SALT LAKE CITY — For the Westminster University Women's Basketball team, little time is spent outside of practice. For their new head coach, Asami Morita, the silence is often broken by the screech of sneakers and team talk.
"I always think teaching basketball is easy, helping them to grow as a person is harder, so if I can help them grow as a person, I can help them grow as a basketball player," Morita said.
Her emphasis on professional and personal development for her players like, Zakkria Robinson, has helped them remain level-headed on the roller coaster that can often be college basketball.
"I think our coach is instilling big factors like just being dedicated, committed, and working hard because that's what it takes in any sport, in any aspect of life is just to be committed to it," Robinson said.
Coach Asami isn't just building the foundation for a successful basketball program, she's also making history as the first Japanese-born head coach in college basketball. Asami was born in Nara, Japan; there she fell in love with the game of basketball.
"I just started to play for fun and loved it," Asami said.
When she decided to become a coach, she knew she had to come to the best basketball country in the world and later found a home as head coach at Westminster University.
"The value the school has of diversity and inclusion and academic success and just providing the overall experience for the students athletes to do well in life was very attractive to me," Asami said.
As a trailblazing coach, she's inspiring her players and hoping to progress the movement of women coaches – especially those from Japan.
"My coach being the first Japanese head coach it just helps me to keep going because I'm going to be the first graduate from my family to graduate college with a bachelor's degree," Robinson said.
"If you love it, you just have to push hard work hard, we shouldn't just give up just because it's hard it's going to be hard for anyone to make it happen, but you just have to do it," Asami said.
The Westminster Women's Basketball Team has two home games left next week. Tuesday, they play Colorado Mesa University at 5:30 p.m. and Thursday they play Western Colorado University at 5:30 p.m.
