Tina Sloan Green is one of the pioneers of women’s lacrosse, first as a player and later as a coach. She was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team for three years and a member of the trailblazing U.S. Women’s Touring Team to Australia and New Zealand in 1969.
Later, as the first African-American head coach of a women’s college lacrosse team, she led Temple University to three national championships during her 22-year tenure, with 11 straight final four appearances at one point. Green was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997.
Jenny Levy, current head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team and the only coach in the history of the University of North Carolina program, is equally as accomplished. She ranks third in NCAA Division I history in career wins, and has two national championships to her credit.
Levy and Green have never met, but do share a common connection.
Meet Alison Williams, one of the hidden figures in the history of lacrosse among women of color.
Williams played four seasons for Green at Temple, and was a member of the 1984 national championship team. She is quick to point to Green as an important mentor in her life.
“I would not have graduated college if not for Tina,” said Williams, a native of Malvern, Pa. “More than a coach, she constantly sat me down and made sure I was on track academically.”
Eventually, Green helped lead Williams into coaching, first at the high school level and later, as a collegiate head coach. Williams coached for seven seasons at the NCAA Division I level, leading programs at Towson State, Georgetown, and Villanova.
One day, early in her tenure at Georgetown, Williams received an unsolicited phone call from Jane Miller, the Hall of Fame coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Miller was calling on behalf of one of her recent graduates.
“She called me out of the blue, but when Jane calls, you listen,” Williams said. “She asked me if I might have some interest in talking to one of her players who had just graduated and was looking to possibly get started in coaching.”
Williams recalls making an immediate connection with the young lady, who was known then as Jenny Slingluff. A two-time, first-team All-American, Slingluff (now Levy) had also been named the 1992 NCAA Attacker of the Year.
“I knew right away I wanted to hire her,” Williams said. “She didn’t really have any coaching experience, but she had this great zeal and enthusiasm.”
Initially, Levy did not accept Williams’ offer to join the staff at Georgetown. She wasn’t sure that coaching was really the direction that she wanted to go.
“I had a lot of different interests, and in truth, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Levy said. “That’s why I said no to Georgetown the first time.”
Women’s lacrosse history may have been significantly different had Williams not reached back out to Levy a few months later. With the spring season almost ready to start, Williams called again to see what Levy was doing.
“I accepted the position the second time,” Levy said. “I’m super grateful that Alison pursued me twice.”
Williams came to quickly realize that her young assistant had a great understanding of game strategy. She had the ability to take a complex offensive concept and help to simplify it for the players.
“She just explained things so well to our players,” Williams said.
It didn’t take long for others to also take notice of Levy. When UNC decided to launch its varsity program in 1994, the school tagged Levy as its initial head coach. Just two years removed from her undergraduate playing career at UVA, she became one of the youngest head coaches in the country.
“I’m sure I was the underdog among the candidates since I had no head coaching experience, but I was confident in my preparation for the interview,” Levy recalled.
