New coach Tia Jackson discussed her plans to develop the UW women's basketball program into a national powerhouse before the University Sunrise Rotary club.
More than a century ago, Chicago attorney Paul P. Harris decided to form a professional club with a friendly spirit. In 1905, he founded the first Rotary Club.
Rotary's popularity quickly grew, and clubs were chartered from San Francisco to New York.
The club soon became Rotary International and expanded its mission to serve the community and promote international understanding.
Colleen Johnson is one of the 1.2 million Rotarians who belong to 32,000 clubs in almost 200 countries. A teaching associate at the University of Washington Sports Medicine Clinic, Johnson is a program chairperson for the University Sunrise Rotary.
Johnson, who has been a Rotarian for 17 years, said the experience has been fantastic: "It opens a lot of doors."
As the program chair, Johnson plans the Rotary year and invites speakers to the club's weekly meetings. "It gives your club a flavor to have all these different speakers," she said.
Johnson said she brings in a lot of speakers from UW. "We just have a wealth of knowledge right here on campus," she said. "It's really diverse."
AN INTRODUCTION
To continue this tradition, Jackson spoke to the club earlier this month.
"I want to create a style of basketball that will help stimulate the fan base," she said. "I want to bring a buzz."
Jackson also talked about her background and how much she had learned from the coaches she had worked under.
Jackson was appointed UW women's basketball head coach last April. She said the UW community has been very welcoming and has embraced her, which is "kind of breathtaking and very flattering."
Jackson came to Seattle after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Gail Goestenkors at Duke University. She is considered by many one of the nation's top recruiters.
Prior to that, Jackson had served under Kathy Olivier at UCLA and Tara VanDerveer at Stanford University. She had also been an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth right after graduating from the University of Iowa in 1995.
"I am extremely excited to be coming to the University of Washington and to be a part of the academic and athletic excellence for which this university is known," Jackson said earlier. "This is an extraordinary opportunity, filled with a wonderful, new challenge."
Todd Turner, UW director of intercollegiate athletics, said earlier that Jackson's appointment will restore community interest in the program and help revive the Huskies' past success.
Rotarian Nancy Bolin said she enjoyed Jackson's presentation. "I haven't been to women's basketball before, but after hearing her, you bet I will," she said.
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
A member since 2004, Bolin was president of the University Sunrise Rotary last year. She said becoming an officer is a great way to really become involved with the club. "I wanted to give back to my community," she said.
Bolin noted that one of the reasons she joined the club was because her grandfather had been a Rotarian. She said she enjoys it immensely: "Not only do we attempt to do good in the community, but we also have a heck of a lot of fun."
Some of the events organized by the University Sunrise Rotary are the Sand Point transitional-housing block party and a Burke-Gilman Trail cleanup. The club is also involved with the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club.
Another rewarding project is the Sharing and Caring Tree. Every year members organize a Christmas tree at the University Village shopping center to gather and distribute presents for needy children in the Seattle area. "We literally collect thousands of gifts," said Lee Raaen.
A Rotarian since 1985, Raaen became involved with the club almost accidentally. "A friend of mine asked if I wanted a free breakfast," he said, "and I got interested."
Unlike most other clubs, Rotary membership is by invitation. Current members carefully consider every application before a prospective member can join. Although the club is designed for business and professional leaders, Raaen said they have been trying to recruit younger members.
Rotarians hold conferences, visit Rotarians in other countries and do community service abroad. For example, last year several members of the University Sunrise club traveled to Brazil, where they built cisterns to collect rain water and supplied computers to a local school.
The University Sunrise Rotary meets every Thursday at 7:15 a.m. at the Talaris Conference Center, 4000 N.E. 41st St. For more information, go to www.usrotary.org.
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