WEEK #32: MICAELLA RICHE
Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am from Ottawa, ON and am the middle child of two amazing brothers! I played basketball on the provincial team, national team and went on to play 4 years at the University of Minnesota. I then went on to complete my master’s degree and coach at Kansas State for 3 years, followed by one season playing professionally in Greece. I am now a Resource Manager with Ranstad in Mississauga and continuing to build the girls game.
Please share a story about an internal or external barrier you have faced.
The most challenging barrier I’ve faced thus far has been having to leave the USA after working for 3 years with the Wildcats. I had been on a student visa for 7 years, and when the time came to apply for my work visa, it was denied. This was such a difficult situation because I had earned a full time position on staff at a Power 5 school at the age of 24! I definitely thought I would be coaching NCAA basketball for the rest of my career.
How did you overcome that barrier? What skills did you develop in sport to helped you overcome your barrier?
Getting through this situation was extremely difficult. I had no idea what options were going to present themselves next, and I was angry at the situation. It’s frustrating when you do everything you need to do in order to be successful, but uncontrollable factors come into play and impact the outcome. But, just like in sport, if you do something to get better and move forward every single day, things unfold for the best. So I decided to press on and look forward, knowing the next play was the only one which i could control.
