Page 26 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2017- Online Magazine

HONORING SENIORS
following year,
her courtside
reign began.
During the next
24 years, Coach
Sharp would
grow the Lady
Raider program
into one of the
most admired
and respected in
the country.
Marsha retired
at the end of
Photo Credit: Design Envy the 2005-2006
season and
accepted a role as Associate Athletics Director
for Special Projects, focusing her efforts on
developing Texas Tech’s student-athletes both on
and off the court. Over the last ten years, she has
served more national and local organizations than
is possible to list here. A select few include the
Kay Yow Cancer Fund/Play4Kay, the Talkington
Leadership Academy, Women’s Protective Services,
the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, the
American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer
Advisory Board, and the Lubbock’s Young
Women’s Christian Association. In the philanthropy
industry, it’s common to hear a request for one’s
time, talent or treasure. But it’s not nearly as
common for one to give all three, or at least as often
as does Marsha Sharp.
TIME
In 2004, Marsha and sister-in-law, Emily Sharp
co-authored Tall Enough To Coach: Elements
of Leadership of Coaching and Life. The book
features an intermittent collection of photos; my
personal favorites include a set taken of Marsha’s
appointment calendar. The first photo is of March
1993, the calendar sparsely updated with the
basketball schedule and only one appointment. The
second photo shows April 1993. In clean, all-caps
handwriting, Marsha has only “FINAL 4” written
on each day through April 4. By the end of the
month, there are no less than 3-5 engagements per
day: “AMBUCS,” “LA VENTANA,” “KLBK,” and
another personal favorite, “PANCAKES.”
26 Lubbock Senior Link
Today, it would be hard to find a local school, civic
group or book club that Marsha hasn’t visited as
a guest speaker, and her calendar remains just as
full in October 2017. That month, Marsha and I
sat together at Carillon’s board meeting, where
she shared that she’d attended two speaking
engagements on three consecutive days that week.
We laughed that Carillon’s retirees were right—it
was possible to be busier in retirement than during
your working years.
Marsha has given her time to Carillon for the last
ten years, serving on the Board of Directors, and
as a spokesperson for the retirement community,
championing its LifeCare program, and I’m Still
Here™ memory care program. Many residents now
living at Carillon traveled with the team as Lady
Raider “super fans,” so it was a memorable event
to shoot a commercial with Marsha “coaching” a
team of residents acting as basketball players. The
relationship with Carillon also gives Marsha the
opportunity to honor the memory of her father,
Charles and coaching colleague Pat Summit, both of
whom battled Alzheimer’s disease.
TALENT
Marsha often said recruiting talented, teachable
players was one of the most important aspects of
winning games and building success on the court.
In 2007, she met Chase Stane, a young man with a
learning disorder, told he would never read or be
on grade level because he was “unteachable.”
Chase’s mom, Lisa Stane, recruited fellow mom,
Tracy Weatherly, whose son Alex also had a
Photo Credit: Design Envy