Story by Darl DeVault, contributing editor
Sherri Coale’s success in recruiting and coaching women’s basketball players at the University of Oklahoma was truly remarkable, as her players won an impressive 10 Big 12 Conference titles, earning her Coach of the Year honors four times.
Throughout her 25-year journey, Coale, 60, also celebrated the players’ potential as women, emphasizing academic excellence and character development. She also shared this with the community in many ways as a testament to her innovative dedication to her sport and its transformative power.
Now she is adding another facet to her well-rounded career as the keynote speaker at the Second Half Expo. This significant event for adults aged 50 and over will highlight the lessons readers can learn from her new book. “The Compost File: Stories for the Striver in Us All” has been well-received by the reading public.
“I loved writing “The Compost File,” Coale said. “If people enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, we have scored a touchdown! The book is simply a collection of stories about everyday life. My hope is my new book nudges readers to laugh a little, cry a little and think a lot.”
Coale will speak at 11 a.m. on October 18th during the free admission event celebrating senior agendas at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in OKC.
The expo, featuring more than 130 exhibitors, expert-led seminars, live entertainment, and prize drawings, begins at 8 a.m. Admission to the museum is free for attendees after the expo concludes at 1 p.m.
“I’m excited to be a part of the Second Half Expo!” Coale said. “In addition to the keynote address, “What Makes Your Heart Sing,” I will be signing and personalizing both “The Compost File” and my first book, “Rooted to Rise.” It will be fun to meet fellow strivers!”
Behind the scenes, she challenged all women to strive for more, which changed the outlook of many women and continues to resonate in their lives even today. Her work not only transformed the women’s basketball program but also inspired a generation of women to aim higher and achieve more.
From modest beginnings as the first female All-State high school basketball player in Oklahoma’s small oilfield town of Healdton, Coale played at Oklahoma Christian University. She then coached Norman High School athletes before lifting a declining Lady Sooners basketball program to national prominence.
Coale became so famous among Oklahoma’s discerning populace that she was emboldened to start a mentor and support group called the “Sooner Stilettos” in November 2003. The group’s goal was to involve the female community and business leaders with the OU women’s basketball program.
In 2016, Coale and her team launched a new mentoring program called “In Her Shoes.” This program was designed to further empower players by connecting them with female community mentors and former players, leaving a lasting impact on their personal and professional growth.
Coale was inducted into the Women’s Basketball (2016), Oklahoma Women’s (2007), Oklahoma Sports 2020, Oklahoma Christian University Athletics and Norman High School Halls of Fame.
This was not all that defined her. Her ability to help her players become accomplished people stood out as she propelled OU to being the biggest stage for women’s basketball outside of the yearly national championship courts. Coale’s trademark high-heels were a metaphor for the lofty goals she sets for herself, and her players and now her readers.
In her second book, Coale shares key aspects of life’s lessons that her readers have come to embrace. It is an inspirational collection of short stories based on her life experiences. The book employs the metaphor of a compost pile to explore how setbacks and challenges can serve as the “soil” for resilience, growth, and transformation.
Coale explains the book was born out of her desire to write after retiring from her long career. She reflects on the similarities between the “ridiculously hard” work of coaching and writing, noting that “the process in both is the prize.”
The new book is a collection of “bite-sized nuggets” of stories that Coale has collected in a file on her computer over the years, which she named “Compost”. Like its namesake, these raw ideas are turned over and processed to produce valuable lessons. She says the stories are meant to “alert us to what we might be missing while we’re looking the other way.”
The life lesson stories are intended to inspire ambitious individuals. They touch on universal experiences related to parenthood, leadership, competition, and the daily grind. Many of the stories emphasize the human condition and the emotional journey rather than just the final result.
In addition to the “Sooner Stilettos”, Coale was a leader in developing the “Sooner Big Sis Program” and involved her teams in numerous community service initiatives. While the Stilettos was an external community mentorship group, the “Big Sis” program focused on OU players mentoring local elementary students at least one hour a week in their classrooms.
In March 2021, Coale retired after 25 seasons as OU head coach. With the arrival of new head coach Jennie Baranczyk, Coale’s organizations, such as the “Sooner Stilettos,” were not continued.
“Words cannot express how honored I was to work with Sherri on her most recent book, “The Compost File,” said Carol McManus, executive editor, Mark Victor Hansen Library. “Her stories brought tears to my eyes, and gave me a practical dose of insight on everything from coaching to family and service to others.”
