ALE SHERRI AND DANE CO
you have to physically be there for them all the time. And they become teenagers and you’re not physically present as much, but the mental and emotional side of it is huge. You want them to be independent. You want them to feel good about leaving and going on, because that is part of the natural process.”
As athletic parents who were successful coaches, the couple took a unique approach to overseeing the sports their kids played. Both kids chose to play basketball, so Sherri knew she would walk a fine line as a mom with incredible knowledge of the game. “If you ever want my help, you ask for it,” she said she told her kids. “Otherwise, I’m not making you work out, I’m not telling you to go shoot, I’m not asking you if you’ve done your ball handling, we’re not breaking down what happened at the game last night. If you want to talk, then you come to me and we’ll talk about it.” Her fear was that her excitement about the sport might push her kids away from it. “I wanted them to have the opportunity to choose how they felt about it and not be pushed one way or the other,” she said. Her hands-off method must have worked, as both her kids have maintained a passion for the sport. Chandler is playing basketball at Oklahoma Christian University and Colton is now on the scout basketball team at OU with hopes of becoming a coach himself.
She spends a good amount of time with her players, too, and that’s not just on the court. The team is very active within the community. For 18 years, the Sooner Big Sis Program has been an opportunity for the players to become tangible heroes to elementary students. Through the program, the players spend an hour a week in elementary school classrooms in Norman. Other community service efforts include volunteering with the Special Olympics, area hospitals and an annual team trip to Haiti through Mission of Hope. Her success on the court and at home makes Sherri a great candidate as a role model, but the award-winning coach said she doesn’t feel added pressure to set an example just because she’s in the public eye. “I think for all of us, regardless if our job is a particularly public one or if your job when you leave the house every day is not a particularly public one, you’re still a role model for the people in your office, or in your home, or in your neighborhood, or in your church,” she said.“You’ve got stuff to do, so you just get ready, and do the next thing that you are supposed to do as well as you can do it and don’t worry about the rest of it.” [Editor’s Note: See Sherri in action at the first OU Women’s Basketball game of the season on November 5. Find a complete schedule at www.soonersports. com.]
“Colton used to sit in my lap when he was 5 years old and watch game film late at night,” she recalled. “To this day if there is a basketball game on TV he is watching it and we are texting back and forth.” Now with an empty nest, Sherri’s life isn’t slowing down. She still finds time to spend with her kids, even though they’ve left the house. “There is no one on the planet I’d rather watch a ball game with than my son, and my daughter and I go shopping.” Sherri said. “When they are little and they are infants
METROFAMILY MAGAZINE
18
OCTOBER 2014
Photo By Ty Russell