Top professional athletes share a determination that drives them to perform and excel to a level of success that only 10 percent of players achieve in their lifetime. These champions’ not-so-secret formula for exceptional play is a balanced mixture of discipline, sacrifice, tenacity and passion for the game that gives them the grit to outshine their contemporaries. And while sports fans liken them to superheroes, these elite athletes entertain us with their skills, inspire us with their physical prowess and encourage us to dream beyond accomplishments on the field, mat or court.
Retired WNBA and overseas professional basketball player, NCAA champion, and former assistant coach at Texas A&M, Sydney Carter is a part of that talented tenth. After being one of the most celebrated players in women’s basketball, today she is the assistant coach and director of player development at the University of Texas, training and molding young players vying to make it into the coveted society of professional athletes.
Carter is the fifth of seven children and was blessed to be born into a family of sports competitors. She acknowledges that growing up, she aimed to be first at everything she attempted. Instead of idolizing personalities she watched on television, Carter’s focus was on outdoing her brothers and sisters to achieve No. 1 status in the family circle.
“I was blessed to be born into an athletic family, but I have to credit my mother for being that guiding force. I was athletic, so I played many different sports. I started volleyball for the first time in the eighth grade and discovered I was really good at it. But my mother told me although I was good at volleyball, basketball was going to take me where I wanted to go, and she was right. It’s taken me all over the world and allowed me so many opportunities,” Carter asserts.
Carter saw possibilities for her future early on while watching her home team, the Houston Comets, dominate in women’s basketball and being mesmerized by the physical feats of WNBA stars like Sheryl Swoopes. “I enjoyed watching those games and envisioning myself doing that. I believed if I could see it, I could be it,” Carter explains.
Her belief in herself and her abilities paid off and Carter was able to fulfill her dreams of playing in the WNBA. Like many, Carter’s dreams came with sacrifice.
“I missed the birth of my nieces. Today is my father’s birthday and I had practice, so I’m not there. My biggest sacrifice by far has been time spent with my family and loved ones,” she says.
The former WNBA star was also afforded the opportunity to realize another one of her dreams.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. Back then, I envisioned myself in a classroom with students. I didn’t know that I would be taking that passion and adding it to my skills as a player. Coaching allows me to do that and more,” she says.
Carter has been able to make another significant impact on the game of basketball through her clothing choices. While coaching at Texas A&M she received just as much attention for her fashionable attire on the sideline as she did for her ability to lead her students to victory. She earned the moniker “The Pink Pants Coach” after wearing a chic pair of pink leather pants during a breast cancer awareness game night in 2021-2022. Carter also began receiving mainstream attention from her social media posts detailing her prepping before games.
“I’m at the point in my life where I believe I can have it all. I enjoy fashion and basketball and there’s no reason I should have to pick one over the other. It makes me smile when I see little girls in the stands dressed up with their ‘I am Coach Carter’ signs. I’m happy they see they can be themselves and accomplish anything they can imagine,” she explains.
For a woman in her early 30s, Carter’s accomplishments exceed her years, and she continues to be filled with excitement for the future.
“If I could relay one thing to my players, I would want them to know they have it in them to go the extra mile to achieve their dreams. If at practice I had my players do drills until they were dead tired, then offered a thousand dollars to whoever ran another mile, there would be a brawl for it all,” she laughs. “That lets me know that they had that extra mile in them the whole time. That’s a lesson that works not only on the court but also in life. You already have what you need to succeed within you. You just have to be willing to push through.”
Photos by David “Odi” Wright
