Coach Kathy “Bres” Bresnahan
“Coaches always use that line that ‘your team is your family’ but I do truly feel as if every member of our 2011 group is indeed my family. We cried and grieved together, we depended on each other and turned to each other at all hours of the night or day – and knew it was okay. We laughed and healed together. We were driven by something much bigger than ourselves. I love these young women and my coaching staff as much as anyone and am proud to call them my family.” -Kathy “Bres” Bresnahan
It didn’t take long to realize that Coach Kathy “Bres” Brenahan is VERY good at what she does. In the hour I sat in her classroom, talking with her and 4 of her athletes about their life altering season, about 15 kids popped their heads in her room to say hi, invite her to their events, rib her for privileging volleyball players over baseball players, and tell her about their pets. With each brief interaction, Bres was genuine, warm, jovial, and, of course, funny. Bres has a way of making people feel comfortable, like you’re old friends sitting down to catch up. And as I found out, Bres is humble and getting her to say anything about herself is difficult, however, when prodded for information, she enthusiastically replied “I love my job. Nobody has more fun at their job than I do mine.”
In the past year, Coach Bresnahan and her volleyball team have gotten a lot of attention. Unfortunately, the attention hasn’t been solely the result of winning their 2nd consecutive state title. In August 2011, the night before their first practice, Bresnahan and the team got word that Caroline “Line” Found, the star setter for the team—the vivacious, mischievous, lovable, friendly, and kind young woman who all of West High had grown to know and love—was killed in a moped accident. The team and Bres admit that the loss of Line all but completely collapsed their motivation to practice and play and many practices were spent mourning and grieving the loss of their good friend. Then, as competition got tougher, something shifted and the team made the decision to start showing up and playing their best in honor of their lost teammate. And just like that (and in true Line fashion) they said “we are going to win state. We are going to do this” and for one final season, Line became the spirit and motivation of the team and helped carry them to their 2nd state victory.
Kathy Bresnahan, if asked, will say she is undeserving of the coaching awards she has received this year; that she has feelings of guilt for the great tragedy that is drawing so much attention to her and her coaching. She would also say that this isn’t about coach of the year, it’s about team of the year: about a group of people who have offered more love and support to each other than she ever thought possible. While it is easy to sympathize with Bres on these points, one must also be appreciative of two things that speak to the hearts of all athletes and coaches: character and the old saying “there is no ‘I’ in team.” Bres is, no doubt, a great coach. She easily and comfortably assumes the role of leader, teacher, role-model, mentor, and friend—but not because she has to, because it’s her personality. She has won state titles yet remains humble. She was the person who, upon finding 400 grieving students in her gymnasium the morning after the loss of a friend, opened her arms and welcomed them to share stories and grieve on the courts where they all felt closest to Line. She stepped up to the challenge of changing her competitive nature to allow volleyball to become a way to cope and grieve the loss of a loved one, and used it as an opportunity for a team to support each other through the toughest time they had ever 
experienced. And, though her finest qualities were exemplified and glorified during the most tragic year she has had as a coach, that does not undermine that those qualities are ever present—that what makes her a great coach and a great person are so intrinsically a part of who she is that people, for all reasons, are drawn to her, trust her, and love her.
Despite her hesitation about being nominated for the Coach of the Year award in light of the recent tragedy that still brings tears to her and her players eyes, I don’t think there is a single player, teacher, friend, parent, or acquaintance who does not full-heartedly applaud Coach Bres for all she has done on and off the court and agree that she is deserving of this year’s Coaches for Kids, Coach of the Year Award. And not because of the tragedy that struck her and her team, but because of the kind of person she is and the kind of coaching she does.
