For anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting her, it is nearly impossible to imagine former UW softball star Boo Gillette in anything other than cardinal and white — it's even tough for Gillette herself.
So it isn't hard to believe that after being hired as the new head coach at Madison Area Technical College this Fall, Gillette, a two-time Badger Pride award winner at UW, needed to update her school spirit apparel.
"The first day I sped down to the bookstore and bought a ton of MATC shirts and stuff," the three-time all-conference selection said.
When people asked if she was wearing a new shirt, Gillette would try to play it off as if she had been a long-time owner of such WolfPack apparel. However, she was only fooling herself.
"I had a tag hanging out the back, so I looked like an idiot," she said.
Not even 12 months removed from completing her career as the most decorated catcher in UW softball history, Gillette is already trying to build a new legacy. This time though, she is trying to do it as a coach and not a player.
Gillette, who shares the UW career home run title with fellow 2005 senior Kris Zacher, has been hired as the new head coach at the MATC, though the team will not begin play until 2007. Gillette, the two-time UW team MVP, will be charged with resurrecting a program that has been dormant since 1999, when the sport was shut down for financial reasons.
"It's a program they've tried to get going and they have had a lot of trouble keeping it going, and I think it'd be cool to get some new players in there and develop something." Gillette said. "I get to build a program and coach right out of college and that is my dream job, being a college coach."
Gillette, a bubbly backstop with a motor mouth, a power stroke and an eternal sense of optimism, was easily the most popular Badger during her time, always having the most vocal fan base at home games at Goodman Diamond. She was also the most popular with teammates and coaches because of her strong leadership qualities, which make the transition to coaching a natural move.
"Ever since I've known her she has talked about being a college coach," said senior infielder Kaitlin Reiss, a former teammate of Gillette's and also her roommate. "She's always been a leader, but I really think she will be able to handle it just fine."
One of the biggest challenges facing the time-limited Gillette will be her ability to recruit well, something that those around her are not the least bit concerned about. But she already has a head start as the gregarious athlete has made many friends in the softball business already.
"I know a lot of the Big Ten coaches, because I have played against them all," Gillette said. "Wisconsin totally embraces their athletic teams. Even if they see you on the news for two seconds, or see your headshot in the newspaper, or see you in Qdoba in your uniform, people know who Badger players are. It's surprising to see how many contacts I have, because you need that in the coaching world."
"Basically, the last head coach we had here couldn't recruit," said MATC sports information director Jason Verhelst. "We couldn't bring in kids and the program floundered. With Boo, we know we are not going to have that problem."
That confidence in Gillette's ability to recruit speaks volumes about her glowing, charismatic personality, as she is actually a native of South Florida and only now is fully making the transition of moving into the Midwest. Much of her family is making plans to move to Illinois after their home in Florida was badly damaged by Hurricane Wilma this past year.
"I love Wisconsin, I love my family, so it's a great combination," Gillette said, adding that her family fell in love with the Midwest while traveling to watch their daughter play.
It's a good thing too, since Gillette has hired her father as the first part of her staff. The man she affectionately calls "Pops" will be her assistant coach.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Gillette's position is that she hasn't even graduated yet.
"I joke to my roommates that I'm signing myself on to being more busy than I was when I was a Badger player, if you can believe that," Gillette said.
Currently, beyond preparing the WolfPack for their first season of NCAA competition in seven years, Gillette is still an undergraduate at UW, working as an assistant coach at Edgewood College and working three other jobs on the side in order to save up for graduate school. And you think your 15-credit schedule keeps you busy.
"[I'm] pretty much on the go all the time," Gillette said, before again finding the positives of a situation most undergrads would find unbearable. "It doesn't give you much time to be lazy and it kind of takes my mind off of missing playing so much, because it is hard not being a ballplayer anymore."
By this time next year, Gillette will be back on the field, this time never leaving the dugout save for the inevitable passionate outburst at an umpire. Passionate about the sport and about life in general, she already knows what her first advice to her players will be.
"Play with passion," Gillette said. "Don't go out there and play because you have to play or because you have free time. Play because you love the game and that you enjoy it."
So what are Gillette's goals for this year?
"We want to definitely have a fall season this fall, to compete in a couple tournaments and field a solid team by the time spring comes," Gillette said. "To play .500 ball would be my goal for the first year."
That probably will not be the goal for long, however. Mediocrity is not a word in the softball sparkplug's vocabulary.
And don't be surprised if sooner than later, you see that Gillette isn't the only person sporting a brand-new, MATC shirt. With the tags still on, of course.