‘I think guiding the youth is very important in whatever way. I have always enjoyed when I had coaching jobs. Making impressions on kids is important.’

North Baldwin

“I’ve really been playing sports all my life. I started taking sports very seriously probably in high school, when it started to get competitive. I was on travel teams, as well as school teams for track and field and lacrosse. I decided to stick with lacrosse.

“In my senior year of high school, I got an athletic scholarship to the University of Hartford. I played Division I lacrosse there for four years. I’ve also just been blessed with opportunities from it, especially being that not a lot of Black people are prominent in the college game at the Division I level. I got a lot of opportunities there to coach and speak at events.

“After declaring my communications major and getting into classes, I started to see that I really enjoy it and found a good fit for me. It was something I was decent at without much effort. Then I learned how to hone that skill. I picked it based on strength and a lot of the transferable skills. I started to see that there were way more opportunities in it than I had originally pictured.

I remember my first coach, my first dance teacher — you don’t forget those people. To know that you have that impact on young people has been cool.

“Now, as a Girl Scouts program associate and member of the IDEA Lab, I didn’t really know how much I would get to use my athletic background. But they saw it as an opportunity to open a new door. It’s the first year of this sports division that I’m heading up with one of my partners. So far, we’ve had camps, clinics and an event to celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day — just really trying to expose the girls to more opportunities.

“At almost every event, if I am on the staff sheet, I am running it. I have a microphone in my hand or delegating tasks. So, I’d say all those communication skills come in handy. Girl Scouts has always been about community service and just being a strong member of society. But athletics can kind of do that for you and bring you places.

“Now working with the kids has made me realize it’s something that I like. I think guiding the youth is very important in whatever way. I have always enjoyed when I had coaching jobs. Making impressions on kids is important. I remember my first coach, my first dance teacher — you don’t forget those people. To know that you have that impact on young people has been cool.”

Interviewed by Victoria Bell