Basketball Coach Joanne P. McCallie Champions for Brain Health
Elite NCAA basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie (CoachP) has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments and victories as a championship-winning women’s basketball coach with a track record at three major universities. Now, she is seeking out a new kind of team to coach, one where self-care, wellness, and mental health are at the forefront.
CoachP’s career as a basketball coach began at Auburn University where she started out as an assistant coach. After Auburn, she went on to become the head coach at the University of Maine at just 26 years old. “There was a lot of learning to do at such a young age,” she said. “I loved coaching, and I loved developing young women in the sport of basketball.”
She has since had a successful 28-year coaching career, becoming the University of Maine’s all-time most successful basketball coach with a record of six straight NCAA Tournament appearances out of eight seasons, and was recognized as Conference Coach of the Year a total of four times.
After a consecutive successful seven-year streak at Michigan State University, she coached the Blue Devils for 13 seasons at Duke University before stepping down from her position in July 2020, though she hasn’t exactly retired. While CoachP, 56, may have stepped off the court for now, she has moved into a new endeavor of leadership: coaching those with mental health conditions through sharing her own story to inspire others and support the conversation around brain health.
“I’ve stepped away now, trying to share some of my learnings and personal story to forward mental health to forward peoples’ perceptions and stigmas and everything that goes with that,” she says.
Her battle with mental illness came about during one of the best times in her life. CoachP was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 30. While she had considered sharing her personal struggle with mental health years ago, coaching at the time was too important to her. Now, after the COVID-19 pandemic, she became ready to open up to the world about her journey.
“After the pandemic hit hard, I decided there were some stories I wanted to tell,” she says. “So I shared my personal story of mental health.”
In her new memoir titled Secret Warrior: A Coach & Fighter, On and Off the Court, published February 16, 2020, CoachP bravely shares her mental health journey with the world through the lense of “faith over fear” to encourage those suffering from mental health issues to reach out to their coaches, fellow athletes, and support systems. In light of the heightened media attention surrounding mental health challenges athletes face, including those experienced by Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, CoachP brings necessary athletic perspective and mentorship to the conversation. CoachP advocates for the understanding that having a healthy mind is what propels one forward physically, and a healthy balance needs to be created in order to thrive in sports and in life. “If you can’t have the mindset and the focus, and all the things that it takes to compete, not only in sports, but to be able to thrive in life as well, the physical part does not matter,” she says.
Because mental health issues are often stigmatized in the sports world, it can be challenging for athletes to talk about their struggles and seek out help. CoachP offers real experiences, personal stories, and direction to readers while highlighting the need for more action, discussion and education surrounding the subject of brain health.
Her mantra is ‘stories over stigmas.’
“As we learn from stories, we realize the capacity of people and their brain health, while there can be challenging times, dark times, there can also be success,” she shares.
While there are many improvements that need to be made in regards to access to sports psychiatry and mental support, CoachP believes consistent storytelling, education and bringing attention to the importance of brain health will broaden the discussion and reduce the stigma associated with mental health struggles.
“Mental health is an amazing thing, and mental impairment is something we can all deal with proper support,'' CoachP notes.”So I hope to continue to help and be a voice in a positive way.”
Written by Rosa Linda Fallon
Bio:
About Joanne P. McCallie
Joanne P. McCallie is an author, speaker and a long-time elite-level NCAA Basketball coach. She received her BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from Auburn University, and has coached at Maine, Michigan State, and Duke Universities. An advocate for mental health and melanoma, McCallie is a wife, and mother of two. She has extensive media experience on radio shows and podcasts and has provided color commentary for four years in the WNBA. McCallie’s previous book, Choice, Not Chance: Rules for Building a Fierce Competitor was published in 2012.