I met Lin Laursen when I was less than a year old. I saw her every year on spring break. She was a coach for Central Arizona and I was a host for her team. I didn't know much about her expect for that she was a great coach. Little did I know she lived a great life. This is the story of her life.

Lin Laursen was born on December 12,1943. She was born in Peterson, Iowa. She had 8 siblings and she was the youngest. She lived on the farm for her whole childhood. She loved how peaceful and quiet it was there. Today this day she hates noise.

One of her brothers were in World War II. He would write letter home and to the family. Lin was really young while he was in the war so that didn't have much of an impacted on her. She was used to growing up on the farm without her siblings.

When she was younger she had to play with herself and her imagination. She had 8 siblings but there was a big age gap between her and them. She wish that she could have been closer to them but the age gap made that hard. She used to have an imaginary horse until her dad got her a real horse. That horse would be later sold because the horse was too mean and would try and hurt her. When she was 12 she got her first TV. She would only watch this if she wasn't outside or using her imagination.

Her favorite memory as a child was Christmas. Not only is her birthday in the same month but, everyone comes together. Her and her siblings age gap made it hard to be close with them because most them had the left the house. So when they came home for Christmas they were all close.

After she graduated high school she would teach PE at Dwight D Eisenhower high school in Blue Island, Iowa. She was also in a folk group called "Off the Cuff". She heard of a job opening in Coolidge, Arizona at Central Arizona college.

She arrived at Coolidge in 1971. She took a walk around campus and drove back to Iowa. She took the job there. She became an English and dance teacher and coached three sports volleyball, softball and basketball. As she thought that "To teach is to learn twice."

Being a little college in Coolidge the college didn't have a lot of money. Lin's softball, volleyball and basketball team had very little money. They didn't have a lot of money for recruiting and a little more to travel to games. She said that she has always had value for money but this made her save her money wisely.

In 1972, her Dad had a stroke. She drove back to Iowa to take care of him. He seemed to be doing fine so she drove back to Arizona to coach the rest of the volleyball season. He died after she won a national title in volleyball that same year. This was the hardest part of her life. She didn't fully understand death at the time and she missed her dad a lot.

Her mom died in 1975 three years after he dad did. Her and her siblings had to sell the farm house. They had a huge sell of the things that were in the house. She brought her Dad desk and used it for her room in the college.

In 1980 she stopped being the head coach for volleyball. This was also the year she stop coaching softball. She stopped coaching volleyball all together in 1981. This would allow her to be a full time basketball coach. As she said "Do what you love and you'll love what you'll do."

In her time being a coach she would love to give the kids nicknames. The longer names were hard to yell when they were on the court. She liked to give the kids nicknames based off a lot of things, what they liked, what they acted like or short version of their name. She has a nickname of her own actually "Boss".

Every year she would bring her team to the NJCAA basketball tournament. The tournament would change location every couple of years or stay in the same location. In that one week they would practice and play games. Over the years she had won thee NJCAA titles.

Her proudest moment in her life was when she won her first National Title. She has a lot of things she is proud of but this is her favorite.

Being a coach at a school with little funding for sports was hard. They would have to drive to every game that was far away. They flew to the NJCAA which is a JUCO women basketball tournament. She hated flying. For food on the way back she would get pizza. She loves pizza.

In 2007-2008 season she retried. She coached every game one last time. She came to Salina for the last time that year to play in the NJCAA. She taught that year for the last time that year also.

That same year she was put in the Hall of fame for the NJCAA. She was also given the WBCA (Womens basketball coach award). Later she was put into the Hall of Pride in Iowa.

After she retried she went to the dog shelter with a friend. She didn't come to adopt or look for a pet. She saw this dog she loved and took it home. The dog is name Rex. She walks him twice everyday. Rex has a girlfriend names Lucy, which is the neighbor and she walks her too.

Lin has a very bad back and has knee problems so she goes to the chiropractor. This one time she went and did what she usually does but, when she got home her neck hurt. She had broken her neck and had to wear a brace for several weeks. It still hurts to this day.

Lin has no kids but has been engaged twice. She said that being a coach was like having a bunch of kids. She also has Rex now that is like a child. She thinks that she lost all independence because of Rex but loves him anyways.

In 2012 she wrote a book about her life. The book is called "From Buckboard to Backboard."

Lin loves her life. She has never regretted anything. If she didn't make those choices then she won't be where she is today or meet the people she has. She said that they only way you can live life is to look forward.

I asked Lin if she has advice for teenagers today. She said that she felt sorry for teenagers today because they have so much knowledge thrown at them. They have so many things to worry about. She wants them to stay off their phones and find themselves within themselves.

Many of Lin's old players tell her that the two years they spent at Central were the two best years of their life. The 8 years I spent watching her coach were the best 8 years of my life.