Interview with Mary Stade -- Head Coach of The Willamette Valley Jaguars

 

Mary Stade wears many hats; head coach, team market owner and community advocate, but her focus remains simple: building relationships through basketball.

Stade leads the Willamette Valley Jaguars, a professional team in The Basketball League (TBL) based in Albany. The Jaguars, who play their home games at Linn-Benton Community College, open their season March 13 at 6 p.m. with free admission for fans.

The organization stands out not only for its community-centered mission but also for featuring the first and only all-female coaching staff in the league. Stade emphasized the Jaguars prioritize impact over profit, aiming to model respect, inclusiveness and mentorship both on and off the court.

Where are you from? What brought you to Oregon?

I’m from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I got married in the summer of 1988 and we had one more year of college, so my husband and I were at Western Michigan University. And he graduated with an engineering degree in paper science, there were very few places in the United States where they had jobs for those types of engineers. So a week after college graduation I ended up in Oregon.

Where did you go to college and What did you study?

Western Michigan University. Pre law and my minor was in politics.

What does your family think about your job?

Well, both my parents have passed. But, my family back home consists of, my brother and my sister in law and I have some cousins and I have all my high school friends think that it is pretty outrageous. That’s the word I see a lot. Mary it’s outrageous that you are a professional basketball coach in that we see your picture all over social media.

What was your call to coaching?

So I started out as a sports agent and then I owned an ABA (American Basketball Association) team. I owned an IBL (International Basketball League) team. I was a general manager in the IBL and the ABA for some years. I entered the TBL (The Basketball League) in, like 2019. So I became an assistant coach with the Salem Capitals. Then every year after that I coached at the TBL Summer League and then last year, midseason, the Jaguars hired me to replace the coach who was just leaving and then asked me to come back for this season. I’ve been in this level of basketball for about 26 years and with never the aspiration that I was gonna jump to, you know, another level where you’re helping these guys realize their dreams.

How long have you been in the world of basketball? Did you start out as a player?

I did not start as a player. I am one of very few people that come into professional basketball and have not played. There are a few, but not very many and I like to label myself as a basketball scholar, because I have really studied the game since I was very young. I had cousins who were great athletes; in football and basketball. And so, my dad was one of those guys where we had to learn all the referee calls when we were, like, five. So because his philosophy  was you had to know what the referees were doing and know the rules before you can really apply them and coach and teach and even play basketball. You know, at a decent level.

Is coaching the Jags a full-time job?

It’s a full time job. But I also have another full time job. So my background is, I’m a family law paralegal and I’m also a criminal paralegal. So I support two different attorneys and two different practices. I get to work remote, so it makes coaching basketball and working in the operational part of this team getting into our season much easier, because I can pivot from one thing to another all day long. So it’s 18 hours of my day goes to legal and basketball.

Take me through a day in the life of Mary Stade.

So the first thing I do is get up early and I have two dogs, Mello, after Carmelo Anthony. He is 9 years old and I adopted him when he was 7. He’s a gray and white Staffordshire. And then two years ago, we rescued Mamba. A little gray and white, Havashire, with a disability. He’s got like half a paw. Feed them, walk them and just make sure they’re set for the day, because they’re spoiled. Then usually I’m in my office; emails, I’m working on some legal work and I’ll get on email for basketball, I’m getting phone calls, sponsorship meetings, usually three or four times a week. I’m at The Brim, having meetings with either a nonprofit partner or a business partner. A lot of Zoom calls with the league, making sure that we’re following all of our operational procedures, because we have a lot of rules that we have to follow in running a basketball team. So we are governed by the TBL so we make sure we’re following all the rules. Then it’s take the dogs outside and then it’s in the car driving players to practice, recovery appointments, physical therapy, whatever is needed of me in terms of getting this team ready for the season and then we have practice four days a week at 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

What is your favorite part about coaching?

The camaraderie of the team. And being part of this cohesive unit, where I get to direct what they do. They execute and we have success at the end of it. That's my favorite part of it.

How is this season looking for the Jaguars?

Championship all the way. I wouldn’t think or say anything else. This is a championship team. We built this team, Kaylei Jones, the GM (general manager) and I pretty much handpicked this team. With the exception of a couple players that surprised us at tryouts. But we chose them, too. We’ve been saying for months that this is a championship caliber team. And this is where 3rd year teams (there are two 3rd year teams in the Western conference this year). So out of seven teams, that should put us at the top of the pot.

How do you want this team to impact the local community, both through its play and its off-court initiatives?

I definitely want them to be just great role models for our youth. You know, the world we live in right now, it’s tough. There’s no sugar coating. We have a very, very tough world and our kids are growing up in it, our youth. I think a lot of the troubles that our youth are having and just people in general, is just an example of what is going on in the world, and so we can put a product on the floor and we can come into a community and model what it’s supposed to look like, compassion, respect, kindness and inclusiveness. I mean, we really have a habit and like I said, I’ve been in this business for a long time and we have had a habit of being in circles like this, where we’re not so humble and a pride gets in the way and sometimes greed. And so, if those are the things that we’re projecting, then that’s what our youth sees and that’s what they become. So it’s very important to me that our players are just a high character, that they’re diverse, so everybody can relate to them and they teach our kids fundamentals, whether that’s basketball or in life.

What is your philosophy behind team building?

I never viewed myself as having a philosophy. Everything just, for me, comes naturally. You know, I had great parents who modeled just being a decent person. And so I try to bring that into anything, whether it’s a project, whether it’s coaching, whether it’s being part of the team leadership. I try to model that just relating to people, accepting them where they’re at and who they are. And being able to work together with mutual respect.

What is your approach to maintaining stability during losing streaks?

That’s an easy one, because this team last year lost all their games. They were zero and 34 when I inherited the team. But they won their first game with me and I got to give credit to coach Jordan Sanders, my assistant coach. Very smart, talented, and great relationships with the team. It’s just uplifting and being positive. You always have to just keep pointing out the good things that we did. And losing helps build character. And I know a lot of people say that, but I think if you really apply it and really entrench it into your team, they understand that at the end of the day, when we lose a game. And then we come into practice and we just work twice as hard.

How do you define success among your team, beyond winning games?

Definitely, in relationships with each other and respect for each other, being good sports, treating the other team with respect always, whether we win or lose. And showing up for our community after a game, whether we win or lose.

How do you scout for future Jaguars? Local or out of state?

A little bit of both. I’ve used my past relationships from being a sports agent and reaching out to agencies when we’re looking for a very specific player. But we also hold an open tryout and as everybody knows, this year, we had two major surprises that became front runners very quickly and joined our roster this year from the open tryout. And they're local, local young men. So you never know, right?

As long as you give everybody an opportunity, you know, to do their best.

What is your long-term vision for this team?

Become a pillar of the community, We want to build our own 5,000 to 10,000 seat arena that would bring economic growth in terms of 12,000 new jobs to the city of Albany. It would be the home of the Jags, obviously and would have an office there and a pro shop there. Year round clinics and camps and really expanding our youth league. We started our youth league last November under the Junior NBA/WNBA umbrella. We are gonna continue that in Independence, but we’re also going to really expand our youth league here in the Albany communities and outside communities, under the TBL umbrella, which will be called TBL2.

What is your passion outside of coaching?

My passion is being a dog mom and being a decent community member. Like I attend–I forget I do this during the week–every Wednesday and Thursday, I have chamber meetings that I attend also, right after practice. And I just try to get involved as much as I can. But I am a die hard Green Bay Packer cheese head, because I was born and raised in that vicinity. And so my passion, especially September to January is where are we going to see the Packers play away? And what game are we going to, at Lambeau? So sports is always gonna be at the top of that. You know, dog mom first, sports, this team and that’s enough for now.

At a Glance:

Mary Stade

Occupation: Head Coach of The Willamette Valley Jaguars

Before Coaching: Sports Agent

Aside From Coaching: Criminal Paralegal

Hometown: Escanaba Michigan

Education: Western Michigan

Interests: Dogs, Golf, and Basketball

Links to More Information: Beyond The Baseline Willamette Valley Jaguars Website