Carol Laube
Master’s in Athletic Coaching Education

A career violinist, Carol Laube never planned to put down the bow. But when 35 years of playing professionally led to a debilitating nerve injury in her right arm and shoulder, Laube underwent months of physical therapy and had to reconsider her future as a musician.

“I knew that I loved teaching and ‘coaching’ my violin students, and I wanted to do something I loved as much as music—and that was baseball,” says Laube, who today is an assistant baseball coach at Galena High School in Reno, Nevada.

Hoping to coach the sport she loved, she began looking for an athletic coaching education program and chose Ball State University’s because other schools did not require an internship. Laube needed real experience.

Given a new base of knowledge

“Not having an athletic background where my degrees are concerned, it has given me a wonderful base of knowledge to draw from on a variety of subjects from motor function to marketing,” says Laube, who earned violin performance degrees from Rice University, DePaul University, and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Her musical résumé includes a three-year tour of the U.S. and Asia with the Mantovani Orchestra and six years with the Lawrence Welk Show in Branson, Missouri.

Laube added a master’s degree in athletic coaching education to her violin performance degrees in the summer of 2018. Because she has continued to work as associate concertmaster in the Reno Philharmonic and principal second in the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the program’s online format was ideal for her schedule.

Because she also conducts two youth orchestras and teaches students in her own private studio, she appreciated the fact that assignments, exams, and professors were accessible at all hours.

Class projects were “useful”

Laube says she benefited from uncompromising course work that encompassed aspects of coaching on and off the field, including marketing and administration.

“I enjoyed the rigor of the classes—and I liked the discipline that online study brings,” she says.

Assigned projects, such as writing an annual plan for baseball, drafting a personal coaching philosophy, and designing a baseball strength and conditioning program “have been incredibly useful,” says Laube.

In her current position, she coaches Galena High School’s outfielders. “I particularly enjoy creating great defenders that back one another up and manage themselves mentally during the game,” she says. “Coaching allows me to immerse myself in the details, the ‘little things’ that change good players into great players and good teams into great teams.”

Inspired by Coach Dad

Laube calls her dad her first “coach.” In 1950, Don Laube hitchhiked 45 miles away, to and from a major league tryout, three days in a row. As a 17-year-old, he was signed to a minor league contract with the St. Louis Browns.

All the same, his daughter is a lifetime Chicago Cubs fan, having grown up just outside of Chicago. “Though I left baseball behind as a kid, it was never far from my heart – ever,” she claims.

Laube hopes to eventually coach at a community college. “My long-term goal is to coach at a Division II university—and beyond.”

Wrigley Field, maybe?