Vince D’Adamo: Be it as an administrator or coach, what do you enjoy most about being involved in athletics?
Annie Petrie: Because I reaped the benefits of playing multiple sports through elementary and middle school, then being a four-sport athlete in high school (volleyball, basketball, softball & track) and playing collegiate basketball at UC Davis, I have a deep understanding and appreciation for what it takes to be a student-athlete. I also know what it feels like as an athlete to have great coaching and mediocre coaching. A coach can absolutely bring out the best in an athlete and push him/her to achieve at extremely high levels.
Being a varsity coach at Dixon High School (basketball & golf), I also know what it is like to run a program at the high school level so I have the utmost respect and admiration for the coaching staff at Napa High.
So when I watch our student-athletes compete in practice and games, I can relate to what they experience on the court/field and I can also relate to what the coach is experiencing on the sideline. Watching athletics (and I love watching practice - because that is where the real teaching happens) brings out a fire in me. I love to compete and I love to watch our student-athletes compete.
D’Adamo: It is often said that athletics and academics coexist, how much have you found that to be true?
Petrie: The best teams I have played for, the best teams I have coached, and the teams at Napa High who have experienced the most success have been teams where academics comes first for the coach the the team. Athletes must be students of the game in order to be able to compete at the highest level. When athletes internalize the game ~ the why, the how they are able to adapt and adjust with more grace, precision, and poise. When you have a team with many “students of the game,” the entire team can make adjustments together which is ultimately what you want your teams to be able to do. No matter who much preparation goes into a game, athletes and coaches will need to be ready to adapt and adjust throughout the competition. Students of the game get really good at doing this. The best students of the game are the best students in the classroom.
D’Adamo: Beyond victories and defeats, when bringing in a coach, what are common denominator qualities you seek?
Petrie: “You win in life with people.” - that isn’t mine I stole that from the late great Pat Summitt…..but I believe it to be true. I have experienced it as an athlete, as a coach, a teacher and an administrator. I look for coaches who will bring out the best in the student-athlete as an athlete, a teammate and an overall person. Most student-athletes will not play in college so coaches need to understand the true impact they have on the students they coach. I want kids to leave Napa High athletics forever using the experiences, the lessons they learned as an athlete to help them make decisions about how they will conduct themselves as a person. Wins and losses don’t do that - the experience with people (coaches and teammates) through those wins and loses shape people. A coach can absolutely create an experience for a student that they will draw from in a positive way for years to come. I want that for all student-athletes at Napa High.
D’Adamo: From the student-athlete perspective, what life lessons do you hope they learn from sports?
Petrie: I want student-athletes to leave Napa High athletics understanding the power in people. I want students to leave Napa High athletics with a passion to be a change agent because they are able able to work productively with all types of people, they experienced what it feels like to work together toward a common goal, and they know what working hard looks like and feels like. I want the skills they learned from their coaches and teammates to transfer into the classroom and in life.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Petrie: I am blessed to have an amazingly supportive and loving family (Mom, Dad, two sisters and one brother) but there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about my late father. Through his actions, my father inspired me to always believe in people. He modeled for me and my brothers and sisters unconditional love, hard work and how to live in the moment with people. As a proud American and Vietnam Veteran, he instilled in me at a very young age a sense of pride and patriotism. My father never missed a Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day celebration. My father also pushed me to be the very best I can be in athletics but more importantly in life. It’s been nine years since he passed away and I don’t believe that times makes it easier….time makes me miss him even more.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet. What would intrigue you about meeting him or her?
Petrie: I have always idolized the late Pat Summitt and I did meet her in an unusual circumstance. I was in Texas at a conference in 2009 and during some down time we went to a local mall. While walking through the women’s undergarment section, I saw Pat Summitt (you can’t miss the Tennessee orange track suit). I was immediately star struck and the person with me had no idea who Pat Summitt was or why I was excited to see her; but I got the courage to go up to Pat (as she was looking at undergarments) and I introduced myself and told her I was a huge fan. She shook my hand, asked my name and she thanked me for the support. Since her passing I have watched many of her old interviews and probably will continue to pull up her old interviews when I need inspiration. Coach Summitt not only changed the game of basketball for women; so serves as a role model for working women. She loved her career and she loved and cared for her son Tyler.
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