Jody Powell never aspired as a young person to become a coach nor did her experience as a player lead her to become a coach. The invitation from a friend to help coach in high school exposed her to a more positive role model in coaching and paved the way for a high school and collegiate basketball coaching career that spans 25 years. She joins our JPII family as assistant athletic director for girls sports and head coach for JV girls basketball.
Powell believes that as a coach she is in a position to help. “I use coaching as a vessel to help athletes learn how to be better players, better students, better teammates, better friends. I want to help them learn how to be respectful and inclusive and also how to be accountable for their mistakes. All of these things begin at home but coaches often have a very big influence on young people.” Her coaching journey has taken her to many different states and exposed her to young people of all different backgrounds. Those experiences helped her to identify the most important ingredient to successful teams: trust. “I take the most pride in the ability to figure out how to build that trust with all the athletes. Not just the outgoing ones, or the most talented ones, or the most popular ones. Finding a way to make every player feel valued regardless of the amount of minutes they play in the game is most important.” She also believes it is important for athletes to see that a coach is consistent, fair, & approachable. “Standards can be very high and at times we all fall short. But none of us are perfect and we all need help at times.”
Powell has a communications degree from American University where she was a four-year starter, two-year captain, team MVP, and is now a member of the Hall of Fame. Coaching has taken her to the University of Rhode Island, Manhattan College, Chatham University, and Washington & Jefferson College. She made nine playoff appearances in 13 years as a high school head coach, earned three Coach of the Year titles, and placed 14 players on the D-I and D-II levels. Away from the court she likes to be with family and friends, watching football, riding her bike, playing with her two dogs, listening to a good true crime podcast, and days at the beach!
