A Leader by Example

She would walk onto the court, and people would be impressed. She carried herself with quiet confidence. She carried the ball with fierce determination. After watching a Harvard women's basketball game, you remembered Beth Chandler.

Chandler captained the 1988-89 team along with Sarah Duncan and earned first team all-Ivy honors and a reputation as the most dangerous threat on the Crimson squad.

But Chandler was not only Harvard's leading scorer and rebounder--she was also the team's most inspiring player.

Chandler suffered a knee injury in the beginning of her sophomore year. She played all season even though she could barely walk. During the summer, Chandler underwent reconstructive surgery and began the slow process of rehabiliation.

"She is such a determined person and determined athlete that she not only overcame the injury, she got better," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney Smith says.

Chandler took off her junior year to rebuild her knee, but she also used the break to reevaluate her role as a player and as a student.

"I'm happy I took the year off," Chandler says. "I came back with a different perspective. Once I realized that I might not be able to play, I thought, 'What am going to do?' I realized I was underestimating my academic abilities."

When Chandler returned to school, she began to intergrate basketball and classes. If her last two seasons on the court were Chandler's most productive, her last two years in the classroom were also her most successful. Chandler received the Morris Kornfield Award in Economics for the most improved economics student.

For Chandler, basketball and classes complemented each other, and both offered her the chance to meet and learn from different people. When she talks about the team, when she talks about her schoolwork, when she talks about her future, Chandler talks about people.

"The more you can interact with people, the more you yourself can grow," Chandler says. "The people I've met have made me a better person."

And they have learned from Chandler as well.

"Beth led by example," junior Jody Fink says. "How she was able to come back shows what kind of person she is. She always thought about the team. She helped all of us."

In a sport where you always are jumping and diving for the ball, for the basket and for the steal, Chandler always maintained a balanced perspective.

"She's just a great person," freshman Heather Harris says. "She kept the mood light and knew the right things to say."

Not surprisingly, Chandler hopes to become a college basketball coach so that she can continue doing what she enjoys most--playing basketball and interacting with people.

"I love working with younger kids...especially because they're so eager to learn, but I hope to coach college because in college you can do more with strategy," Chandler says.

When Chandler begins coaching, her team will learn more than just a zone defense or how to make the reverse layup. They will undoubtedly learn a little something about character.

"Going to Harvard will make me a better coach...because it has made me a better person."

With a perspective like that, how can Beth Chandler ever lose?