University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Alum Finds Work with Veterans Rewarding
7/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
At the University of Minnesota, Laura (Coenen) Ryan had one of the best careers in Golden Gopher history. Despite battling illness during her junior year, she eventually became the first Gopher basketball player to score 2,000 points, tallying 2,044 total—52 more than men’s legend Mychal Thompson. She recorded 1,029 career rebounds, and earned All-Big Ten and All-America accolades before graduating in 1985. Let’s see what Ryan has been up to since leaving the U.
Laura Ryan has certainly done some traveling. A native of Neenah, Wis., she came to Minnesota for college. When her Gopher career was done, Ryan wasn’t quite ready to give up basketball. She played in Germany in 1985, and went back for another short stint later. But by then, her athletic efforts had shifted to team handball. She learned on the fly how to play the sport, and ended up playing it for a long time. Ryan was a member of the gold medal U.S. team at the 1987 Pan Am games. Then she played in the Olympics in '88, '92, and '96—held in Seoul, Barcelona, and Atlanta, respectively.
All of that international experience got Ryan interested in working with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). As an athlete, she was a member of the Athletes Advisory Council, where she got to see behind-the-scenes aspects of the Olympics. Finding that she enjoyed that side of sports, Ryan got more involved. She was on the organizing committee for the 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival, helping to set up 38 sites for the festival in the Twin Cities. She started looking at the USOC as a career option. Some other roles she has taken have included director of events for the national governing body of boxing and director of events for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation.
Now, Ryan is the associate director of the Paralympic Military Program at the USOC training center in Colorado Springs, where she had lived and trained for Olympic team handball. The program serves American servicemen and women who have suffered severe injuries, often requiring amputation or including spinal cord damage. The program runs about 15 events throughout the year, some at the center in Colorado, and others contracted out to other sites. The goal is teach the veterans how to play sports as part of the process of recovering from injury.
“It doesn’t matter if you have a leg or not—you can still do these sports,” said Ryan.
Each camp has about six to eight Paralympic sports. Most of the participants have recently returned from Iraq. Many of them come to camp unsure whether or not they can succeed in these sports. Ryan loves to see when people who were initially scared and uncertain decide to give the sports a try and end up having fun.
“For me, that’s the most rewarding part of the job,” she said.
Ryan finds her work meaningful because of the people she serves, but she also enjoys the work itself. Her role is to oversee the military sports schedule, making sure that everything is in place and running smoothly. After working in different areas of sport, Ryan discovered that events were her passion.
“I think it’s important to find something you truly love to do,” said Ryan. “I truly love to do events…You totally can tell when you find what your niche is. You’re more inspired.”
During her career at Minnesota, basketball inspired her. So did the people: Ryan credits Minnesota’s staff with being very supportive in her four years of college. It’s hard for her to pick one single favorite Gopher memory, but one that stands out has to be getting her number retired. A banner bearing Ryan’s picture and the number 44—the first of only two retired numbers in Gopher women’s basketball—now hangs in the Williams Arena rafters.
“It feels great, especially the older you get,” she said of the honor. “My time at the U was fabulous. I think sometimes when you’re going through (college) you don’t realize how much it will help.”
The U may have helped Ryan, but she also did a lot to help her athletic teams, and now she is doing work that helps people who have made sacrifices for their country. We wish her all the best as she continues in this rewarding career.
Written by Justine Buerkle - Athletic Communications Student Assistant
