Their Hearts Are in the Kitchen
Who?
Bobbi Hazeltine, head women’s basketball coach and newly appointed director of the First Year Experience program. At WWCC since 1999.
Most important part of the job?
I’m a role model and mentor, and I nurture our students. My greatest joy is watching them walk across the stage at graduation. Of course we love to win games, but my favorite day of the year is graduation. Teaching basketball is a very small part of what I do. I tell my girls that they are going to learn a little bit about basketball from me, but they are going to learn a lot about life.
Biggest challenge?
I lose half my team every year. Just when I get a team where I want it, with everything it takes to win, half of them graduate. This year we were the top women’s basketball team in the Northwest Athletic Conference, but next year half of our players will be new.
People should know?
This is the best place in the world. It’s so much like a family. Every single department on campus embraces our students. No student is ever just a number to us.
Surprising things?
I play the piano and the saxophone. And when I retire I hope to play in the Walla Walla Valley Band.
Community activities?
My team volunteers all over town. We work at the Christian Aid Center raking leaves, at the Brookdale Assisted Living giving manicures, at the AAUW book fair, at the Walla Walla Catholic Schools Sausage Fest, we do a lot of food drives and mitten drives, and every year we do a breast cancer fund raiser through Pink Week home games. We’ve raised over $10,000 that way.
For fun?
I love sports. Even though I’m a basketball coach, I like football and baseball even better. I want to go to every major league baseball park in America. So far I’ve been to 13 out of the 30. This summer I’ll add Angel Stadium in Anaheim and Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.
Family?
I’ve been married for 30 years to my husband Rory. Our daughter Allison lives in the Moscow area and is married with three kids, and our son Nick lives here with his wife and two kids. He’s the head basketball coach at DeSales High, so he’s kind of following in my footsteps. Spending time with my five grandkids is just the best.
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