One of Irma Garcia’s greatest mentors was someone who dealt her a harsh blow — the physical education teacher who cut her from her high school basketball team.
“The only thing I knew was pick-up ball,” Garcia recalls. “I actually got cut in high school because I didn’t know the rules. I had to learn the rules to make the team. Then I could take anybody.”
Today, as the athletic director at St. Francis College, a Division I institution in Brooklyn, N.Y., Garcia thrives on teaching others the rules of sports and sports administration. During her ascent to the top sports administrative position at her alma mater, she thrived on the input she received from mentors, but there was little information available about professional development and networking.
“I tell my coaches and staff you have to participate in professional growth and development opportunities,” says Garcia, who coached the St. Francis’ women’s basketball team for 11 years. “You have to be part of committees and learn about things that are going to help you become a better administrator. If you’re a minority, you have to do it because you have to understand the culture.”
Garcia learned of her distinction as the first Hispanic woman to lead a Division I program at a conference where she spoke about opportunities for women in college athletics.
“There are so many qualified women out there that could have been the first,” Garcia says. “I feel that this is something that I was given to do something with. I want to give back.”
Garcia pays particular attention to young Hispanics, largely based on her own experiences.
