Valorie Kondos Field, a Senior Fellow of UCLA’s Transformative Coaching and Leadership (TCL) Program has spent decades shaping athletes, coaches and leaders. And this year, on National Women Coaches Day, that legacy has received national recognition.
WeCOACH announced Kondos Field as a 2025–26 recipient of the Jostens Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring women in sports whose careers have combined “elite performance with a pioneering commitment to empowering girls and women in athletics.”
The prestigious award recognizes leaders who have transformed sport through both their competitive achievements and their lasting influence on future generations of coaches.
“Each of these trailblazers has transformed the landscape of sport and expanded what’s possible for women who aspire to lead,” WeCOACH CEO Vanessa Fuchs said in a press release announcing the honor. “Their impact reaches far beyond championships and accolades. They have shaped generations, opened doors, and built a more equitable future for all of us.”
“They have shaped generations, opened doors, and built a more equitable future for all of us.”
– WeCOACH CEO Vanessa Fuchs
Kondos Field, affectionately known as “Miss Val,” built one of the most iconic programs in collegiate athletics during her 29-year tenure leading the UCLA women’s gymnastics team. As head coach from 1989 to 2019, she guided the Bruins to seven NCAA championships, 18 Pac-10/Pac-12 titles, and earned four NCAA Coach of the Year honors, while mentoring dozens of Olympians and world-class performers.
But the championships only tell part of her story.
Throughout her career, Kondos Field emphasized the development of what she famously calls “SuperHeroes” or athletes who succeed “not just in competition, but in life.” Her coaching philosophy centers on authenticity, gratitude and personal growth, values she now brings to the classroom via UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies.
In the TCL program’s Philosophies of Coaching course, which she teaches alongside Dr. Arif Amlani, Kondos Field challenges her students to think deeply about leadership, character and purpose. Students examine the philosophies of influential coaches such as UCLA’s own John Wooden, as well as Phil Jackson and Bob Knight, while engaging in open discussions about values, vulnerability and the responsibilities that go along with leadership.
Her classes are famously interactive. Students stand when they speak, introduce themselves to an impressive lineup of celebrity guests (the likes of which include Jill Ellis, Alex Rodriguez, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and present their own coaching philosophies at the end of the term. It’s all part of an exercise designed to help students articulate the values that will guide their leadership journeys post-UCLA.
The learning environment is intentionally personal and reflective. Profiling Kondos Field in 2025, the Los Angeles Daily News wrote she encourages students to examine their beliefs about leadership and authenticity while creating what she calls a “strength space” where honest dialogue and vulnerability can lead to growth.
That same philosophy has guided her work well beyond the gymnasium.
A former professional ballet dancer before transitioning to coaching in 1982, Kondos Field has become an internationally recognized speaker and author, and her TED Talk exploring the meaning of success has drawn millions of viewers worldwide. She is also a breast cancer survivor and the author of Life Is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance (2018), a book reflecting on lessons from her UCLA coaching career and life experiences.
The WeCOACH Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Jostens, recognizes women who have reached the highest levels of success while paving the way for future generations in sport. Past honorees include legendary leaders such as Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer and Jill Ellis.
Kondos Field will be formally honored on May 18 in Denver during the WeCOACH Women Coaches Academies.
For the Transformative Coaching and Leadership community at UCLA, the recognition reflects a career defined not just by victories, but by impact.
In the classroom, just as on the competition floor, Kondos Field continues to challenge students to think deeply about leadership and the values that define it.
As she often reminds them, the goal is not simply to win: It’s to produce “Champions in Life.”
Named Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century, Kondos Field will receive her Lifetime Achievement Award alongside an impressive lineup of leaders in athletics, including Billie Jean King. The 2010 UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame inductee was also presented with the Women of Inspiration Award by the Los Angeles Chapter of Women in Sports and Events in 2017.
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