Full Great Women Great Danes Interview Transcript
UAlbany's Great Women Great Danes is a series that will be published during Women's History Month. The series will feature Great Danes, past and present, and celebrate the women of UAlbany.
Q: To get started, how long have you guys been working together?
Katie Thomson: So … myself, Leah [Gallagher], and Taylor [Frink] - this is our sixth season together and we’re so excited that Shonly [Wallace] joined us this season after playing a season here. [It’s our] second season with her fully, and first coaching with the four of us.
Q: Have any of you previously worked together or crossed paths before UAlbany?
Leah Gallagher: Oh wow *laughs* *everyone laughs along*
Taylor Frink: The roots are deep *laughs* I guess we’ll start with me, right? *everyone nods in agreement* My senior year [in 2011], Coach Thomson was on the coaching staff. That was the year our program won its first America East Championship … so that’s how we kicked off our relationship.
Gallagher: Then, right out of college, through mutual friends, I found out that Coach [Thomson] had just gotten the head coaching position at Wagner College. [She] reached out to see if I wanted to be one of her assistant coaches there … so, we were coaching together for two years at Wagner College before UAlbany.
Q: Did you go straight from Wagner to here together? Or was there something in between?
Gallagher: I was at Army West Point coaching for one year in between.
Thomson: [And I came here] after three seasons there.
Q: Outside of coaching, did you cross paths?
All: *smile*
Gallagher: I have a funny story!
All: *laughs*
Gallagher: When I was in high school, Syracuse ran like a Nike Cup camp and my high school team put together a group to go to that camp when Coach [Thomson] was in college. She was kind of like our counselor and we were all like “this is THE Kate Rowan,” “this is the goat!”
Frink: Iconic
Gallagher: Yeah, iconic! *smiles* And, from that moment our team was like obsessed with her. She was such a role model, so it was kind of funny when it came back full circle after college for me.
Q: That’s great! So, when you got the job to coach under her at Wagner, what were you thinking?
Gallagher: Oh! It was a no-brainer!
Thomson: Mutually. I think we were both like “yeah, this is perfect!” *laughs*
Gallagher: *laughs* I’m so lucky that … coaching - I didn’t really think was in the cards for me but getting the opportunity to study, and get my MBA as well … After Coach [Thomson] asked me and then [on] day one, I was like “this is such a passion of mine” and I think that working for and alongside Coach [Thomson] played the biggest role as my first mentor, my first look at this job … I’m sure Shon will talk about, too. The person leading you in that first job, that first go at it has such an impact on your experience and she really set such a passion in it within me because of who she is as a person and a mentor and a friend.
Thomson: Aww, thanks Leah *laughs*
Gallagher: *laughs & reaches over to Thomson*
Q: Can you each bring me through your path of how you came to work at UAlbany? We can start with our head coach.
Thomson: Yeah, of course! As Taylor mentioned, right out of college, I studied education, and I was really looking for teaching positions. I had just stayed for an extra year at Syracuse to get my masters in literacy education. It was in a time … it was during the recession, and there really were any teaching jobs available. My high school coach and previous assistant coach at Syracuse, John Battaglino was the head coach here. I’m from the Albany area, and he asked … he had a position open and he asked if I would be interested in trying it out. I was really … I kept telling him “I really am going to keep looking for a teaching job. I might do like a long-term sub,” and he kept telling me to come out for a practice and I eventually said yes. [When I arrived], it was an immediate attraction to the team and to the university and of course, to coach with him and [Jessica] Davos was a great opportunity. I said “okay, I’ll come back tomorrow,” and I just kept coming back. I really kept falling in love with it. I had a few other coaching opportunities - back at my alma matter over at Syracuse and then an opportunity to go to Wagner to be the head coach. When the position opened for the head coach here at UAlbany, it really was a special and unique opportunity to come back to my first … the first spot where I had a position. There’s so much pride and opportunity to grow and develop these student-athletes and I had such a positive experience my first time here that it was … yeah like a no-brainer to take this opportunity.
Q: So, who joined you first? Was it Leah or Taylor?
All coaches: *laugh*
Thomson: It was really … simultaneous. Taylor had been here as an assistant, and we were all in communication over the same time. Taylor has such pride and loyalty and dedication to the UAlbany program being a student-athlete here and coming back to her alma matter that it was an absolute … [her connection was] special and I wanted her on board. The relationship that we had built when she was a player and I was coaching and then over the years throughout our coaching journey, we’ve always stayed in touch at conventions and recruiting. We just knew that this was going to be something really special. Over those same few days after getting the position, Leah … we had always stayed in touch over that last year when she was at Army and I was still at Wagner and I wanted her to join us here All the unique qualities that she brings … I really thought that the three of us could build something special with our bond and through the connection that we had. It was just immediate … I immediately knew that it was going to be Taylor and Leah and that we were going to build something special here.
Q: Taylor and/or Leah, can either of you guys bring me through your journey to UAlbany?
Frink: I just feel very lucky with the timing of my path. [I am] super grateful to Katie for keeping me on board when she became the head coach. I’m very grateful and appreciative of the opportunity and to be able to grow my coaching mind alongside hers. She has a brilliant coaching mind, and I am learning from her every single day. [I am] just really, super thankful for the timing of how I got here. I got into coaching right when I graduated from UAlbany. I went down south and worked a year at Longwood University and then I went across the way, little further south to Davidson College down in North Carolina. The opportunity came up for an assistant position at UAlbany and I jumped on that immediately. I thought it would be a really special opportunity to come back and give back to a place that is really special to me. I am really excited that I got the opportunity to come back and I haven’t left since so I am going on my ninth season here. I always talk about this place – it’s super special. All the memories and relationships that I created here are really close to my heart and really special. I just try and help that fuel me as a coach and a mentor to my players. I want that same experience for them as what I had so, again just really really thankful for my path and how I ended up here.
Gallagher: [For me], I don’t feel like an outsider, but my story is a little bit different. I’m kind of random here - I’m not from here and I didn’t go here. But, there was something really special … like every alumnus that I met that went to UAlbany was an incredible person. My husband went here and played lacrosse here; I have great friends that went here and played lacrosse here so when coach got the position and called me, I was like “yeah,” and she was like “no, you need to come up and see it” *everyone laughs* “you kind of need to interview *everyone continues laughing* Everybody that walks around this campus in these athletic buildings, they’re so special. The type of person at UAlbany is so special, so unique, and it’s really awesome to be a part of.
Q: Shonly, you came here as a student-athlete …
Shonly Wallace: I did *smiles* These three are the reason why I came here and took my fifth year here. It’s pretty amazing how it worked out and I’m so thankful to them. After one phone call, I was like “this is where I want to be” and UAlbany’s master’s programs are all two years so in talking with them … I’d always known I wanted to be a coach and wanted to get into college coaching when I finished playing, so it kind of almost seemed like a meant-to-be thing because after my second call with them, I was like “so, if I come to UAlbany and play, can I stay and coach?” *everyone laughs* I hadn’t even … well I did visit in high school. Taylor showed me around campus back in 2016.
Frink: We go way back! *laughs* Tried to get her here first!
Wallace: Taylor did such a good job in 2016 that when I was looking for my fifth year, I knew [UAlbany] was a place that I could see myself. You spend five minutes with them and you know these … you know, the people make the place and one hundred percent these three make UAlbany lacrosse such a special program and I am just beyond thankful every day that I get to come in and see them. I miss them for like the 10 hours we’re apart every night! *everyone laughs* It’s so special to start here; learning from them is just … this year’s just so invaluable to me and to start off my coaching career, I would not want to be anywhere else.
Q: Shonly, can you talk about your experience coaching for your first year?
Wallace: Yeah! It was a pretty seamless transition with them … I think like a lot of people always ask what it’s like to coach the team you were just on. But I think coming in as a fifth year and getting to have such an incredible season last year with them, I kind of just came in and the goals were continuing into this year even though I’m not a player - even though I wish I was *laughs* One thing that’s really important to them is person over player and they are able to do that while holding lacrosse to [a higher standard] and getting the most out of [each student-athlete]. It’s quite an amazing thing that they’ve been able to figure out and manage … letting [the athletes] play creatively and really empower the team as individuals and as players to have fun and the beautiful game of lacrosse and play it as it’s supposed to be played. It’s known as the creator’s game. The family atmosphere and how important the relationships are – you can see how special the relationships are between the three of them. With me coming into the team, I was welcomed right away by them and the girls so it was kind of an easy jump to get into the coaching. Getting so close with them last year as a player just made it easy to jump in now as a coach.
Q: Each of you, except for Shonly, have coached a team at the world cup competitions. Can you speak on your experiences?
Thomson: Yeah - we had the opportunity to coach the U19 Haudenosaunee National Team in the summer of 2019. It’s that unique opportunity and timeline with our season where the tournament is over the summer, so we are during our dead period, it was in August, and we were able to take that time to dedicate to it. Throughout the year, there were tryouts that we would travel to Rochester for and trainings but the head coach that we were working with was really flexible with our schedules and working through it. We would find tryout dates that we could make … it was an opportunity that was so special to us because, as Shonly mentioned, coaching the team, as the creators of the game of lacrosse and the game of medicine and the healing that works through the game … to be able to experience that with the team and with our mentors and learn so much about having a good mind and playing lacrosse - that experience is so invaluable. We’ve brought those lessons that we learned to our team here at UAlbany and we were so fortunate to have had that experience.
Gallagher: I think speaking about the World Cup a little bit, too … that year we were coaching, it was so special seeing like Team Kenya competing for the first time and Team Jamacia. We had different cultural exchanges with them and it was just really special seeing, kind of like, the reverence for the sport throughout the world. All the different athletes from different countries would come up to our athletes, the Haudenosaunee women, and want to take pictures with them. They were almost little celebrities at the World Cup because of representing the creator’s game … that was special to me and, I think, to us, as a group. That is something that kind of reframed the sport a little bit … to kind of give it that depth. And, like I said, the reverence for it grows when you see it played by the Haudenosaunee women and in the international [community].
Wallace: It’s funny … that year they coached the Haudenosaunee U19 women’s team - in the 2019 World Cup in Peterborough [Ontario, Canada] - I played for Team Canada at that same tournament. I distinctly remember walking past the three of them and thinking they are like the happiest people; they look like the nicest people ever! *everyone laughs* I knew who they were obviously … like I definitely saw [them] in the cafeteria at the world cup and everything so it was kind of funny!
Q: What is it like to work together?
Thomson: Amazing! *laughs* It just like brings me so much joy to work with just three absolutely incredible people. They’re just so special to me and to everyone who surrounds them. The players look up to Taylor, Leah and Shonly so much and just to see them model how to be every single day at such an incredible standard and level is just beautiful. It brings me so much joy to come to work every day to be together and to learn from each other and support each other. I think that’s so genuine between us - we lift each other up and we support each other and we’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and really special moments together throughout our lives and I just couldn’t imagine going through it with anyone else.
Wallace: I’m going to cry, literally *laughs*
Gallagher: I mean, I always do … it’s almost happened like 10 times [already]
Frink: It is really … it’s an experience that I’ll never forget. It’s just the way that we can be ourselves. We’re four people that … we wear our hearts on our sleeves so we can be vulnerable … we’re vulnerable with each other, we’re real but we also challenge each other too. Like Coach [Thomson] was saying, that balance of the strong connections that we keep bringing out of each other and the way that we operate, it really doesn’t feel like a job. It’s hard to articulate, personally, because it just feel like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to work with people you trust. The connection is so raw and real … and to have that environment is really, to me, a once in a lifetime type of thing.
Q: What does it mean to have an all-female staff empowering your athletes?
Frink: Everything.
Thomson: I think with our life experiences, we can really go back and relate to our players through our playing days. It really is so much more than the on-the-field things that we relate to them with. It goes with off-the-field experiences of life and transitioning through college and then into the post-college chapter. We really try to find those connections and support and guide them through this experience and be a positive light in their journey and push them to keep progressing and developing while also letting them handle hard situations as well but always being for them through that. That female support we *gestures to fellow coaches* genuinely give each other because we have that love and respect and trust in each other. I think that they can see that … were not actively trying to model it but I think with how we are and how we operate, hopefully it does model to them how females can support females and lift each other up.
Q: Shonly - you were a student-athlete for these three, did it mean anything to you to have an all-female staff leading you guys?
Wallace: Yeah, absolutely! Women’s lacrosse is such a special sport and they’re beyond humble, these three, but you are looking at some of the best players that have ever played this game. To have coaches that deserve and have that respect as players but also as people, they’re telling you stuff that … they were so good at playing so it’s so special to get to learn from people who are incredible role models on and off the field … people who’ve played this game so well and they know the game so well it’s … like I said, it’s a huge reason why I came here - was to come and learn from some of the best players and coaches in the game of women’s lacrosse.
Q: What is the most important knowledge or feeling you want your student-athletes to graduate with?
Gallagher: That’s a good question.
Thomson: I know! *smiles*
Thomson: Hmmm *laughs* That is so hard … I think a piece of it is like belief, and I think it’s broad but just a belief in themselves and whatever they’re striving and working towards and the belief in the team and the program. [A belief] that they can bring throughout their lives too … always holding onto that trust in themselves. I think that’s one thing.
Gallagher: I think, empowerment as well. I think that’s a big piece of our coaching philosophy - we want them to feel empowered on the field and be able to make those decisions but then ultimately for that to be infused in the rest of their lives - to be empowered, to be authentic and make hard decisions, be leaders and not just do what the pack is doing, and to feel that belief in themselves and that empowerment to be who they are and to be authentic and to use their voice. I think tying it back a little bit to being an all-female staff - it can be really challenging to be a female in college athletics, and I know from my experience from being a student-athlete, that’s very relevant. There are challenges to being a female student-athlete and I think it’s so important, especially for the female student-athletes, to feel that sense of empowerment and I hope we’re role modeling and mentoring that. I think that’s my biggest goal for when they graduate.
Frink: I want them to feel tough, because they are. As a female, going out into the crazy real world … they went through some really hard things playing at this level, the highest level possible, attacking and competing with not much time in your day, attacking in the classroom, attacking in the community, attacking on the field … those are all really tough challenges that they face every day. I want them, as females and women, to feel how powerful, strong, fierce, and tough they are because they have gone through some really challenging moments throughout their career as a Division I student-athlete. I do want them to feel a sense of strength and tough skin and if they do face any adversity, they don’t shy away and they attack it head on because they can.
Wallace: [I want them to feel] how I felt after being coached by them (Thomson, Frink, and Gallagher). They definitely have done all that for me and just the way that they supported me and let me come here to play my fifth year and then to allow me to join the staff and learn from them is just really shows how they are as people. They encouraged me before they even really knew me. I hope to have the same impact on the girls of the future of women’s lacrosse as they have at the college level. I couldn’t have started anywhere better.
For more content from the Women's History Month #GreatWomenGreatDanes series, click here.
