Marne Fauser

United Way of Central Illinois President & CEO. Retired coach. Believes in teamwork and accountability. Mom of 2 amazing kids. #lakelife

[Coaching Advice @CoachingAdvice]

Coaches - Let's not raise a generation of athletes who expect recognition for simply “showing up”.

Let's reward dedication, hard work, character, & excellence!

~ via @CoachKurtHines

[Marsha Frese @CoachFrese]

We need to have a real discussion about what travel ball is costing the average parent. In cities with sky high hotel costs. Parents hang in there.

[Marne Fauser @MarneFauser]

@KurtPegler @ICC_Cougars @ICC_CougarsWBB @Cougs_4_life She is an absolute gem! ❤️

[Brett L. Tolman @tolmanbrett]

Worth the read.

[The Winning Difference @thewinningdiff1]

As adults, we need to stop 'stealing the struggle' from our kids.
When we 'steal the struggle', we steal their opportunity for growth & learning.
We need to prepare them for the path (teach resilience, reflection, and self-respect), but we can't prepare the path for them.

[Hoop Herald @TheHoopHerald]

The 3 people that can never have a bad day if you want to be a great team

1) Head Coach
2) Point Guard
3) Best Player

(Via @MarvinW80261365 🎥)

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Vanderbilt Head Football Coach Clark Lea (@Coach_Lea) epitomizes the meaning of ownership.

I love this clip because it's a masterclass in refusing to play the victim, escaping the echo chamber that imprisons so many people, and understanding that the internal agreement you make to chase excellence comes with immense pain and a hard truth: Nobody is coming to save you.

🔥 We are not victims in this process. The joy we experience is often equal and opposite to the pain we endure. Growth isn't found by avoiding adversity, it's found by carrying it with pride. The struggle you're facing today may be the very thing preparing you for the opportunities you're praying for tomorrow.

🧭 You don't control every circumstance, but you do control your response. This is the ground you stand on. This is where you're supposed to be. There are no mistakes. Every challenge, setback, and obstacle has the potential to drive you forward if you're willing to accept it as part of your journey rather than evidence that you've been treated unfairly.

🪞 Ownership requires honesty. Be proud of where you are, but be honest about where you've fallen short. The objective is never to wait for someone else to rescue you. The objective is always to perform better. To improve. To adapt. To grow. Excellence begins the moment you stop asking who will save you and start asking how you can become better.

The moment you stop seeing your circumstances as something happening to you and start seeing them as something shaping you, adversity transforms from a burden into a blueprint.

@VandyFootball is leaning into this idea for the 2026 season. #AnchorDown

[Marne Fauser @MarneFauser]

@CoachAmyEagan @UNMLoboWBB Love this!

[Sports Patriot @SportsPatriotUS]

I’m going to say this as calmly as possible:

Watching Caitlin Clark in the WNBA has become genuinely hard to stomach.

Not because she struggles sometimes. Not because she makes mistakes. Not because she gets criticized. That comes with being great.

It’s hard to stomach because it has become obvious that the league, the officials, the media, the players, and even her own organization have all decided that the most important thing is not letting Caitlin Clark become too big.

And that is insane.

This league was handed the most marketable, electric, revenue-generating player women’s basketball has ever seen, and instead of building around the moment, too many people seem obsessed with humbling her.

She gets fouled. Held. Hit. Cheap-shotted. Mocked. Targeted. Then when she reacts like a normal competitor, suddenly everyone wants to analyze her attitude.

No.

Her attitude is not the story.

The story is that a generational player is being treated like a problem by the very league she helped drag into mainstream relevance.

This reminds me of the worst kind of youth coach... the one who sees a special player, feels threatened by her talent, and slowly drains the joy out of her in the name of “teaching humility.”

That is what this looks like.

The freedom she played with at Iowa is disappearing. The fire is still there, but the joy looks damaged. The confidence looks weighed down. She looks like someone constantly fighting the refs, opponents, narratives, coaching decisions, jealousy, and a league culture that should be protecting its golden opportunity instead of resenting it.

And let’s be honest: Stephanie White has not helped.

Benching Caitlin Clark randomly when she is controlling the game tempo, or having your best shooter off the floor in critical game ending minutes when a victory is within reach is basketball malpractice. Limiting her rhythm, downplaying her greatness, benching momentum, and treating her like just another piece instead of the engine is absurd.

You do not take a player who changed the economics of your sport and manage her like you’re afraid her greatness might offend the room.

Nike deserves criticism too. Other players get signature shoes rolled out with urgency, while the biggest draw in women’s basketball is somehow still waiting on that signature shoe. That is not confusing. That is revealing.

Fans are not stupid.

They see the fouls.
They see the double standards.
They see the jealousy.
They see the media resentment.
They see the league benefiting from her popularity while refusing to fully embrace her.
And here is the part the WNBA better understand quickly:
People are not tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark be humbled.
They are tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark be great.
If she walked away tomorrow, the fans would follow her. The sponsors would follow her. The energy would follow her. The high salaries and the charter jets would follow her. And the league would be forced to confront the uncomfortable truth it keeps trying to avoid:

Caitlin Clark did not need the WNBA nearly as much as the WNBA needed Caitlin Clark.

At some point, her family, her agent, and her team need to ask a hard question:

How much longer do you let a league profit from her while allowing the culture around her to beat the spirit out of her?

Because from the outside looking in, this does not look like normal adversity anymore. It looks like abuse.

It looks like a league trying to break the very player who made millions of people care.

https://t.co/AAxFrO46Z4

[Lobo Women's Basketball @UNMLoboWBB]

𝓖𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓒𝓸𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓔𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓷 Part 3️⃣

The core values 🫡

#GoLobos | @CoachAmyEagan

[Jon Beck @CoachJonBeck]

Our youth system is beyond broken. We’ve devalued real coaches. Kids aren’t developed, they are overtrained, burned out, forced to specialize early & pressured to win at all costs. Structural change is needed. We don’t teach the game anymore! We promote the game & it’s killing us

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Matt Rhule (@CoachMattRhule) is widely regarded as one of the best builders of culture in the world.

Much of his philosophy with @HuskerFootball was shaped by his experience as a walk-on at Penn State, where he learned three foundational truths:

1. "Everything Matters".
2. Every person deserves to be held to championship standards.
3. The most important investment you can make is in the person, not the player:

🏆 Championship standards only stick when they apply to everyone. The moment the rules bend for one person, the culture begins to break for everyone. The fastest way to erode trust in a team is to be selective with accountability. If the star player can skip the line, arrive late, or ignore details that would get someone else corrected, the message is clear: talent earns exemption. When no one is above the standard and no one is beneath it, trust deepens, entitlement disappears, and discipline becomes a shared identity rather than just a set of rules imposed by coaches.

🪣 Every player carries water for the program. The star may score the points, but the walk-on who dives on the floor in practice also helps build the habits that win championships. The star may finish the play, but the walk-on helps build the foundation that makes the play possible. When a team understands that every person carries water, no role feels small, and everyone takes OWNERSHIP of the mission.

🫡 Holding every person to the same standard is one of the highest forms of respect. It tells your best players they are not above the team, and it tells your role players they are essential to it. It will take everyone to win a championship, and just one person to mess it up.

The most disciplined teams transform accountability into a shared promise: we will honor each other enough to demand the best from everyone, regardless of role, situation, or title.

[James Purchin @JamesPurchin]

The best cultures don’t happen by accident.
They’re built with intention.

Dan Lanning said they spent 4 months defining the DNA of their program before ever putting it on a wall.

4 traits:

Connection - because players fight harder for people they truly know.

Growth - win or lose, it's “growth week.” The standard is always improving.

Toughness - handling hard without flinching.

Sacrifice - being okay with the team winning even when you don’t get the spotlight.

That’s leadership.

Not just demanding standards…
but building an environment where people want to live them out.

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Curt Cignetti shares a universal truth about habits and consequences.

"In life - you got freedom of choice, but not freedom of consequence."

"First you form your habits, then your habits form you."

Every choice and action you take compounds. The small decisions you make daily - preparation, work ethic, and how you respond - those become your habits.

And over time, those habits become your identity.

You're free to choose. But the consequences of those choices aren't optional.

Your habits are shaping who you become.
(🎥IU Athletics )

[Taylor Eldridge @tayloreldridge]

Wichita State just announced that it is discontinuing its NCAA men's and women's golf programs, effective immediately.

The ripple effects from the House v. NCAA settlement have been felt at all levels of college sports. And now, they've reached Wichita.

Here's WSU release:

[The Sport Parent @TheSportParent]

Youth Sports Officials and Referees Quitting at Record Rates, Blaming Unruly Parents .....
https://t.co/q00gPE2wtn

[Lobo Women's Basketball @UNMLoboWBB]

Introducing the Amy Eagan Show podcast.

The first episode is up, where @CoachAmyEagan speaks on the first month at UNM and the Lobo newcomers.

🎙️https://t.co/0HmTKH1j0f
#GoLobos