Tracey Dorow Taking Part In NCAA Academy

Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University women's basketball coach Tracey Dorow was recently selected and is currently attending the NCAA Women Coaches Academcy in Atlanta, Ga. The five-day academy opened today (June 10) and runs until Monday (June 14).

Created in 2002, the NCAA Women Coaches Academy, through support from the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA), provides skills training for coaches at all levels to assist them in being more efficient, productive, resourceful and successful. The academy is designed for women coaches who are ready and willing to increase their individual effectiveness by learning advanced skills and strategies that directly affect their personal and team success. The participants learn skills that are not sport specific, yet ones that are relevant and necessary for coaching responsibilities, beyond the X's and O's.

Dorow, who will embark on her 13th season at the Bulldog helm next winter, is among 25 female coaches taking part in one of the organization's annual summer academies. The coaches will discuss philosophy and fundamentals, management skills, communication strategies and career development. In the end, the Women Coaches Academy has three objectives which consist of skills development, retention and mentoring, all for the advancement of the student athlete. To date, there have been 15 highly successful sessions of the five-day academies, which are open to any coach from any sport, and any division.

In her previous 12 seasons at the Bulldog helm, Dorow has guided FSU to 10 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament appearances, nine winnings seasons, three NCAA Division II Tournament bids and a league championship.

FSU women's basketball tipped off a new era when Dorow was named head coach prior to the 1998-99 season. The Bulldogs responded by posting an 18-10 record and tying a school record for victories during her first season at the helm. The following year, Dorow led FSU to a 22-7 mark and the school's first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance while also posting the nation's top grade point average at the NCAA Division II level.

In 2003-04, Dorow's squad reached the NCAA-II Tournament for the second time in school history and placed second in the GLIAC North Division with a 21-10 overall record. She also led FSU to the NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen during the 2006-07 season. Presently, Dorow owns more victories and holds a better winning percentage than any previous coach in Bulldog women's basketball history with a 196-143 (.578) career mark.

Dorow, who represents the fifth head coach in the program's history, spent the 1997-98 season as a graduate assistant coach for the University of Indianapolis before being hired by FSU. Prior to Indianapolis, Dorow spent three years as an assistant coach at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Mich. She helped guide the Indians to a 69-22 record from 1994-97, including two Western Collegiate Conference titles, a fourth-place finish in the 1997 NJCAA National Tournament, and a number one national ranking in February 1997.

During her collegiate playing career, Dorow played two years with NCAA Division I Illinois State University (1990-92) and one with NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University (1993-94). She led ISU in assists while finishing seventh in the Gateway Conference in 1991-92. Dorow earned "Newcomer of the Year" and "Best Defensive Player" honors at NMU under head coach Mike Geary.

In 1993, Dorow coached an AAU 16-and-under girl's team that won the Michigan State Tournament and advanced to the AAU Nationals. She and former Bulldog player Tianna Kirkland, who currently serves as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, traveled to the Czech Republic in 2001 as part of an Athletes in Action contingent, the sports ministry program of Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Dorow was a two-time all-state and academic all-state selection at St. Joseph (Mich.) High School.  She was also named to the Class B All-Decade team in 1989 and finished third in Michigan's "Miss Basketball" voting.

The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) member earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Western Michigan University in 1996.

Tracey and her husband, Rob, reside in the Big Rapids area along with their one-year old daughter, Lainie.

Please visit this link for more information on the NCAA Women Coaches Academy:
NCAA Women Coaches Academy