“I remember when I first met you and your dad,” said Kristen Goggin, Union alumni and volunteer assistant coach for the Union volleyball team.
“You didn’t say a word.” (Most people’s first impression of me).
“And your dad’s eyes were piercing into my soul.” (Most people’s first impression of him).
And I remember my first impression of Kristen Goggin. I was on my campus visit during my senior year of high school. I had already gone through many college visits and was not excited to go on another. I had lunch in Cobo with a few of the volleyball players that didn’t have class at noon. We sat towards the back at one of the long tables (back when we could sit at a table with more than four people), and it was Goggin, me, two other girls I honestly cannot remember and my dad a couple seats down.
I had already done the meet-and-greet team lunches before, but this one was different. I felt welcomed and comfortable. I credit that feeling to Goggin. I was slightly intimidated at first; she was the poster child for a California girl: long blonde hair, blue eyes, perfectly tanned skin and long acrylic nails (something most volleyball players don’t have, granting my dad to give her the nickname ‘Nails’). But after eating with her, I remember thinking, “If I come here, she’s the person I want to be friends with.”
Goggin is known for being a friend to all and having a lasting impact on every relationship she makes. Now that she has graduated, Goggin continues to use her natural talent of making people comfortable in the classroom and on the volleyball court. Despite getting her degree in athletic training, Goggin has found a position at West Carroll, acting as the assistant volleyball coach for the high school team, a kindergarten teacher’s aid in the morning and a librarian for third through sixth grade in the afternoon.
“It is strange because if you ask any of my friends, I’m not one to read a book,” said Goggin.
Having known Goggin for three years, it was strange learning that she was going to be a librarian, but her time in the kindergarten classroom has influenced her greatly and made her realize that she had a secret passion. Goggin confessed to me that if her plan to be a coach did not work out then she would go back to school to get her master’s in education and become a kindergarten teacher.
“I like being involved with the kids and being that influence,” said Goggin. “They see me as the cool, chill teacher because I’m 22 and ‘close’ to their age.”
While there may be a 16-year age gap between her and her students, Goggin only has a year or two on the girls she coaches for the volleyball team at Union. After being a player herself, Goggin has volunteered to be an assistant for the Union volleyball team this year. The transition from player and teammate to coach was easier than she anticipated and has given her a new confidence in her passion for coaching.
“I know that if I give feedback that it will be valued,” said Goggin. “I feel like I have more of a purpose now, if that makes sense, not to belittle my time as an athlete at Union, but I just feel like I’m more useful now as a coach rather than a player.”
The only struggle is having to figure out when she can act as a friend versus a coach to the players. Having known most of the girls for a couple years, Goggin sometimes has to stop herself from acting as their previous teammate and remember to perform her coaching duties. For the girls, the transition of having Goggin as a teammate to a coach was easy to accept because of her impact while she was on the team.
“When she was our teammate, she was always very wise off the court and even when she was on the court,” said Sydney Sample, sophomore cellular and molecular biology major. “And now with her sticking around we get to see that same perspective but excelled.”
The weirdest shift for Goggin is getting used to hanging out with staff who used to be her superiors. She jokes about how she has been invited to what she calls ‘Wives’ Night and Me’ (because she is the only one who is not married… yet) where she has a classic girls’ night with the wives in the athletic department.
“I hang out with 25-year-olds now,” said Goggin. “I’m maturing.”
From our first meeting to now, my relationship with Goggin has matured from stranger to teammate to coach, but the label of friends will never change. The maturation in Goggin is apparent, even in her appearance. Instead of the long blonde locks, Goggin now sports a shoulder-length chop, giving her an extra sense of maturity.
The nails, however, are still acrylic, with a coffin shape and sharp edges.
