Julie Scherr

Being inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame is an incredible honor, but when I think about what brought me to this moment, I don’t think first about wins, statistics, or awards. I think about Coach Jim MacDicken.

Coach MacDicken was much more than a coach to me. In many ways, he was like a father. I was a troubled kid coming from an abusive home, and at that point in my life, I didn’t have many adults who made me feel like I was capable of becoming something more. I struggled in school, and I often felt as though teachers saw the problems in me before they saw the potential.

Coach MacDicken was different. He believed in me when I didn’t know how to believe in myself. He saw something in me that I couldn’t yet see. He challenged me, held me accountable, pushed me to be better, and showed me what it felt like to have an adult genuinely care about what happened to me. He didn’t just teach me how to become a better athlete. He taught me that I had value.

For a child who didn’t always feel safe, supported, or believed in at home, that kind of influence can change the entire direction of a life. And it did mine. So much of the person I became was shaped by what Coach MacDicken gave me during those years: confidence, discipline, resilience, determination, and the belief that where you come from does not have to determine where you end up.

As I have gotten older, though, I have also come to understand something I could never have fully appreciated as a teenage girl. Behind Coach MacDicken was Jan.  When I was young, I only saw the coach who was there for me. Now, as a wife and mother myself, I understand what it meant for Jan to share her husband with generations of athletes like me. Every practice, every game, every road trip, every late night, and every extra moment he spent helping a kid who needed him was also time that Jan gave up. There were probably dinners he missed, evenings she spent without him, family responsibilities she carried, and countless sacrifices none of us ever knew about.

And when I think about how much Coach MacDicken changed my life, I realize that Jan played a part in that too. She made it possible for him to give so much of himself to kids like me. Coach MacDicken may have been the person standing beside the court believing in me, but Jan was the quiet strength behind him who helped make that possible.

That is something I understand and appreciate far more today than I ever could have then. Coach MacDicken didn’t simply make me a better player. He helped a young girl who was struggling understand that she mattered. He showed me what encouragement, consistency, expectations, and belief could do for a person. He helped shape the woman, mother, and person I eventually became. There are people who enter our lives for a season, and then there are people whose influence becomes part of who we are. Jim MacDicken is one of those people for me.

And today, I want both Jim and Jan to know that a piece of this Hall of Fame honor belongs to them. Because long before anyone put my name in a Hall of Fame, Coach MacDicken made a young girl believe that maybe she was worth believing in. And that may be the greatest honor anyone has ever given me.

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