Coaches are no longer limited to just the courts and fields. This year, three athletics staff members are stepping into the classroom as advocates.

This change was inspired by the success of athletic trainers Aubrey Fennell and Stephanie Green as co-advocates of a class of 2024 advocacy. While the new role called for a heavier workload and often coming into work a couple of hours earlier, the duo had nothing but positive things to say about the experience. “It was worth it. The connections I made and the amount that I felt engaged in the community were really rewarding,” Green said.

The two became advocates in 2021 after taking over a sophomore advocacy of a teacher who left Menlo. “[The new role] came with a bit of a learning curve at first because we didn’t necessarily have classroom experience, but it also was nice to get to know students who we didn’t see on the field,” Fennell said.

Getting to know students wasn’t the only rewarding aspect of the job. “I feel like I’m better ingrained in the Menlo community now since I got to know a lot of teachers,” Green said. This blending of athletics staff into academics has only continued this year with the addition of Athletics Administrative Assistant Quinn Holland, Girls Lacrosse Program Director Parnika Patel and Director of Athletics Earl Koberlein to the advocacy team.

This year, each of the three new athletics advocates have been paired with a teacher, a slightly different approach from Fennell and Green’s role as advocates. “As much as I loved being [an advocate] with Aubrey, we had the same schedule which led to some conflicts, but the change this year makes the schedule more flexible,” Green said.

Holland, who coaches girls volleyball in the fall, rarely gets home before nine in the evening and with her added role as a co-advocate this year, she often arrives at campus around ten in the morning for student life. “It has stretched out my schedule especially because volleyball is in season right now […] but it’s worth it in the end,” Holland said.

Holland has treasured the opportunity to get to know students and teachers that she hadn’t met through athletics. “Part of the reason for me getting into advocacy was because I wanted to get to know everybody outside of the athletics half of the world of Menlo,” she said. “To be able to interact with the track runners and tennis players for example that I have in my advocacy, which I normally don’t have the opportunity to do because I’m in season during their sport, is super exciting.”

So, when Patel and Holland saw Menlo administration’s request for athletic staff advocates, the two were quick to meet with Upper School Assistant Director Adam Gelb to express their interest and ultimately join Koberlein’s coach advocates for the 2024-25 school year.

While Green is no longer an advocate, she is excited for the new athletics staff members who have become advocates this school year. “I really love the direction the school is taking here,” she said.