Valorie Kondos Field, aka “Coach Val”
Head Coach Emerita, UCLA Women’s Gymnastics; Leadership Speaker & Author
Valorie Kondos Field is the former head coach of the UCLA Gymnastics Team, a position she held for 29 years. Her accolades include:
7X NCAA Team Champion
4X NCAA Coach of the Year
Pac-12 Coach of the Century
UCLA Hall of Fame Inductee
“Miss Val,” as she is affectionately known, proved that one can achieve success at the highest level while honoring her student-athletes as people first. She has been known to unflinchingly respond when asked, “What is your calling?” … “I develop SuperHeroes.”
Valorie began her career as a professional ballet dancer and choreographer. She began her coaching career in 1982 as an assistant coach for the UCLA Gymnastics Team, and in 1989 was asked to take over as head coach. Her determination to figure out how to be successful in a world in which she had no knowledge is the backdrop for her book, Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance, her speaking engagements, and her TED Talk, which has over 6 million views. For many of these reasons, Miss Val has been hailed by her former student-athletes as the original Ted Lasso.
Miss Val also teaches a leadership course at UCLA in the master’s program for the Graduate School of Education. She also teaches a similar course at the University of Arkansas entitled Leadership from Lincoln to Lasso.
As a breast cancer survivor, Valorie’s discussion of life lessons is even more impactful. Since beating breast cancer through medical science, as well as making gratitude her default, she developed her life motto: Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance.