By Greg Woodman
The advertised Power Hour truly was.
I walked into the “Teammates for Life” Power Hour knowing there would be energy. When Char Morett-Curtiss is involved, there always is. What I didn’t expect was to be so moved by what unfolded in that single hour. It became a living lesson in leadership, resilience, and the power of love over fear.
Char opened with her familiar mix of humility, humor, and gratitude. “When I look out and see so many women and men who support our athletes, I’m beyond words,” she said, scanning the crowd of alumni, coaches, and students. “Five years ago, this was just an idea. Now it’s something bigger than us. It’s about showing up, being present, and lifting each other.”
A three-time All-American, Olympic bronze medalist, and Penn State’s winningest field hockey coach, Char retired in 2023 after 36 seasons and more than 500 career victories. But retirement didn’t slow her passion for purpose. “When I retired, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she said. “I just knew I wanted to have a voice for our student-athletes and create a place where women support women.” That vision became Teammates for Life, a movement connecting generations of Penn State women through mentorship, leadership development, and honest conversations about growth and grit.
What followed wasn’t just a panel. It was a master class on what it means to lead with heart.
Sarah Brown, head coach of Penn State Women’s Gymnastics, was the first to speak. A former standout gymnast at the University of Missouri and now one of the youngest head coaches in the Big Ten, Brown has rebuilt her program with a focus on culture and care. “You can coach hard and love hard at the same time,” she said. “When I got here, our athletes loved Penn State, but they had lost love for the sport. We had to go back to why we started, to remember the little girl who first fell in love with gymnastics.”
Her honesty drew the room in. “Two things can be true,” she said. “This can be really hard, and you can still be grateful.” Later, she touched on something deeper, the fear of failure. “When you lead young women, you see how much fear holds them back,” she said. “My job is to remind them that courage doesn’t mean no fear. It means loving something enough to do it anyway.”
Next came Janay Ali, a former Penn State gymnast who has spent two decades helping athletes navigate pressure, fear, and transition. Her own journey began with heartbreak, a knee injury that ended her senior season and left her searching for identity. “After my injury I was lost,” she said softly. “I realized the struggle is common, but the support isn’t. That’s why I started working in mental performance, to help athletes see that there’s purpose after pain.”
Her advice for parents and coaches revealed the same emotional intelligence that defines her work. “Kids don’t want you to be the expert,” she said. “They just want you to listen. Ask, ‘How can I help you?’ not, ‘Why didn’t you win?” When asked how she helps athletes face fear, she didn’t hesitate. “You can’t outrun fear,” she said. “You can only breathe through it and move with it. Fear is part of the game; love is what gets you through it.”
Finally, Barb Duran, a three-sport Penn State athlete who went on to become one of the first women on Wall Street, brought perspective born from decades of trailblazing. Now a wealth manager and mentor to women in finance, she described the parallels between sport and business. “Nothing in life is a straight path,” she said. “You just keep showing up. Every failure is a chance to learn.”
Her mantra, “I choose this moment,” summed up her philosophy of presence and ownership. She also addressed how fear shaped her own career. “When you’re the only woman in the room, fear is real,” she said. “But preparation quiets fear. If you do the work and stay true to your values, fear loses its grip.”
As I listened, I stopped taking notes and simply absorbed it. Each woman spoke from a place of deep truth. The lessons weren’t about titles, tactics, or wins. They were about courage, compassion, and showing up even when it’s hard.
Char returned to close the Power Hour, tying every thread together. “Athletics today should be transformative, not transactional,” she said. “This isn’t a four-year experience. It’s a lifetime journey. That’s what being teammates for life means.”
The applause that followed felt different, not polite, but heartfelt. Why did I tear up over lunch? Did I just discover gold? It sure felt that way.
Before we left, Char looked across the room one last time. “It doesn’t take a village,” she said with a grin. “It takes a valley. And we’ve got the best valley in the country.”
She was right. In one hour, these women reminded us all that leadership is not about fear or control. It’s about love in action, and choosing courage, again and again, no matter how the game changes.
2 Responses
This is really exciting. I wish my daughter could be part of this. She was a college athlete (not at PSU) who faced similar issues as a college athlete and now as a professional in the corporate world. She has shared with us similar experiences highlighted by these guest speakers
Very inspirational at a time when fans and supporters need to be reminded that the value of college athletics is about so much more than the almighty dollar. My longtime, deep devotion to Penn State is being tested this season. Not because of the players or even disappointing play on the field but because of the impatient investors off the field. Emotional decisions early in the season create for a very long season watching all of the “better” coaches coach and feeling like a sad kid on the bench not even in the game. And in the end we don’t just need a new coach, we need an entirely new team because so many recruits jump ship.
As Char stated, “This isn’t a four-year experience. It’s a lifetime journey.” THIS is what college athletics is losing sight of during a time of crazy, expensive transitions at every turn that make being a fan exhausting and disappointing. Clearly yesterday was not as bad as today for the Penn State fan experience.