The winner of best Athletic Director in our 2018 4Frenzy Fan Choice Awards winter sports edition is Emily Frikken of Ladywood!
Some of Emily's favorites and fun facts!
Recommended Videos
- TV show: Lots! Among them right now are Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, and Dawson's Creek
- Actress: Audrey Hepburn
- Movie: She loves black & white film!
- Book: Wuthering Heights
- Animal: Her dog Charlie!
- Unique skill: Photography, she has a business called Frikken Photography.
- Fun fact: She's been coaching for over five years. She coached boys basketball and girls softball in Indiana, and field hockey and basketball at Ladywood.
- Emily's athletes: They practice about 2 hours every day after school, and sometimes on a Saturday if there is a big Monday game.
Having and being a role model
About her own role models, Emily says, "I look to certain people in my life for guidance on specific things. I recall my experiences with former coaches (Mark Ratusznik and Patrick Hensler from St. Clement and Diane Laffey from Regina High School) to inspire me to be a better administrator, coach, or role model for my athletes. I look to my sister Connie and to the Dean of Ministry at Ladywood, Sr. Felicity, to help me stay grounded in my faith. I rely on my best friend, Sara, to keep confident in my daily decisions and actions."
We also asked Emily how she feels about being a role model for the athletes she's in charge of.
"I believe in order to be a role model for my athletes I need to be positive, supportive, and passionate about everything I do. No matter the outcome of a game or a conversation I have to have with a player, positive communication needs to be made. Teams, athletes, and coaches need to know that you are behind them. Passion, I believe, is most important. If I have passion about what I do every single day then the positivity and support for the girls will come naturally."
She is clearly a wise and caring coach and mentor with much to offer her students. She shared with us this bit of wisdom which she gave to her JV basketball team before every game last year:
The Devil whispered to the warrior, “You can’t withstand the storm.”
The warrior replied, “I am the storm.”
She explained that this means that there will be an abundance of obstacles in an athletic career and in life. "We brought this quote back this year and put it on a t-shirt to inspire the girls after hearing the school would be closing. This quote just demonstrates that no matter what is thrown at you, on the field, on the court, in your life, YOU CAN HANDLE IT. You are the storm. And you can withstand anything."
Emily's passion for sports
Emily comes from a competitive family that was always playing softball in the yard or basketball in the driveway. They also have always had season tickets to the Detroit Lions, and so she grew up with that being a part of her life every Sunday. So, she has always had love for sports, and told us that her uncle helped that love to grow when he coached her in basketball in middle school; "He pushed me to do the best I could every second, and it ultimately led me to the opportunity to play basketball at Albion College for a short period of time."
Emily's part in Ladywood athletics
Emily has been as active in athletics as she could since the day she started at Ladywood, immediately letting the administration know that if they needed a sports coach, to ask her. In fact, when she was first offered the role of coaching field hockey, she barely knew five rules to the game, but she enjoyed studying up to become the fantastic coach she is today. She even was able to coach the game she loves -- basketball.
"Once the athletic director position opened, I knew it was something that I wanted to do. I understand the importance of athletics and what it can do for a young adult, what it can teach them. I have loved having an impact on my students at Ladywood in the classroom, and then I wanted to make sure they knew they had the biggest cheerleader behind them as an athletic director."
Her favorite part about her job is being there for the unforgettable moments. The Ladywood field hockey team won Catholic Leagues this past fall. "Being on the sideline with the team when they counted down and then stormed the field was an unbelievable moment."
She has also enjoyed traveling with the golf team two years in a row as they make second in the state as a team, and getting to see others place in the top ten. She even arranged a fan bus in order to support the volleyball team in the final four game which was two hours away. About this experience, she said, "When your student section is filled with 50 people and it is all girls, it is indescribable. I truly believe our student sections are unlike any other. Ladywood’s spirit and sense of community cannot be matched when they are there to support their sisters on the field of play."
Ladywood's Closing
With the sad news that Ladywood is closing, we asked how Emily feels about the imminent disbandment of these outstanding teams and having to move on elsewhere.
"I will miss the girls. Everything I do is for them, whether it’s in the classroom or on their field of play. The people in this building are a family, and always will be. But I know it will be tough to find some of the personalities that I get to experience everyday somewhere else, or to match some of the memories that I have had with some of these Blazers, but this is a challenge I’m ready to take on. I will always be a Blazer, I just will need to blaze a new path now."
It didn't surprise Emily at all that her hockey team was also successful in the 4Frenzy Fan Choice Awards. She says that they've always been successful and they'll be leaving behind a legacy. Emily also thinks that the ice hockey team is probably the closest team in Ladywood's athletic program, which is unsurprising, considering the support that they obviously gave each other in order to have such a successful voting campaign.
Straight from a student
Demonstrating for us exactly why this 4Frenzy award went to Emily Frikken, her student assistant, Jordan Modjeski, contacted us individually at 4Frenzy in order to make sure we knew how deserving she is of a 4Frenzy Spotlight article. Here's what she told us...
"Ms. Frikken has shown remarkable success in her first year as athletic director, especially since this has been a particularly difficult year for Ladywood HS as a whole. Before she became the athletic director, Ms. Frikken was an outstanding English teacher -- a school-wide favorite.
Her passion for her students shines not only through the responsibility she takes on as athletic director but also through the way she presents herself to the students. She is a role model and mentor to many of the girls at Ladywood, and her support has been crucial to the student body, especially with the closing of the school announced earlier this year.
She wears many hats and carries many responsibilities in the school, serving not only as the athletic director but also as the school's Yearbook advisor, JV Basketball coach, and Varsity Basketball assistant coach.
I can personally vouch for her character as she has made quite an impact in my life, and the lives of many other students."
We just had to include such glowing praise, clear affection, and appreciation for Ms. Emily Frikken from one of the people who knows her best.
If you know someone as fantastic as this, make sure you nominate and vote for them in the spring sports edition of the 4Frenzy Fan Choice Awards which is beginning any day now!
Know someone deserving of a 4Frenzy Spotlight article? Feel free to email us at 4Frenzy@wdiv.com.
SEE ALL WINNERS OF 4FRENZY WINTER BELOW
/**/