The University of Mississippi Athletics
NGWSD Beyond the Box: Heather Landry Shirley
2/3/2019 | Athletics
Every February, universities, colleges, and schools and leagues around the country celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an event honoring the importance of females in athletics. In celebration of that day, Ole Miss is going even further "beyond the box", recognizing women for the many roles they play in athletics, from competing and coaching to fundraising and communications, Oxford calls itself home to 153 female student-athletes.ย ย The Rebels are also proud to employ 77 women in the Ole Miss athletic department, helping make each and every one of our roles vital to the day-to-day functions and success of Ole Miss Athleticsย
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Beyond the box withโฆย Heather Landry Shirley
Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Medicine
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What is your role within Ole Miss Athletics?
As Assistant AD of Sports Med, I supervise several of our staff athletic trainers working with our teams at Ole Miss and I am heavily involved in helping to create and maintain our departmental policies and procedures. In addition to that, I also work with our Center for Health & Sports Performance. With that, I have many different responsibilities, such as developing opportunities for continued education for both our staff and healthcare providers in the medical community, working on research projects that involve both our student-athletes and others within our community, and creating opportunities for outreach to further connect our university and department with the community. I also work with both undergraduate and graduate students to provide learning opportunities on a comprehensive healthcare approach.ย
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When did you realize you wanted to make working in sports an eventual career?
I started playing organized sports around 4thgrade on a rec league softball team. Throughout school, I participated in various sports like gymnastics and cheerleading. By the time I reached my junior year of high school, I had sustained several sports-related injuries. My biology teacher, who happened to be one of the football coaches, asked me if I had ever thought about being an athletic trainer. He said 'You love sports and want to go into the field of medicine, I think this would be a great fit for you.'ย ย So, I started researching the profession and it sparked my interest. By the time I graduated, I decided that was definitely the profession I wanted to give a try when I got to college. While studying kinesiology at Louisiana State University, I was able to start working in the athletic training department as a volunteer, and eventually received a scholarship for it. There was no turning back after that.ย
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Do you think there are benefits to having females in key roles in male athletics, such as NFL referees, assistant coaches, Directors of Player Developmentโฆ?
I think having a female presence in each of these roles in important in regards to gender equality and letting kids know at an early age that it is possible to do anything that they set their minds and hearts to. More importantly, I believe there is a balance that is associated with females being present in male athletics that is beneficial for both. I know many strong females working daily in the realm of male athletics that made and are continuing to make a strong impact on the lives of the male athletes they are working with. Everyone has something to bring to the table regardless of whether they are male or female and I think that finding where you fit, figuring out the role that you will play and how you can make the most of the opportunity for yourself is what is important.ย
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Why do you think it is important to have females involved in athletics in today's society?
I believe a continual presence of females in athletics gives the younger generation something to look up to and to strive to be. It is always good to have ambitions and goals, and it is even more helpful to know that someone else has paved the way to make it possible for you as a female in the future.ย
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Heather Landry-Shirley has been an Ole Miss employee for nearly 17 years. She loves to go and watch baseball games, but also enjoys a good basketball game on TV. You can find her tailgating with barbeque nachos and playing some corn hole, and when the day is done she likes to curl up on the couch and watch her favorite sports movie, Field of Dreams.
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Beyond the box withโฆย Heather Landry Shirley
Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Medicine
ย
What is your role within Ole Miss Athletics?
As Assistant AD of Sports Med, I supervise several of our staff athletic trainers working with our teams at Ole Miss and I am heavily involved in helping to create and maintain our departmental policies and procedures. In addition to that, I also work with our Center for Health & Sports Performance. With that, I have many different responsibilities, such as developing opportunities for continued education for both our staff and healthcare providers in the medical community, working on research projects that involve both our student-athletes and others within our community, and creating opportunities for outreach to further connect our university and department with the community. I also work with both undergraduate and graduate students to provide learning opportunities on a comprehensive healthcare approach.ย
ย
When did you realize you wanted to make working in sports an eventual career?
I started playing organized sports around 4thgrade on a rec league softball team. Throughout school, I participated in various sports like gymnastics and cheerleading. By the time I reached my junior year of high school, I had sustained several sports-related injuries. My biology teacher, who happened to be one of the football coaches, asked me if I had ever thought about being an athletic trainer. He said 'You love sports and want to go into the field of medicine, I think this would be a great fit for you.'ย ย So, I started researching the profession and it sparked my interest. By the time I graduated, I decided that was definitely the profession I wanted to give a try when I got to college. While studying kinesiology at Louisiana State University, I was able to start working in the athletic training department as a volunteer, and eventually received a scholarship for it. There was no turning back after that.ย
ย
Do you think there are benefits to having females in key roles in male athletics, such as NFL referees, assistant coaches, Directors of Player Developmentโฆ?
I think having a female presence in each of these roles in important in regards to gender equality and letting kids know at an early age that it is possible to do anything that they set their minds and hearts to. More importantly, I believe there is a balance that is associated with females being present in male athletics that is beneficial for both. I know many strong females working daily in the realm of male athletics that made and are continuing to make a strong impact on the lives of the male athletes they are working with. Everyone has something to bring to the table regardless of whether they are male or female and I think that finding where you fit, figuring out the role that you will play and how you can make the most of the opportunity for yourself is what is important.ย
ย
Why do you think it is important to have females involved in athletics in today's society?
I believe a continual presence of females in athletics gives the younger generation something to look up to and to strive to be. It is always good to have ambitions and goals, and it is even more helpful to know that someone else has paved the way to make it possible for you as a female in the future.ย
ย
Heather Landry-Shirley has been an Ole Miss employee for nearly 17 years. She loves to go and watch baseball games, but also enjoys a good basketball game on TV. You can find her tailgating with barbeque nachos and playing some corn hole, and when the day is done she likes to curl up on the couch and watch her favorite sports movie, Field of Dreams.
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