The women’s soccer program at Laguna Blanca School was awarded a new gift for the holiday season — Assistant Coach Emma Redick! She has a strong passion for athletics, a background in competitive sports, and a kind attitude that has connected with everyone on the team. As junior Ella Delwiche says, “The girls always look forward to seeing her at practice. Her positive attitude and radiant smile make us excited to play”. We couldn’t be happier with her contribution to our athletics program.

Get to know Coach R!

• What is your name and occupation?

“Emma Redick. I’m a humanities substitute teacher at Laguna and a Lululemon educator.”

2. How did you get into coaching soccer?

“I graduated from UC Davis and wanted to take a gap year before I starting applying for graduate school. In this gap year, I wanted to stay close to education so I applied to Laguna to work around youth and young education. When I applied at Laguna Blanca, Dr. Lucas recommended I meet with Coach Donnelly to see if I could be of any help to the athletic program since I ran track in college.

3. Have you been involved in athletics for a long time? If so, in what way?

“I have played sports for my entire life. Basketball was my first love and for much of my life, my dream was to play for the WNBA. I dabbled a little in volleyball and played club soccer for most of my life. In high school, I was cut from the volleyball team so I started running cross country and track and field. From there, I fell in love with the sport and ran the 400m hurdles and competed as a Heptathlete at UC Davis. My name is still on the record board at Davis for the 4x100m relay! So, athletics is a huge part of my life.”

4. What is your favorite part of coaching?

“My favorite part of coaching is the players. All of the soccer girls have such distinct personalities and I’ve come to care about each player on a personal and individual level. They work hard and practice with so much heart but also make me laugh so much every day at practice. I can say that they teach me a lot more than I teach them.”

5. What is something very few people know about you?

“Something very few people know about me….hmmm…. My dream job is to work for the United Nations and specifically within the International Labour Organization. I’m super passionate about international law.”

6. How has your collegiate athletic experience affected who you are today?

“My collegiate experience has given me so much resilience. It taught me a lot about picking myself up and trying again. In track, you almost fail more than you succeed so you learn quickly how to be unaffected by it and use [the failure] to drive you. I try to incorporate this with the soccer team. I want them to know in soccer and life, you fail and you get knocked down and that’s ok. It only matters that you keep trying.”

7. Do you have any plans for the near future?

“I recently applied for the Peace Corps so my near future plans hopefully include being accepted and moving to Mozambique mid-2019!!”