Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / 2022 USTFCCCA LIVE podcast: Jessica Shearer-Desert Vista (AZ) HS
Transcript
- 0:05Hey podcast listeners, we're super excited about December
- 0:0811th at 5:30 Mountain Time Denver Time when we're going to
- 0:12go live once again on YouTube to record a live Gil Connections
- 0:16podcast. To celebrate, we're giving you
- 0:18bonus clips every day until then of last year's 2022 guests that
- 0:23came onto the live Gill Connections podcast.
- 0:26Check it out. Look in the show notes below and
- 0:28you'll see the URL. Check us out December 11th, 5:30
- 0:32PM Denver time. That is exciting. 2 relays in
- 0:40the row kind of right. So we had the Drake Relays, we
- 0:42had the KU Relays. I don't know if this next guest
- 0:45is going to be a relay participant or not.
- 0:47Hey, someone asked me about my hat I love.
- 0:49This hat, and I'm not a hat wear.
- 0:51It's a track nerd hat, right? I love it.
- 0:53All the stairs that I got in the airport were definitely worth
- 0:56it. If you're want to know more
- 0:58about the hat. So my friends at Prep Running
- 1:00Nerd, PREPRUNNING nerd, they're on Twitter, of course, because
- 1:06that's where I live, right? So check them out.
- 1:08These hats are boss man. I love it.
- 1:10And I hope you love it too. All right.
- 1:11Hey, let's get on with the next guest.
- 1:13Introduce yourself. Hi Justin the Head Girls.
- 1:17West Country tract distance coach at Desiree High School in.
- 1:20Phoenix, AZ You know, here's what I love about today's world,
- 1:23Jessica, you and I have no idea who each other is.
- 1:27We were introduced this morning through e-mail, and that is
- 1:32really, honestly, one of the reasons I started the podcast.
- 1:35It's one of the reasons that I'm on Twitter 24/7 is meeting new
- 1:38people. If I just stayed in my little
- 1:39bubble in champagne, I wouldn't. Meet anybody.
- 1:43So I just I'm so thankful that you're here, that you took the
- 1:45step out again, not knowing anything and being there.
- 1:48Jessica Really, really cool and says a lot about you.
- 1:50Really does. Yes, very proud about
- 1:52conferences. And just getting to.
- 1:54Be and. Talk with like minded people.
- 1:57And folks that are interested, well, yeah, hopefully not like,
- 1:58minded with me, or then I have to judge you.
- 2:00Jessica, you should be like minded like me.
- 2:02But tell us, Jessica, how many years have you come to this
- 2:04convention and what are you doing here?
- 2:07Yeah, So my first year at the convention, yeah.
- 2:10So I coached a track distance program when I was in college.
- 2:15I was in the rink corps for some time.
- 2:18Move back to Arizona. And we've done the head coaching
- 2:21job this past year. So.
- 2:24What are you looking forward to? You obviously have you saw the
- 2:27schedule and said Okay, I like this, I like that.
- 2:30What are you looking forward to most this week?
- 2:32A lot of networking. I think just talking with more
- 2:35experienced coaches and just kind of hearing from them what
- 2:39makes their programs successful. I've got a lot of very talented
- 2:43athletes and so. As they're looking for their
- 2:45next steps in college, speaking with college coaches, hearing
- 2:49you know what kinds of things they're looking for, some of the
- 2:51times that, you know, some of my young runners need to be hitting
- 2:54this year, so. You you said a kind of a fun
- 2:57word there, networking. And I say it's fun because it's
- 3:00one of the things I love because to me, networking is about
- 3:01meeting new people and giving value to people other people.
- 3:05Think of the the dark side of networking, like ohh how many
- 3:07business cards can I collect or how many people can I find
- 3:10that'll help give me a job. How are you?
- 3:12Because that's a hot topic right now on Twitter specifically.
- 3:15How are you? I'm gonna say tackling
- 3:17networking at an event like this.
- 3:19What's your kind of goals and your blocking and tackling style
- 3:22here? Right.
- 3:22I think just being open just like this, I was talking to some
- 3:26folks on the line here, was that waited to come up and chat with
- 3:30you. So yeah, just trying to put
- 3:32myself out there on Twitter too and just go up and introduce
- 3:35folks as I see. Games on name tags and.
- 3:39Isn't this so helpful? I don't have my name.
- 3:40I wish everybody would wear name tags at all times.
- 3:44So just just chatting and talking and just trying to take
- 3:48in everything I can. Is there anybody that you really
- 3:52want to meet? Maybe someone that someone I
- 3:53know maybe I can introduce to you or someone you're like, you
- 3:55know what I wanted to get to know?
- 3:58So and so. I don't think I.
- 4:00That's the thing with live I put you on the spot.
- 4:02Yeah, I don't think there's one specific.
- 4:04Person OK, All right, well, if there is, let me know.
- 4:07The things I love bringing people together, so please
- 4:10leverage me in my network and our network here at Gill
- 4:13Athletics. OK.
- 4:13All right, Jessica. So we've got something fun here.
- 4:16I've got 100. Just kind of random, wacky, off
- 4:19the wall questions. So they're numbered one through
- 4:21100. We're going to do 2 of them.
- 4:22What's the number you want to tackle 1st?
- 4:2513. Lucky number 13.
- 4:27All right, don't get lost at night.
- 4:28Are you a camper? Well, I spent about.
- 4:32About five years on activity in the Marine Corp, so do you wanna
- 4:35call that? You have to do some functions of
- 4:38camping, yeah. What was your specialty as a
- 4:40Marine? That was a communications.
- 4:43Officer, why did you do a podcast as a Marine?
- 4:45No, no podcasts, they. Probably don't allow that at all
- 4:49and thank you for your service. By the way, we have several
- 4:51Marines that work for us at Gill Athletics and it is.
- 4:54It's a different breed and thank God for.
- 4:56People like you. It's it's really needed.
- 4:58And I can't say thank you enough, honestly, because I know
- 5:01I can't do it. So thank you so much.
- 5:03All right. What else?
- 5:04Weather #1 through 100. 98. All the way down here to the
- 5:08bottom. You know where we're going.
- 5:10We don't need roads. You invented a time travel
- 5:12machine. How are you going to use it?
- 5:18I told you off the wall. You don't know what's coming.
- 5:20I got a hundred of these all night.
- 5:22So. We'll see, you know, I think
- 5:24right now. I would go back to myself this
- 5:28summer when I took on the job and I think there's a lot of
- 5:31things that I've learned this past season.
- 5:33Coaching that. I could.
- 5:33Just in six months this, Yeah. So what's the one thing that you
- 5:39you know now today in December that back in June you were like
- 5:42ohh man, if I just know that? That everything's gonna be OK,
- 5:47everything's gonna be OK. You know, it's it's a daunting
- 5:51role to take on and it's something that I take very
- 5:53seriously. And you know that I think at the
- 5:57end of the day, you know it all, it all worked out.
- 5:59It's not. Gonna be OK.
- 6:01You know, I think we all need to hear that Sometimes we we put a
- 6:04lot of pressure on ourselves and we get a lot of pressure from
- 6:05outside people. Kind of that deep breath.
- 6:08And you know what? It's gonna be OK.
- 6:10It's gonna work out the right way.
- 6:13Awesome. So what are you looking forward
- 6:14to most coming up here in the 2023 season?
- 6:18Track season coming up, I've got.
- 6:22A lot of young runners that are very eager and excited for the
- 6:25season. So I'm excited to see what they
- 6:28do when they're track seasons and we'll just kind of see where
- 6:30they go from there and their next steps on their college
- 6:34journey, see where they go. I think they're gonna be awesome
- 6:36because I think you're awesome and I'm just so thankful that
- 6:39you're coaching track and field and cross country.
- 6:41You know, the the it's immeasurable.
- 6:43I don't say this lightly, and I say it all the time, but it's
- 6:45very, very true for me. It's immeasurable, the positive
- 6:48impact that coaches make on young people today.
- 6:51You know, you're dealing in the high school sides of 14 to 18
- 6:53year olds. They need leadership.
- 6:55And you know, what you provide for them is invaluable for the
- 6:58rest of the world, not just track and field.
- 7:00They're literally the entire rest of the world.
- 7:01Jessica. So thank you so much for being
- 7:03the coach we're going to do with the selfie first.
- 7:05No, no, no. We gotta get that selfie.
- 7:07All right. Jessica, thank you so much and
- 7:08thanks for coming out. I appreciate that.
- 7:10Thank you. Hey, that's fascinating.
- 7:12I don't know that I said thank you enough for her being a
- 7:15Marine, because that's a big deal.
- 7:17Aaron, you want to know what her name and e-mail is?
- 7:20Hey, text me or hit me up on Twitter at Mike Cunningham At
- 7:23Mike Cunningham or text me 217-898-3038, and I'll make sure
- 7:28that we get Jessica's name and e-mail.
- 7:30Over to you Aaron Okay World Record Shortest Gill Athletics
- 7:38Connections podcast ever. Check us out December 11th 530
- 7:42Denver, Co Rocky Mountain Central Time.
- 7:45Check us out on YouTube in the link below in the show notes.