On Track to Reach Her Goals
April 20, 2007
By Gerad Teague
Editor’s Note: Gerad Teague is a University of Miami student in a sports writing class taught by Michelle Kaufman, sports writer for the Miami Herald.
Coral Gables, Fla. (www. hurricanesports.com) – – It was a warm, sunny day in South Florida, uncharacteristically humid for late February. Two female track athletes are in position on the track at Cobb Stadium, waiting. A woman in a white shirt and green khaki shorts peers through her sunglasses at a stopwatch, whistle held tightly between her parsed lips. She gives the signal. The sprinters take off on a frenetic pace as they appear to glide spryly across the track. The whistle sounds again. And again, a few seconds later. Each time, she yells out a number, a time measurement, ostensibly to let her athletes know where they should be on the track. As they round the final turn, her voice rises.
“70, 74, 75!” she yells. Judging by her tenor, her athletes just ran a sub par time. A few minutes later, she tells them to run again.
Amy Deem knows what it takes to win. As the coach of the University of Miami women’s track team for the past 16 years, she has taken a program and elevated it from next-to-nothing into one of the best in the country. Indeed, Deem’s story is one of hard work, perseverance, and just a little good fortune.
She was born on December 7, 1965 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, a small city nestled on the Ohio River. She attended Ohio University, majoring in education and later attaining a master’s degree in sports administration.
Deem was always interested in sports, particularly track and field. Regrettably, a series of knee surgeries to repair a chronic injury to her patella tendon precluded her from competing at the collegiate level.
In 1988, she came down to Florida to take an internship in the University of Miami Compliance Department as a requirement to fulfill her degree.
“I tell people all the time that I was at the right place at the right time and I tried to make the most of it. I was supposed to be here for six weeks and I’m still here,” Deem said jokingly.
At the time, the track program was veritably non-existent – no facility, no scholarships, no full-time coach. That all began to change in 1990 when the university, to show their commitment to building a full-fledged track program, hired Deem to be the women’s coach.
And from there, the rest is history.
Now, 16 years later, Miami is renowned as one of the top track schools in the country. Deem has had 35 student-athletes attain 126 All-America Honors and 10 National Championships.
In recognition of her achievements, Deem was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006. Last year, she was also voted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame.
“[Amy] worked for me as an intern in event management when she first came to Miami,” said Connie Nickel, the Assistant Athletic Director for the university. “I never believed she would become a coach and grow to the success she has today. Amy went from an intern in administration to working in our fund raising office to the head coach of what today is a top women’s track team. It is an amazing and unheard of path for coaches.”
Deem describes her coaching style as “hands-on.” She said she is very averse to losing; she tries to maintain a family atmosphere on the team, one of mutual respect and understanding between players and coaches.
“She’s a very giving, determined, driven,” said Assistant Coach Cherie Hicks. “She cares a lot for her athletes, so that’s what goes into a lot of her coaching.”
Deem has much to be proud of looking back over her 16 years, foremost being the Athens Olympics in 2004 when she had two athletes (Lauryn Williams and Debbie Ferguson) medal. Williams, at 20, was the youngest sprinter to medal in the 100-meter event in 32 years.
“I never would have imagined [events would transpire that way],” Deem said.
Coach Deem remains humble about her success, preferring to dole the credit out to her peers and athletes.
“It’s been a great experience to see something grow from nothing. To be respected as one of the top track programs in the country; it was a lot of hard work, a lot of frustration, she said. “We’re fortunate to have a lot of good assistants to help and a lot of wonderful student athletes.”
Indeed, modestly is an integral trait of Deem’s character, according to friend Lisa Kearns, who described Deem as being “very pleased with the success that she’s had,” but added “she’s never been the type of person to let people around her know it.”
The key to Deem’s success has been her zeal and dedication, which has bred both respect and resentment among her athletes, some of whom feel she is too rigid and that her only concern is winning – at whatever cost.
“To some degree, I understand it is her job and she wants to preserve a good reputation and wants to maintain a solid program with good recruits, but I think she is a little too strict and I find her very intimidating,” said a women’s track athlete who requested her name be withheld.
“Sometimes people take things she says the wrong way,” added All-American and Miami team captain Amy Seward. “She’s not mean but sometimes misunderstood.”
The feelings of her athletes are not lost on Deem, who recognizes her propensity to be firm and exacting and said that was a trait inculcated in her growing up by the demanding standards set for her by her parents.
“[They] had very high expectations and I think I’m kind of the same way with my student athletes. I’m hardest on the ones I know can be very, very good,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s a strength or a weakness but I think I sometimes want them to be more successful than they do.”
When she is not working with her athletes, Deem likes to spend time with her two Labrador retrievers or with friends. She also likes to cook and, when time allows, jet back to West Virginia to visit her parents.
Having recently signed a three-year contract extension, Deem sees a “bright” future ahead.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’re still trying to win a National Championship. Until that is completed I don’t think I’ll ever feel like I’m really done. What I really want to do is have Miami win a National Championship in Women’s Track and Field.”
