Interview with Terri Hailey
This interview is with Terri Hailey, who played for Coach Johnson in basketball, softball, and track. Hailey represented Johnson during her 2011 Trinity Hall of Fame induction, and even managed to be inducted herself in 2005. She played for Coach Johnson in basketball, softball, and track and was the leading candidate for Trinity’s Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year Award in 1981 (Trinitonian, 1981 p13).
When asked about Hailey's overall experience in playing for Coach Johnson she mentions that her coach was very experienced, and with the exception of her family, she was the most influential person in her life. The late coach had a great sense of humor and a great smile, but at the same time she wanted to win (T. Hailey, personal communication, March 24, 2016).
Hailey recounted a story involving Coach Johnson and the career she almost started at UTSA. Coach Johnson was actually recruited by UTSA to be their first women's basketball coach. However, Johnson liked coaching Division 3 because of the players that came out to play. Coach Johnson liked the kids because they came out to join the team because they wanted to genuinely play, not because they were forced to for scholarship (T. Hailey, personal communication, March 24, 2016).
Coach Johnson also seemed very dedicated to her players and honestly seemed to care for their well-being, so much so that she would assist in helping a team she was not coaching. At one point, Coach Johnson only coached basketball and softball and took some time off from coaching track and field. Hailey recalls that some of the players on the track team went to Johnson and mentioned that the team needed some extra assistance. Because of this, Coach Johnson drove the four hours it took to assist the track team with her coaching at their conference track meet. Johnson truly cared for her players, and the players knew they could go in and count on her for anything they needed (T. Hailey, personal communication, March 24, 2016).
Even though Coach Johnson wanted to win and wanted her playes to succeed, she wasn't all serious. There were times, that Hailey remembers when Coach Johnson would crack out some jokes. "She was a comedian. We would run sprints and she would stand by me and say 'Wow, I think my grandmother could probably run faster than you." Hailey remembers (T. Hailey, personal communication, March 24, 2016).