I am not an athlete, I simply write about them.

But, for this column I attempted to step into some athletic gear and understand what goes through an athlete’s mind when a change in coaching occurs.

As someone whose intense distaste for change existed most of elementary, middle and high school, the process was interesting.

I imagined myself as a member of a women’s golf team where a new coach joined the staff after the first tournament of the season.

That is exactly what happened this season to the Lady Eagles golf team when Lu Anne Howerton took over for Don Bisesi.

Most of the women on the team knew Bisesi for three to four years, more if they met him in their senior year of high school.

Anything that becomes a staple in someone’s life is hard to replace, which is likely if it has been around for multiple years.

Besisi is a staple to the golf program and the golfers on the team.

When I talked to members of the team the one word that popped up multiple times was “different.”

Each time, Besisi and Howerton were “different” from each other or their coaching styles were “different.”

Often times different is used when the person lacks a better word to describe how they feel about change.

“It’s not bad, it’s just different.”

Different doesn’t have to be bad, but it doesn’t have to be good either.

The first tournament under Howerton’s coaching was the worst tournament the team played so far this season.

Yet, it was basically the spilled milk of tournaments, nothing to cry over.

The women finished eighth of 15 teams and two golfers finished in the top 15 out of 88 participants.

The growing pains often associated with change did not last long and really weren’t that painful.

At the next two tournaments the team earned second and first place finishes, respectively.

During his time, Bisesi built a strong foundation of golfers to go along with a winning culture.

The team went to the national tournament the past four years. For the past thirteen years, if the whole team did not qualify, an individual did.
While any change is going to have a period of adjustment attached to it, there should be no reason for it to negatively affect the team and this fall season the women’s golf team illustrated that perfectly.