Kay Yow

Legendary women’s basketball coach Kay Yow talked to Pamela Grundy of the University of North Carolina’s Southern Oral History Program Collection about her childhood, her coaching and leadership philosophies, the challenges facing female athletes, and her battle with breast cancer.

“The leader is a part of the team, not somebody who sits up here outside the circle and just drops down, commands, or thinks of themselves more highly than they should,” she explained. “I think a leader should be a part of the team. It’s just like a chain. If you make a chain into a circle, each member including the coach is a member of that team. And if that chain is in a circle—if you break any chain it’s the same. It doesn't matter which link is more important in the circle. You just turn it. You can’t tell.”

To learn more about Kay Yow, read her profile on findingDulcinea.