Arianna Nevarez
Staff Writer
Court rulings, the rise of female sports stars and more opportunities for young people — especially girls — to reach professional levels of athletics are leading to a new sports landscape. At 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Tara VanDerveer will have a conversation about Jennings’ resilient career, the state of women’s sports and the future for the next generation of athletes during Week One’s theme of “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World.”
“It’s really important to recognize the great contributions of women, and in Kerri’s situation, she’s the most decorated Olympic beach volleyball player, male or female, so she has just an incredible career legacy …” VanDerveer said. “She’s going to be incredibly impressive and interesting, and so, so accomplished in so many things … and it’s great to be part of this week.”
Jennings stands as one of the most dominant beach volleyball players worldwide. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, an inductee in the International Volleyball Hall of Fame and recognized in the Pac-12 Hall of Honor for her time at Stanford, signifying her contributions to the collegiate athletic conference. Jennings also co-founded Platform 1440, a nonprofit created to strengthen opportunities for youth and grow the beach volleyball community.
VanDerveer, one of Chautauqua’s own, is the second-winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, coached the 1996 women’s basketball Olympic team to gold and is acknowledged as one of the best coaches in her sport, collegiately and internationally. She is also the author of multiple books, Shooting from the Outside and Life’s Work, for which she will host a book signing at 1:30 p.m. today in Author’s Alcove.
VanDerveer has also been coming to Chautauqua with her family since she was young. She has spoken on the grounds about her career at Stanford and most recently opened the Interfaith Lecture Series in 2023, speaking about the “spirit of play.”
This time, VanDerveer hopes to talk to Jennings about her resilience and how she developed a determination in her sport, beach volleyball. VanDerveer also said she wants to explore the career Jennings is building through her foundation and inspire young people to pursue their dreams without fear of barriers.
VanDerveer said that seeing the growth and enthusiasm for women’s sports shows people are interested in these teams. But it is still a challenging time due to the recent court ruling, House v. NCAA, which allows Division I colleges to pay student-athletes with athletic department revenue. The revenue sharing has created an unequal system, giving larger cuts to sports like football and men’s basketball, according to VanDerveer.
“It’s just a really, really interesting and complicated time in athletics. Period,” VanDerveer said. “We have to figure out a way out.”
She hopes the conversation can provide insight into Jennings’ juggling of academics, her sport and motherhood in hopes of inspiring the next generation of athletes. In an interview with the NCAA in 2025, Jennings talked about her foundation and the high-impact programming that includes mindfulness, recovery and mentor support for kindergarten through grade 12 students.
“I want to live an inspired and empowered life because ultimately I want to empower and inspire,” Jennings said in the interview with the NCAA. “That’s my joy in life.”
The two were at Stanford at the same time, and VanDerveer said it’s special to have Jennings during this week of iconic women because she is “iconic.”
“It’s great to see someone that is so accomplished and understand how they did it,” VanDerveer said. “So, hopefully, the pressure is going to be on me a little bit to ask the right questions, but then the audience will ask if I don’t ask them. We can count on Chautauqua.”
