For the third time in nine years, Carol Jue, the head coach of Chapman’s women’s basketball team, traveled halfway around the world to Taiwan in 2019. Yet, while previous trips were taken to try to lead Panther teams to the Jones Cup or the Buddha’s Light International Association Cup, she was sent most recently as an envoy to speak about the importance of sports as an avenue for women’s leadership. 

The theme of that 2019 summer embassy was revisited Feb. 5, as Jue spoke at Chapman’s Town and Gown “Lunch at the Forum” series, addressing the ability of sports to act as a conduit for women’s empowerment. 

In an interview prior to the event, Jue recalled a moment on her trip to Taiwan in 2019 where she spoke at a women's shelter.

“One of the ladies asked me a question: ‘You look like me, you’re Asian, but you’re a coach and you’re married and have kids. How can you do all that?’ That question hit me: ‘How can you do all that?’ (Well), because you can,” Jue said. “I feel very fortunate that I’m able to coach and able to influence women.”

Jue has grown up around basketball and broken barriers in sports every step of the way. This journey has taken her to becoming not only an NCAA head coach as a woman, but also the only Chinese-American head coach of any gender in NCAA basketball. 

In high school, Jue recalled, her cousin told her to not “play like a girl.” At the time, she knew he was referring to an old stereotype that implied a gentleness unfit for the sports world. But girls can be rough, just like boys, Jue said. 

“I used to play with the boys because the girls would say, ‘You’re too rough,’” Jue said. “It brought a sense in me and a work ethic, and when someone told me I couldn’t do something, I just did it harder.”

At the Town and Gown event, Jue emphasized the importance of young women being exposed to sports. Her players, who have built a close relationship with Jue, agreed with their coach. 

Brittany McPherson, a senior guard on women’s basketball who’s been coached by Jue all four years of her college career, said there’s been a gradual improvement in getting young women more involved in sports and emphasized its continued importance. 

“There's always a stigma around sports and women,” McPherson said. “In more recent years, activists have tried to change the stigma and empower women to know that they can be just as good, if not better, than men.”

Additionally, junior guard Julianna Campas, another player coached by Jue, said that her continued involvement in sports has taught her to gel amidst a team with different types of personalities, a skill which she feels translates off the court.

“Sports are a huge factor in shaping someone,” Campas said. “They offer a lot of really good life skills, and without that advocacy there’s not a lot of recognition for girls’ sports.” 

Jue said she was encouraged by the recent history being made in terms of women being elevated to powerful positions, citing recently elected Vice President Kamala Harris and Kim Ng being named the first female general manager in Major League Baseball as motivation to continue when progress seems difficult. 

“I want to be able to tell these women that we all could do it; sometimes the hardest road is the best road,” Jue said. “There’s so many avenues that have felt like a man's job, but (the job) should go to the best person.”

McPherson and Campas said Jue had an ability as a coach to help the team to work hard, play for one another and be encouraged by others’ success, which Jue in turn said was a concept that would serve them after they graduate and enter the workforce. 

“I try not to always make it about gender when it comes to our sports,” Jue said. “I'm more about, ‘Have a work ethic so no one can ever deny you.’ I’ve had several of my players end up getting their job because they’ve been through the rigors of being on a team and of being a team player.”