Sherri Coale Keynote

In a vicious, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, there has to be more than what you get when you win. In a social media driven culture, fear permeates all aspects of our lives. Every generation may feel like they have it worse than the previous generation, but do we?

For 25 years Sherri Coale got student athletes to fight through fear and adversity with her mantra of “Leave Your Story Better Than You Found It.’ During this inspiring Keynote, Sherri will share her stories of building teams, learning from others, stretching life beyond the lines of a basketball court to help us leave our story better than we found it.

Learning Objectives

1. Develop your story through adversity.

2. Identify ways fear is gripping society.

3. Evaluate the power of your story.

4. Analyze ways to improve your team’s performance through stretching your limits.

About Sherri Coale:

Sherri Coale delivers something different. She grew up in a small town just north of the Red River where she fell in love with basketball, and the game became the vehicle for her life. After a short but stellar high school coaching career in Norman, Oklahoma that included two state championships, Coale made the historic jump across town to become the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma at the age of thirty-one—with zero college coaching experience. Twenty-five years later, with three final four banners and a place in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, she hung up her whistle to chase another life passion–speaking and writing. Her first book, Rooted to Rise—Redwood Legacies of Life-Anchoring People was released in the fall of 2022.

As a collegiate basketball coach, Sherri had the opportunity to stand on the grandest platforms: Final Four courts, Olympic Gold Medal stands, the Hall of Fame stage. Sharing what she’s learned, both from and with the people who made those platforms possible, as well as the insight she’s gained from her very full life outside the lines, she reaches a broad spectrum of audiences. Her unconventional journey continues to provide amazing fodder for inspiration, instruction, and insight.

Sherri is an observer, a thinker, a connector, and a teacher. She speaks on a variety of topics from confidence and collaboration to tenacity and teamwork to love and leadership–and all things around and in between. She is an engaging storyteller and yet what makes her unique is her ability to also be a facilitator with real time information that can tie broad concepts into the specific context of her audience. Sherri’s words will make people think and feel, and she will fuel conversations that will affect the way her listeners live and work.