Sherrie Gordon, Lea Henry set new norm as athletics directors in Southwest Georgia

ALBANY — Anyone attending any sporting event in Albany likely will see either Sherrie Gordon or Lea Henry there cheering the home team on, all while ensuring everything that went into hosting the event went off without a hitch.

What the two have in common is more than just their job title and the associated responsibilities. They share a bond through the history they’ve made in the city of Albany and the opportunity to create a lasting legacy.

When hired in September 2016, Gordon became the first full-time female athletics director in Albany State history. Henry’s hiring as Dougherty County School District athletics director earlier this year made her the first female to hold that position. Nationally, the two are a part of an exclusive sorority of female athletics directors that has seen growth through the years, but still includes firsts such as theirs.

Both women understand the unique opportunity they have been presented with and plan on using their love for sports and service to help them carry out their duties to the best of their abilities.

“I’ve always enjoyed being a part of athletics. I enjoyed coaching tremendously, but I knew in the back of my mind that I at some point one day I would want to get into the administrative route,” Henry said. “To be quite honest, I’ve never looked at it as male versus female. I looked at it as having the big responsibility to lead young people.”

While the path to their respective positions are similar, they have had different examples of what leadership looked like.

Gordon is a former college basketball player turned coach and said she “came up on the shoulders of women.”

A graduate of Morgan State, she climbed the coaching ranks, first as an AAU coach and later as a coach at her alma mater before pursuing a career in administration.

Gordon said she was surrounded by nothing but strong women, starting with her high school AAU coach, Jackie Boswell. Boswell was the first woman Gordon saw wear the athletics director and coaching hats, all while maintaining a family.

It was the example and guidance of Boswell, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association commissioner Jacqie McWilliams and several other women that helped Gordon navigate her career in administration. Her previous position was as the senior associate commissioner for external business administration for the CIAA.

Gordon said being a woman in athletics comes with its own unique challenges and pressures. Still, her biggest takeaway from the influences in her professional career was it can be done.

“I was fortunate to have three women to pave the way and have confidence in me and teach me along the way,” she said.

Henry also is a former basketball player turned coach. She had the luxury of not just strong female role models, including her mother, her 1984 USA Olympic teammates and legendary Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Pat Summitt, but strong male role models including her father, W.T. Henry, and her uncle, Ferrell Henry, who held the Dougherty County AD position in the 1980s.

Henry’s father and uncle helped instill a “Why not?” attitude in her from an early age. Henry said it caused her to never see barriers, only opportunities.

“My dad and my uncle, they were the two that my career paths followed the most,” she said. “My dad always made sure that I understood he responsibility that comes with being in leadership positions. I was able to watch him and how he carried himself in those leadership positions, and it was always OK with parents and my family to be a strong female. I was never discouraged from that.”

While the positions in which they hold come with great responsibilities, both women feel and even greater sense of duty to empower the next generation.

“I think for me personally I think it’s important to set a positive example, and it’s even more important for me to be successful because not only am I a woman, but I’m a woman of color,” Gordon said. “We want women and women of color to know that although this job comes with a lot of responsibilities, we can do it and it’s our responsibility to pave the way and help others to be successful.”

Henry said the professional development of her former players is a priority of hers.

“One of the interesting statistics when Pat (Summitt) was alive, everyone always talked about how many of her former players became coaches and there’s a long list,” Henry said. “I think that had to do with, one, we were all interested in athletics, and two, because of the influence she had on us.

“So coaching for 30 years, I tried to do the same thing and have that influence over the young ladies I coached.”

Henry added that she’s able to see the fruits of her coaching labor daily, most recently with former Darton standout Shenae Armbrister. Henry said the former Georgia Bulldogs player was one of the best players she has ever coached, and she now has the opportunity to help Armbrister network as she pursues a career in coaching.

As the times change and opportunities for women within athletics continues to grow, Gordon said it is up to those in the majority to not stand in the way of progress and women to not be shy in telling their story.

“I will say men aren’t bashful about telling their story and their success, and we should do the same and not wait for anybody to tell it,” she said.