Another View
Gabrielle Brown is in her first season as St. Cloud State track and field and cross country head coach. The St. Paul native was an assistant coach at Macalester the past three seasons. Brown is the school’s first Black female head coach.
She told the MSR that she still is learning as a first time HC: “There is only so much that [being] the assistant coach can prepare you for. When you go into a head position, it’s one of those learning-as-you’re-going. Even with that preparation, it still seems that I’m learning,” she said.
Brown is a very charismatic person who oozes confidence wherever she goes. We first met her several years ago at Macalester. “I think that I was pretty fortunate to be able to have some of the best head coaches I worked under,” said Brown.
Coming to St. Cloud State was a true test of faith, noted the head coach. “I have so much opportunity to continue to grow [as a coach],” she continued. “The location—I’m only an hour away from home. The connections… The confirmation I got from my higher power. This is where I should be, to be my next step.
“There was something about being called to the unknown… Being forced out of my comfortability, being forced out of those familiar places as an assistant coach. I’m forced to lean on my higher power in ways that I’ve never had before. It forces me to show up even more organized and even more prepared.”
Brown is fully aware of her position at SCSU.
“Being a woman coach coaching other women athletes is huge for me,” she noted. “Every single aspect of the team now falls on my shoulder.
“I’m the first Black woman head coach. I’m also the youngest in my department. Nothing about that is comfortable… I’m able to shift my mindset because of my faith. I’m able to have endurance and strength and sustainability.
“I would not be the woman I am without me having thick skin, especially being a Black woman—that has prepared me for this job.
“I’m constantly surrounded by people that do not look like me,” said Brown proudly. “I’m so grateful that they’re learning firsthand from a Black woman as their head coach. I’m just able to disrupt so many stigmas, positively disrupt narratives about the biases that are placed on Black women.”
The St. Cloud State track team was picked to finish 14th in the NSIC outdoor track and field preseason poll. “It’s easy to complain… I take what we do have and make the best,” stated Brown.
The team also is growing right before her eyes, added the first year coach. “We went from having about 23 women in the indoor season. Now we’re up to about 36 women [for the outdoor season].
“I’m planting a lot of seeds, and they’re gonna blossom,” she predicts.
Her athletes came up with the DAWGS mantra: “We all call ourselves dawgs. A dawg is to be a woman that has discipline, to be a woman that is adaptable, to be a woman that has some work to do, a woman that is worthy, to be a woman that is growth-oriented. I love using that in our recruiting messages,” said Brown.
The SCSU head coach sees the future bright and growing. “I’m also interested in helping to develop these women holistically.”