Coach’s Corner: Stephen Frazier-Wong

Rowing has been a major part of Stephen Frazier-Wong’s life for the past two decades. On Sept. 27, he witnessed all his and his team’s hard work pay off at their National Championship Banner Ceremony, honoring their victory at the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship.

In his first year as the NSU women’s rowing head coach, Frazier-Wong has already been named the 2012-2013 Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year and Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Coach of the Year.

A native of the island of Trinidad, Frazier-Wong moved to Orlando, Fla. at age 13. Two years later, he graduated from high school and, at age 15, enrolled in Rollins College, where he learned how to row. Originally a member of his school’s cross country team, he decided to try out for the rowing team in the off season of his senior year, with the support of his friends who were already on the team. He quickly fell in love with the sport.

After graduating from Rollins, Frazier-Wong briefly trained with the U.S. National Rowing Team. He began his coaching career at his alma mater and coached there for seven years before moving to the University of North Carolina. Following a seven-year-stint at UNC, Frazier-Wong found his way back to Florida to begin coaching at NSU.

“I love the teaching and passion that comes with coaching and trying to find the best way for my student-athletes to believe in their infinite potential,” said Frazier-Wong.

Frazier-Wong coaches with five core values in mind: work hard, work smart, work together, have fun and make a difference. Before the season, he had his students each write down what they thought should be the team’s values. Answers included trusting one another, speaking and acting with integrity, being hungry for success, making smart decisions and being positive role models.

“It’s all about growth and collaborative leadership and being a collaborative team,” said Frazier-Wong. “We want to be able to hold each other accountable, which can be difficult sometimes when your best friend is on the team with you.”

He stays away from negativity and believes being positive is key to getting his team to achieve its potential.

“When something wrong happens, I need to address it, but there is never any anger that comes from my side. I want to praise them for doing something right and avoid as much as possible when they are doing something wrong,” said Frazier-Wong.

Though he demands excellence from his team, he doesn’t define success only through winning; he aims to transform each student-athlete into the best possible versions of themself. He explained that rowing is a sport where training and being prepared plays a large part in competition, and the more you prepare, the harder it is to give up.

In the short time that Frazier-Wong has been at NSU, he has built the program into something that everyone in the NSU community can respect. He wants a team that not only alumni can be proud of, but family members as well. Frazier-Wong looks for top-notch athletes who understand teamwork and represent the university well with great grades and great attitudes.

Frazier-Wong wants to be remembered as someone who positively affected the lives of the student-athletes.

“Nobody cares how much you know till they know how much you care,” said Frazier-Wong.

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