You walk into gym and see a young woman setting up Volleyball net and cones and then young girls being to funnell in or let's say you walk onto a softball field, and you see players hitting in the cages and walking around there is a female coach giving advice and encouragement. This is just the typical day of coach Dani.
Danielle Townley also known as Dani for short was born Wednesday, May 6, 1998 in Spring Hill, Missouri to a loving family. She is a taller female that has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is attending Johnson county community College and pursuing her major in criminal justice. She is currently a supervisor at the Overland Park Soccer Complex which isn't a big surprise because it deals with sports. On the side she coaches her volleyball and softball team when in season.
Since she was a kid, Dani was always around sports.her She played volleyball, basketball, softball and cheered it is easy to tell she loved sports. Her father coached her in basketball and softball. Her father was a big influence in her decision to coach. She said “it’s just a family thing...my dad coached us and now im to the age where i can help him out so i did.” she said seriously. Starting last summer she coached her little sisters softball team.
She said she definitely sees herself coaching in the future and with enough experience she said she would even coach at the professional level. If that doesn’t work she will be there to coach her kids because she wants to coach her kids towards the beginning of their careers for early development. She sees herself more as a softball coach since she played the sport at the D-1 level and has more overall knowledge of the game. She said if she chose volleyball its “because it’s inside” as she said it laughingly. Although that is a great point I wouldn't have even thought about.
Dani wants to succeed with coaching because she would love to recieve all of the free gear that comes along with it. What also comes with being a professional/ college coach is the big bucks as well as getting to travel all over the country or even the world.
Dani wants to do more than just teach the game to the girls, she also wants to teach them lessons they can use throughout their lives. She said “I try and show my players how being able to rely on your team and trust them will help them when they get a job. In the workplace, your team is your coworkers and you have to be able to rely on them to do their job and they have to rely you to do yours.” her main lesson is to make sure you do your job and to hold yourself accountable. Those are great lessons to abide by at all times no matter the circumstances.
Dani wants to take on the challenge of coaching her own children she told me “since i've played sports my entire life i feel like i have a little bit more knowledge on the sports and especially how to coach kids. I don't want to hand my kids off to some person and hope they are teaching them correctly or what they should be learning about life also.” you can just tell how serious she was when she said this. I agree 100% with her because if you don't teach your kids or kids in general it will mess up their fundamentals and those are the most important skills no matter what sport you play and without proper fundamental teachings your overall skill will lack.
Dani has grown up with sports as a major component in her life and it has affected her positively in the long run. She decided to become a coach and teach those little girls about responsibility, teamwork and other valuable lessons in life. Little did she know that by doing this she already has and will affect her players lives by making them more ready for the real world.
By: Andre Frazier
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