Sandy Fowler
5/31/2002 12:00:00 AM
Sandy Fowler
Head Coach
sfowler@ia.ua.edu
(205) 348-8848
Alabama women's track and field continues to rise towards the top under head coach Sandy Fowler. In January, Beth Mallory received the NCAA Top VIII award, the highest honor one can earn as an NCAA athlete, coming off her fourth All-American season.
In February, Fowler was inducted into the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Athlete Hall of Fame. She was born in Brookline, Mass. and went to college at Northeastern University, both of which are located in the Boston area.
All this on the heels of Fowler's stint as the head coach of the United States World Championship Team in Helsinki, Finland. Under her guidance in 2005, the U.S. had one of its best World Championship showings in recent memory.
Success has come largely due to her philosophy of fielding a balanced squad, with an increasingly strong sprint, distance and field program. She is also smiling because her athletes are not only climbing the ladder in the very tough Southeastern Conference and on the national level, they are also climbing the ladder in the classroom, earning Academic All-SEC honors in increasing numbers, including nine student-athletes last season.
"Our goal is to be strong across the board," Fowler said. "Which is what what it takes to be successful in the conference. We're also going to be strong in the classroom because that's what it takes to be strong in life."
Success has been a constant during Fowler's tenure with the Tide. It didn't take her anytime at all to return the Crimson Tide to an All-American level of competition. Before her arrival prior to the 1998 season, Alabama had not had an All-American on its roster since 1996. Two Tide athletes earned All-American honors in 1999, three in 2000 and 14 in the last six seasons.
Another Fowler 'stepping stone' was returning the Tide to the top-half of the Southeastern Conference. She marked that off the list in the Spring of 2001 when the Tide took sixth at the SEC Outdoor championships just a handful of points out of fifth place.
"Getting this program back to the top of the SEC was a big step for us," Fowler said. "The Southeastern Conference is without a doubt the most talented league in the country and if you are successful here, you're going to be successful on a national level."
Fowler is quick to point out that Alabama's success is an end result of bringing in athletes who believe in the system, believe in the coaching staff and buy into the program and feel a sense of ownership.
"The pride that our athletes have in this program is what propels us to bigger and better times, heights and distances," Fowler said. "There's nothing better for me than bringing in a young athlete as a freshman and watching them grow physically and mentally within the program."
Fowler's success through the years has not gone unnoticed on the international level. In addition to serving as head coach of the World Championship squad, she was also a member of the 2000 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Staff. During her Olympic tenure, she saw a lot of things that told her that she and her staff at Alabama were on the right track.
"One of the things that really struck me at the Olympics is the importance of the team concept, even in an individual sport," Fowler said.
Fowler has been teaching the value of teamwork since her first day with the Crimson Tide. She took over a program that was once one of the Southeastern Conference's best, a program that won the conference indoor and outdoor title in 1994, but a team that spent the last part of the 90s rebuilding the championship form.
"Several things had to change for us to be successful, and I think we've taken great strides in those areas," Fowler said. "Not only are we recruiting and signing quality athletes, but we are also signing quality people who care about improving and care about their teammates improving as well."
In addition to filling the Tide's rosters with talent, Fowler and company have been fostering an attitude that can only lead to success.
"Our team needs to be strong, consistent and aggressive in all areas. My philosophy has been to be selfish when you compete, worry about yourself, be aggressive, and want the victory more than your competitor."
That type of intensity is carrying over from the track to the classroom. Each athlete knows from the first day of the recruiting process that Fowler demands excellence in the classroom as well as on the track.
"Athletes need to realize that education provides a lifetime of opportunity," Fowler said. "Earning a degree from The University of Alabama is one of the biggest accomplishments of their life. Track and field will provide wonderful dreams, memories and national records and world rankings, but an education stands alone. The opportunity to use something that you love (track & field) to accomplish this is once in a lifetime!"
Step-by-step, Fowler and Alabama have come closer and closer to returning the Tide to its championship heritage. Talent, teamwork, determination and heart are coming together, along with a generous helping of expert coaching provided by Fowler and her assistants Randy Hasenbank and Sidney Cartwright. After the last five seasons, during which the Tide produced twelve All-Americans, the Crimson Tide has made its intentions clear - success is again going to be an Alabama habit.
Fowler's coaching appointment for the 2005 World Championships and the 2000 Olympic Games aren't her only national team assignments by a long shot. In 1999, she represented the University of Alabama and the United States as a coach at the World University Games in Palma De Mallorca, Spain. In 1993, Fowler was an assistant coach on the U.S. World Championship staff and in 1990 she coached the U.S. Goodwill Games squad.
Before Alabama, she served as the University of Florida's field events coach for eight years. During that span, the Gators won four SEC team titles, two indoor and two outdoor championships and the 1992 NCAA Indoor Championship. She tutored four athletes to seven All-American honors during her Gator tenure.
Fowler's penchant for success began with her days as a champion shot-putter at Northeastern University. In addition to being a four-year, nine-time All-American, Fowler won the 1982 AIAW (the NCAA's Predecessor) National Outdoor title. She still holds a pair of Northeastern school records; shot put (53-11) and discus (165-10). She graduated from Northeastern in 1983 with a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education. She was inducted into the University's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.
In the middle of her collegiate career Fowler earned a spot on the United States Olympic squad as an alternate in the shot-put. Even though the U.S. chose not to participate in the 1980 Olympics, Fowler still counts the experience as a positive one.
"They did a lot of nice things," she said. "We had dinner at the White House and met the President and things along those lines that I will never forget."
Fowler competed internationally for the U.S.A. several times, in Bucharest, Rumania which hosted the 1981 World University Games and in New Zealand at the 1981 Pan Pacific Games. She also participated in the 1981 and 1982 USA vs. Russia meets held in Leningrad, USSR and Indianapolis, Ind. respectively.
Fowler has been active in U.S. Track and Field, serving as the National Development Coordinator for women's shot put and discus since 1988. During the late '80s and early '90s, she coached at USA Track and Field's Elite Throwers Olympic Development Camp every summer. She is second vice president of the USA Women's Track and Field Coach's Association.
Away from the track, Fowler loves water sports in her free time - swimming, water skiing and jet skiing. She is married to Cleon Fowler, who owns and operates a sports computer based timing and data business of international repute. The couple has two dogs, Juno and Mercury, and a cat Shadow.
THE FOWLER FILE
Date Hired: July 1, 1997
Birthdate: June 9, 1959
Hometown: Brookline, Mass.
High School: Brookline High School
Education:
- B.S. Physical Education, Northeastern University, 1983
- M.S. Physical Education, Syracuse University, 1988
Coaching Experience:
- Head Track & Field Coach, University of Alabama
July 1, 1997 - Present - Assistant Track & Field Coach, University of Florida
November 1989 - May 1997 - Assistant Track & Field Coach, Syracuse University
June 1985 - October 1989 - Graduate Assistant Track & Field Coach, James Madison University
September 1984 - May 1985 - Assistant Track & Field Coach, Brookline High School
November 1980 - June 1982
International Experience:
- Head Track & Field Coach
2005 United States World Championship Team
Helsinki, Finland - Assistant Track & Field Coach
2000 United States Olympic Team
Sydney, Australia - 1999 World University Games
Palma De Mallorca, Spain - Supervisor of Sports Information Desk for all Olympic Sports Officials
1996 Olympic Games ? Atlanta, Georgia - Assistant Track & Field Coach
1993 United States World Championship Team
Stuttgart, Germany - Meet Referee
1992 U.S. Olympic Trials ? New Orleans, Louisiana - Assistant Track & Field Coach
1990 U.S. Goodwill Games Team ? Seattle, Wa. - USATF National Development Coordinator
Women's Shot Put and Discus
December 1988 - Present - Head Coach
USATF Elite Throwers Olympic Development Camp
Summers 1988-1993
Coaching Accomplishments:
- 2 United States Olympians
- 1 World Champion
- 25 NCAA All-Americans
- 1 NCAA Team Title
- 4 SEC Championship Teams
- 74 Academic All-SEC honors (at Alabama)
Athletic Accomplishments:
- 1980 U.S. Olympic Team Alternate
- U.S. National Team Member
- 1981 USA vs. Russia Dual Meet, Leningrad, USSR
- 1982 USA vs. Russia Dual Meet, Indianapolis, Ind.
- 1982 USA vs. East Germany Dual Meet, Karl Marx Stadt, East Germany
- 1981 U.S. World University Team, Bucharest, Romania
- 1981 U.S. Pan-Pacific Games Team, New Zealand
- 1982 AIAW National Shot Put Champion
- Nine-Time Collegiate All-American
- Two-Time High School All-American
