Meet the WEST Team
We are ready to dig in and help your program as former coaches and athletes, consultants who really get it. We pride ourselves in our ability to analyze and help grow and improve culture: at the team, staff or full athletic department level.
Our specialties are teaching the Enneagram, leadership training, communication improvement and problem solving as needed. We will listen and design workshops that help achieve desired goals. We are about training to build winning programs. We believe caring for people well and growing trust are essential components for every team.
We would love to come alongside and walk every season with you.
Debbie Haliday
Executive Director | 818-472-5122
As an executive coach and Enneagram teacher, Debbie is uniquely equipped to lead the WEST Project and WEST Project Consulting. She especially loves working with coaches and teams to enhance communication and performance. Debbie can help coaches and teams understand each other and connect more deeply. Building a strong culture releases us all to perform at our highest potential. The WEST Project seeks to provide practical help in the midst of the many challanges we face in athletics today.
Debbie has a heart for community service and outreach opportunities. She leads individuals and groups as they work to impact underprivileged children. Sport is a universal language, and can be used to communicate love and encouragement anywhere in the world. The WEST Project is positioned to help sport programs integrate service and providing monetary investment in our athletes.
Haliday worked as Program Director for UCLA women’s basketball from 2013-2019. Her duties included running the WBB office, mentoring student athletes, overseeing social media, camps and clinics, community service and assisting with team building. Prior to serving at UCLA, she coached girls’ high school basketball for 25 years and was a K-12 athletic director. From 1996-2007 she served as the Regional Camp Director for Southern California FCA. Haliday was also the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Biola University from 1990-1995.
As a student athlete at UCLA, Debbie competed on both the women’s basketball and softball teams, earning National Championships in both sports in 1978. She was an All-Regional second baseman and All-Conference guard.
Dr. Gin enjoys researching and pushing the boundaries of what is understood about sport. Her unconventional interactive teaching style is creative and challenging, which is one of the reasons faculty and students selected Gin as the recipient of both the Junior and Senior Distinguished Faculty awards during her tenure at Gordon College.
As a coach, Gin led the Gordon College volleyball team to multiple NCAA appearances and earned several New England Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year honors. Along with accruing the most wins in Gordon volleyball and softball history, her 2002 volleyball squad holds the College’s longest winning streak of 29 matches.
Dr. Gin currently leads the nonprofit Wired4Sport and actively serves on several educational and nonprofit boards.
Val has written numerous articles, book chapters and two books, Focus on Sport in Ministry and When Girls Became Lions. She served as co-chair of the Sport and Christianity Group and co-wrote the Declaration of Sport and the Christian Life. Gin is also the co-founder and former co-editor of the Journal of the Christian Society of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies and was a Research Fellow at Northeastern University’s Sport and Society.
Dr. Valerie Gin
Executive Coach | Executive Board
Cheryl Baird
Mental Health Expert | Executive Board
Cheryl brings a wealth of experience to the WEST Project as a mental health professional with experience in conflict resolution, suicide awareness and prevention, family dynamics, marriage counseling and parenting. She has an MA in Clinical Psychology and is a licensed professional counselor currently on staff with Cedar Tree Counseling Center.
Baird also serves on the board of Jack’s Army, a medical non-profit seeking a cure for a rare form of epilepsy. She was a therapist in private practice prior to accepting her position at Wellspring Church where she served as Pastor of Spiritual Formation through 2021.
Cheryl’s daughter Chrissy Baird is a UCLA graduate and women’s basketball alum and her younger daughter Nicole Baird graduated from Belmont University after a successful career in basketball as well.
Cheryl is a graduate of Wheaton College where she competed on the women’s volleyball team. She earned All-CCIW honors as a junior and senior, and All-Midwest Region and All-American honors as a senior in 1987. As a senior, she led Wheaton to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the first time in its history.
Jenny Johnson Jordan is a former UCLA Bruin volleyball standout, professional AVP Beach Volleyball player and Olympian. She is currently the head coach of UCLA's Beach Volleyball team. Johnson Jordan was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 2018. She has won a national title as a player (1991) and as a coach as she helped guide the Bruins to their first-ever NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in 2018. Johnson Jordan then helped the Bruins win back-to-back NCAA titles and was named the AVCA National Assistant Beach Coach of the Year in 2019. Jenny is currently in her second season as the Head Beach Volleyball Coach at UCLA.
Following her playing days at UCLA, Johnson Jordan moved into the professional ranks of beach volleyball. In 2000 she and her partner Annett Davis finished fifth in the Sydney Olympic Games. She also served as an alternate for the 2004 Athens Games, and during that year with Davis, became just the second team in the world to compete in 100 events together. A winner of 10 professional beach titles worldwide, Johnson Jordan ranked in the Top 10 in points every year she competed on the BVA and AVP Tours and was honored in 2002 with the AVP Special Achievement Award.
Johnson Jordan is married to former UCLA All-American wide receiver Kevin Jordan. The couple have two children, Jaylen and Kory.
Jenny Johnson Jordan
Executive Board
Carol Owens
Executive Board
Owens enters her 25th year on the Notre Dame women’s basketball coaching staff, and her 16th as associate head coach for the Fighting Irish. Coach Carol has won two national titles, with the first coming in 2001, followed by the second in 2018. In addition, Notre Dame has appeared in seven NCAA title games and have reached the Final Four nine times (1997, 2001, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019) – which ranks fifth most of any school.
Owens was named the 2019 WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year along with being inducted into the inaugural STEP UP Assistant Coach Hall of Fame. In 2014, she was chosen as the inaugural recipient of the A Step Up Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
Owens players have earned a combined 34 All-America honors during their college careers. Six of her post protegees went on be drafted into the WNBA – while three went on to claim WNBA titles.
Owens spent five seasons (2005-10) as head coach at her alma mater, Northern Illinois University. Owens also appeared on the international coaching scene through her work with USA Basketball. In 2008 and 2009, she served as head coach of the United States U18 and U19 teams, guiding those squads to gold medals, and the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championships in Thailand. In 2008, Owens was named USA Basketball’s Developmental Coach of the Year, and prior to that, she spent two summers (2006-07) as an assistant coach for Team USA, collecting two more gold medals.
In 2008, she was selected to serve on the Board of Directors for both the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), serving on the latter body’s Executive Committee as the WBCA secretary before stepping down in 2011. Subsequently, in September 2012, Owens was chosen as BCA president for the 2012-13 academic year.
Owens originally came to Notre Dame in 1995 following two seasons as an assistant at Michigan, where she began her coaching career after enjoying a three-year professional playing stint in Japan, Spain and Italy.
As a standout player at Northern Illinois from 1985-90 Owens was a two-time Kodak Coaches’ All-District IV Team selection. In 1995, Owens was inducted into the Northern Illinois University Athletic Hall of Fame and followed up that honor with her induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Illinois High School Hall of Fame in 2014.
Dr. René Rochester
Executive Board
Marcia Hurt
Executive Board
Hurt spent a total of 34 years in education and athletics. She received her BA degree in Education from Eastern Illinois University, an MA degree in Athletic Administration from George Williams College and an MA degree in Curriculum and Instruction from National Lewis University. While an undergraduate at EIU, Marcia competed in basketball, volleyball, softball, and field hockey. At EIU, in 1972, just after the passage of Title IX, Marcia was the first female athlete to receive a full athletic scholarship.
The mid to late 70's were the pioneering days of the emergence of girls and women's sports. Upon college graduation, Hurt had the privilege of starting the first athletic programs for girls at AA Stagg High School in Palos Hills, IL. Hurt taught High School Physical Education for 31 years, coaching basketball, softball, swimming, and volleyball; 29 of these years at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL.
While teaching and coaching high school girls, Hurt also enjoyed supporting collegiate athletics by being one of the first nationally ranked officials in basketball and volleyball, traveling all over the country training other officials and officiating collegiate tournaments.
Hurt served as the Head Basketball Coach at the University of Chicago for three years. She also authored Inside Basketball For Women, one of 37 "INSIDE SPORTS" series books published in the late 70's by Contemporary Books.
Hurt served on the Board of JUST OF DUPAGE for five years. The JUST Board walked alongside the county correctional facility family to offer spiritual/emotional support and innovative programming for their inmates. These programs included addiction recovery, educational and vocational opportunities, and reentry and life skills. "Serving inmates and changing lives" was the motto of JUST.
Marcia is a sports enthusiast and enjoys time with family and her beloved dog, Bella. We are thrilled to have Marcia as one of our newest board members!
A native of Annandale, Virginia, Cromwell attended the University of
Virginia and was a captain of the 1991 Cavaliers team that advanced to the
College Cup final four. She was a two-time All-America selection, a finalist
for the 1991 Hermann Trophy (awarded to the best player in the nation)
and a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree.
From 1991 to 1998, Amanda earned 55 caps while representing the U.S.
national soccer team, which earned a bronze medal at the 1995 FIFA World
Cup and gold in the 1996 Olympics. Cromwell tore her ACL February of
1996 and recovered in just 3 months to be selected as one of 4 alternates
on the 20-player roster.
Cromwell also played three seasons (2000-2003) in the WUSA
professional league for the Washington Freedom, Atlanta Beat and San
Jose CyberRays while also the head coach at the University of Central
Florida (UCF).
Cromwell served as an assistant coach at her alma mater (UVA) from 1992
to 1994, before becoming the head coach of the University of Maryland,
Baltimore County (UMBC) women's team from 1996 to 1998. In 1999,
Cromwell became the head coach of the UCF knights women’s soccer
program. After taking the helm, she led the resurrection of a program that
had only reached the NCAA College Cup twice in the previous ten years.
Cromwell coached the Knights for 14 seasons and led the team to 13
conference (regular season and tournament) championships and to 11
NCAA College Cup appearances. Cromwell led her UCF team to the elite
8 in 2011, the furthest the program has advanced since she left for UCLA.
In 2008 Cromwell was an assistant coach for the under 20 USA women’s
national team that won a u-20 World Cup in Chile. Cromwell was also an
assistant to Pia Sundhage in 2009 for the USWNT preparation camp for the Algarve Cup.
In 2013, Cromwell became the head coach of the UCLA women’s soccer
program. Eight months after becoming coach, she led her team to the
program's first-ever NCAA College Cup Championship. Cromwell's 2013
Bruins finished the season with a 22–1–3 record and went unbeaten over
their last 21 games. In addition to winning the national championship, the
team won the Pac-12 title and tied the school record for most victories in a
season. Cromwell was named Soccer America's Coach of the Year, the
first-such honor for a UCLA women's soccer coach. During her nine-year
tenure, Cromwell’s team won four Pac-12 titles and returned to the College
Cup two more times. Cromwell currently ranks among the top-30 all-time
winningest coaches in NCAA history.
From 2002 to 2006, Cromwell served as a member of the President's
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. She also served as an athlete
representative on US Soccer’s Board of Directors for 8 years. In 2010,
Cromwell was inducted into the Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame.
Cromwell has also been an active participant in the Sports Diplomacy
Sports Envoy program for the U.S. Department of State. In this function,
she has traveled to many countries where she has led clinics, panels and
events that have reached more than 3000 youth and women from
underserved areas. In doing so, Cromwell helped contribute to Sports
Diplomacy's mission to empower girls and women through sport while
promoting inclusion and equity.
Amanda is currently a corporate and athletic executive coach and DISC
assessment consultant who lives in Los Angeles.
Amanda Cromwell
Executive Board
Asha Franklin
Asha is an athletics professional with over a decade of coaching and administrative experience. She has coached and played every division of NCAA basketball and is currently serving as a trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance.
She has a B.A. in Economics from Occidental College and a M.A. in Youth Development Leadership from Clemson University which speaks to the dichotomy of her analytically creative personality. Passionate about helping others find and use their voice, Asha has a keen ability to put herself in others' shoes and believes she can find a point of commonality with anyone.
Asha is our producer/director/lead in every way for Every Season Together--our WEST Project podcast.
Hailing from Kirkwood, MO, Lauryn Miller is a former full scholarship UCLA Women’s Basketball player. While there she earned her B.A. in Sociology in three years. She also obtained her Master’s in Education with an emphasis in Transformative Coaching and Leadership in her fourth year at the university.
Known for her leadership and ability to connect with people from all walks, Lauryn is passionate about creating spaces in which individuals of varying backgrounds feel both safe and visible. She created the diversity initiative More Than A Dream while at UCLA and continues to work for social justice and racial reconciliation, using athletics as the driving platform.
Miller currently serves as Assistant Athletic Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at San Jose State University.
Lauryn Miller
Kelli Hayes
Kelli is a UCLA graduate with a B.A. in Gender Studies where she received a full-ride scholarship to compete on the women's basketball team. She recently completed her Masters of Education at the University of Southern California.
She is a dynamic leader and humanitarian who unites people through the power of connection. An individual who is drawn to the idea of diverse perspectives and finds commonality amongst things seen as different. Kelli is relentlessly persistent and believes that time and trust are important to the work that needs to be done.