LIFE IS SHORT DONT WAIT TO DANCE : ADVICE & INSPIRATION FROM UCLA ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME COACH OF 7 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

How did a professional ballerina become one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history? Valorie Kondos Field or Miss Val as she's affectionately known, has never even tumbled, flipped, or ever played any type of organized sports and yet she has been able to craft a legendary coaching career through curiosity, creativity, intention to detail, and unwavering care for the overall well-being of her athletes. For Miss Val, it's not about the X's and O's, it's about choreographing your life and owning the choices you make. Included are Miss Val's favorite memories she experienced with her mentor, legendary coach John Wooden; as well as some of her most unforgettable stories of the Olympians and student-athletes she's coached. Miss Val reveals how her head coaching journey started off disastrously, spending years mimicking other top coaches while her team suffered because of her lack of authenticity. In time she realized being a gymnastics immigrant wasn't a detriment, it was a gift. When she embraced and honed her own uniqueness Miss Val led her Bruins to six NCAA Championships and became one of only two active coaches to ever be inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2016 Miss Val was named Pac-12 "Gymnastics Coach of the Century."