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This is a guest blog post by 9th grader Tanya Tanis of Brooklyn, NY. Tanya is a member of  Girls Inc. of NYC at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women. This week, she served as WomenTalkSports.com's  guest feature writer for the 2010 WNBA Draft. This is part 1 of a three-part feature on what qualities make a good role model in women's basketball.

While I was at the 2010 WNBA Draft, I got a chance to meet and interview a group of extraordinary women.  During this experience I was able to learn about their careers and a bit about their personal lives.  They described to me their motivation for getting where they are today and the obstacles they faced to get there. 

I will be writing a few posts on my experience with these incredible women.  The first woman that had an impact on me was Sherri Coale, the head women's basketball coach at Oklahoma.  Sherri Coale is a strong woman who had confident eyes while I interviewed her.  I felt the presence of a strong and bold woman in front of me when she spoke.  She can be described as a speaker with authority and confidence.  I hope to be like her one day. 

Coale is a small town girl from Healdton, Oklahoma who started playing sports around the 5th grade.  She played basketball and ran track and field.  She was not a big fan of track, however she still won 2 track championships.  As we got deeper into conversation, I learned about how supportive her family was of her playing basketball.  When I asked what her favorite aspect of the game was she told me "I love to pass."  Right there I could see her reminiscing about her old days as a baller.  I learned about her work-life balance as a mother of two kids.  She has a son, Colton, who is 18 and a daughter, Chandler.  Both kids play basketball and Colton also plays baseball.  She talked about how without them she would not have balance out in life. 

As a role model she portrays a strong and independent woman who can do anything she sets her mind to do.  She is an inspiring woman who says to any girl or woman out there "you can do anything you put your mind to."  She went on to say, "don't do something because you are told to do it, but do it because you love it." I was inspired to meet a woman who truly showed me how strong, smart and bold every girl can be.

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