Instructor in her 31st year at Gavilan will receive award
Gilroy – Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, Susan Dodd played a lot of tennis with her brother, Charles. There were no opportunities at Ripon High School, or most other high schools throughout the state, for girls to compete athletically.
It was 10 years before Title IX. Dodd and her mother accepted it when they were told by school administrators that there were no opportunities for girls.
Things have changed in the last 30 years. Educator/coaches like Dodd have seen to that, not so much by what they say but what they do.
This is Dodd’s 31st year at Gavilan. As she likes to say, “You find a place you like. It’s good to you, you’re good to it, and it works out.”
Gavilan has known for many years that Dodd is good for the school. Others recognize it, too, which is why she will be in Ontario on April 4 to be honored as the 2007 State Community College Organization of Physical Educators (SCOPE) Educator of the Year.
Dodd, 57, a physical education instructor and the department chairperson for the last 13 years, has coached virtually every sport at Gavilan other than soccer.
When she was hired by the college in 1976, it was to coach volleyball, basketball and softball.
“Title IX had just opened up,” Dodd said. “It was the beginning for the women’s sports program here. Volleyball, softball and basketball had been in existence for one year.”
In 1979 when the college was in between football coaches, Dodd was the interim coach. At the time, she was also athletic director which at the time made her one of only two women overseeing an athletics department in the California Community College system. She coached at least one sport at Gavilan into the mid-90s, including men’s tennis.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Gavilan director of athletics Ron Hannon said of Dodd’s award. “Her passion for teaching and connecting with her students is evident every day in the classroom.”
She has coached such athletes as softball players Gail Perrolini, who went on to California State University-East Bay (formerly Hayward) and Diane Freitas, who went on to California State University-Chico.
Dodd calls athletics a “lifetime opportunity,” and fulfilled one of her goals by completing the Avenue of the Giants Marathon in 2004. But there are also the lifetime memories.
There was the time when she was coaching softball and a wide-eyed volleyball player decided she wanted to compete. On her first plate appearance, the count went to 3-0 on the player and Dodd flashed the “take” sign. Naturally, the player swung at the next pitch.
There was also her first class of student-athletes, basketball players who followed the rules to the letter. That is until the last day of practice. Everyone was expected in the gym ready to go on time, and none of her girls were present at the prescribed time. Suddenly, they all come dressed with water polo outfits, including caps. Their team picture had been taken in the women’s locker room. It still sits on Dodd’s shelf.
Women’s athletics has come a long way since 1976, and Dodd has been able to view the evolutionary process from the same college.
