INDIANAPOLIS – WeCOACH is thrilled to announce the upcoming 55th class of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy (WCA), set to take place November 16-18, 2025, in Indianapolis, Indiana. UT Arlington’s Kathy Wagner, Assistant AD for Sport Performance has been selected as a participant. Hosted in collaboration with the NCAA, this impactful Academy offers a multi-day transformational experience focused on leadership development and personal growth for women coaches from all sports and collegiate levels, including both two-year and four-year institutions. Since its inception, more than 2,400 coaches have graduated from the NCAA WCA.
“UTA Athletics is committed to the continued development of our coaches and staff,” Deputy Athletic Director Debbie Garcia said. “The WeCOACH Women Coaches Academy provides a special opportunity to learn from some of the most influential coaches and leaders in the country. Coach Wagner is a leader in her own right and will represent the Mavericks in an inspiring and inspired way to help us all be great.”
WCA Class #55 features 78 women coaches representing 18 different sports, and 679 total years of coaching experience. Participants come from a diverse collection of institutions across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as the NAIA and NJCAA.
“The NCAA is proud to continue its partnership with WeCOACH as we welcome the 55th class of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy to our National Office in Indianapolis,” said DeeDee Merritt Guster, NCAA Managing Director of Leadership Development. “We are especially excited to help host this year’s class in our home city, where our mission to educate and empower student-athletes, coaches, and athletics administrators comes to life every day through our operations and leadership programming. This Academy continues to deliver transformative learning experiences that strengthen leadership and support the advancement and retention of women coaches in collegiate athletics. WeCOACH remains an invaluable partner in this work – and through collaborations like this, we are able to broaden our reach and deepen our impact across the coaching community.”
“The Academy experience is nothing short of transformational,” said Vanessa Fuchs, CEO of WeCOACH. “Bringing this program to the NCAA National Office further elevates the impact – immersing women coaches in an environment committed to advancing leadership and strengthening the future of college sports. Our participants leave feeling renewed and equipped with tools, strategies, and a powerful sisterhood of support that extends far beyond the Academy. Data continues to show that our graduates remain in the coaching profession at rates well above the national average – and that retention is exactly the kind of change we are dedicated to scaling alongside the NCAA. We’re also incredibly proud to expand access by awarding more than $38,000 in scholarship funding for Indianapolis participants, thanks to the generosity of our donors and partners.”
A highlight of this year’s Academy will be the presentation of the 2024-25 WeCOACH Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Jostens, to Tara VanDerveer for her lasting impact on the coaching profession. Attendees will have the opportunity to gain insights and inspiration through a keynote conversation with Coach VanDerveer.
The Academy will also feature a powerhouse panel of distinguished women—Raquel Atawo (WCA #52), Sharon Clark (WCA #4), Lin Dunn, Deanna Gumpf (WCA #25), Britt Harvey (WCA #42/A2.0 #2), Carol “Hutch” Hutchins, Lori Kerans (WCA #33), Muffet McGraw, Shonda Stanton (WCA #36), and moderated by DeeDee Merritt Guster, Managing Director of NCAA Leadership Development. The panel titled Coaches Unfiltered: The Ask Anything Panel,” will allow WCA participants to engage authentically with these trailblazers to share experiences, insights, and advice.
WeCOACH extends deep gratitude to the NCAA for its longstanding support. WeCOACH also wants to extend thanks to this year’s generous Academy Partners, whose support makes these programs possible: BAND, BSN SPORTS, Gatorade, Hudl, Marines, Simple Modern, Alex Morgan Foundation, Athlete Assessments, Bakline, Becky Ahigren Bedics Consulting, The Coaches’ Coach (Betsy Butterick), Equitable Advisors (Latrice Smith), Jostens, LoveAthlete (Nevin Caple), Natasha Watley Foundation, The Sports Bra Project, This One Media, and the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport.
Several conferences and sport associations also stepped up to support our NCAA Women Coaches Academy as sponsors: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Hearland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), Liberty League, Mid-American (MAC), National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA), New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), Pac-12 Conference, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), and Sunshine State Conference (SSC).
To learn more about our Academy programs click here, or if you are interested in funding an Academy Scholarship, click here.
— #BuckEm –
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ABOUT THE NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association provides a world-class athletics and academic experience that fosters lifelong well-being for more than 520,000 student-athletes annually. The NCAA stages 91 championships across three divisions, and its 1,100 member schools provide nearly $4 billion in athletics scholarships every year. Visit ncaa.org and ncaa.com for more.
ABOUT WECOACH
Founded in 2011, WeCOACH is a one-of-a-kind 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to recruiting, advancing, and retaining women coaches in all sports and levels through year-round professional growth & leadership development programs. Prior to Title IX, over 90% of women’s collegiate sports teams were coached by women. Today, over 50 years later, the data indicates that number has decreased to 41% across all three NCAA Divisions, with only 7% women head coaches of color. Only 6% of coaches of men’s teams are women. At the youth level, the data are difficult to estimate, but approximately fewer than 26% of teams are coached by women. WeCOACH launched MOVE the NUMBERS in 2022 to help change the landscape for women coaches and the student-athletes they lead. If she can see her, she can be her. For more information visit MOVE the NUMBERS.
