivation to be successful knowing there are like-minded individuals that have been in our shoes and had success through setbacks."

Phoebie Eshen - Women's Soccer

"This was an unforgettable experience and it really opened my eyes to all of the hard-working and inspiritation women that work in collegiate athletics. I'm excited to take the lessons and tools that I've learned from this experience, and apply them to my everyday life."