Dear Coach Bryant: My son was super excited that a coach from one of his target colleges was coming to watch him fence. Sadly, the coach actually watched him lose. Now we’re not sure whether the school will still be interested. Do you think this loss will impact the...
I am a coach at heart. For the past 20 years (and counting), I have coached the women’s tennis team at Emory University. While I truly love the sport, what really motivates me are the relationships I form with my players. It is a gift to work with such ambitious and...
Amy Bryant is the first female in NCAA history to win the national team championship as both a coach and a player. She has been the head coach of the Emory Women’s Tennis team since 2000 and has garnered a number of impressive achievements along the...
Turn Disappointment into an Opportunity Dear Coach Bryant: I’m wondering what you would tell young student-athletes who are feeling “robbed” by the pandemic. My two children – a high school sophomore and a 2020 senior (near graduate)-- are just some of the thousands...
Dear Coach Bryant, My daughter plays high school soccer and is just about to start the recruiting process. We thought we knew what to do- but now that this pandemic has changed the rules, we don’t know where to start! Do you have any advice on how to be a “virtual...
Dear Coach Bryant, I’ve been reading your blog posts about the impact COVID-19 is having on college athletics. Clearly, this pandemic is shaking up the recruiting world. But I have two kids who are current collegiate athletes and they are wrestling with the idea...
Dear Coach Bryant, I read your previous post about the impact you think COVID-19 will have on college athletics. I have one child committed to play Division II golf next year, and another just starting the recruiting process. Is there anything we should be doing...
Dear Coach Bryant, I was speaking to a friend recently and she told me that her son (a D1 lacrosse player) regained a year of NCAA eligibility after having his spring season cancelled as a result of COVID-19. As I spoke to her, I couldn’t help but wonder how...
A Season Lost...but Perspective Gained I’d thought I’d seen everything in my 20-plus years of coaching. But last week I navigated entirely new waters. Traveling with my team on one of our season highlights -- the spring break trip to Florida -- I felt every emotion...
Dear Coach Bryant: I read your previous post about NCAA Division I scholarships, and was surprised to learn about the relatively small amount of athletic scholarship money available at DI schools. Are there other options? The parents in my child’s peer group seem to...
As a two-sport student-athlete at Emory University, Amy Bryant was already preparing herself to become a college athletics administrator. “Initially, administration was my career goal, not coaching,” she explained. While she has never given up on her dream to become...
Like many other athletic departments, we recently created a new tagline at Emory University to denote achievement: FLY HIGHER. It taps into our eagle mascot and our long history of being a top NCAA Division III program. But beyond the catchy wording, its meaning goes...
Dear Coach Bryant: Over the last couple months, I’ve heard many parents of older players on my son’s team talk about their children getting scholarships and full rides to Division I schools. Although my son is only a sophomore, I’m beginning to really worry. I don’t...