When one thinks of college sports, women’s golf may not come to mind.

“Football and basketball drive the train for colleges,” admitted Cindy Ho, coach of the UNC Wilmington women’s golf team. “But college sports are now very visible; every sport is on TV. College sports is a multi-billion dollar industry…there’s high stakes for winning. It does revolve around win or lose, but you have to look at the big picture. Are we producing student athletes who are strong students and community leaders? Are they staying in school and getting a degree?”

Ho views her job as something more than simply training athletes to win. “I want to be more than just a coach,” Ho said. A warm and easygoing person, she leaned forward when discussing her job; her passion and love for what she does was palpable. “What we do every day in our lives is inspire and mentor female athletes. We give them the tools to be successful human beings in all communities.”

This well-rounded and nurturing approach to coaching has had a positive influence on the women’s golf team. Now in her 10th year coaching at UNCW, Ho’s results speak for themselves. Aside from eight tournament wins, five conference championship titles and six NCAA Regional berths, Ho has had a total of 11 players win the National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar awards.

The Seahawks also had a successful 2010 season, winning their third UNCW Lady Seahawk Classic and gaining three top-three finishes. In addition, she received her fourth CAA Coach-of-the-Year honor last season. Ho’s approach to coaching strikes the right chord. The daughter of a Chinese immigrant and a native of Victoria, British Columbia, Ho attended Lamar University in Texas on a golf scholarship where she studied kinesiology.

“I always had an interest in the human body from an athletic perspective,” she said. “I had a particular fascination with how to push the body to make it better and stronger.”

But by the end of her college career, she realized that she may not have had what it took to enter the professional golf circuit, and began to look at her options. Ho’s competitive nature steered her away from potential positions as a club professional, and she eventually turned to coaching. She said that the inspiration she gained from watching her own college coach helped her make her decision.

“I still keep in touch with (my coach),” she said and smiled. Ho finished her master’s degree before moving on to coach at Longwood University in Tennessee.

“Being a female also pushed me to be a female coach,” Ho said. “There’s not many of us out there in Division I sports. Women feel the need to choose family over careers, but money has increased for women coaches. The trend has shifted. Women are carving their niche.

“There’s very few female golfers at the top of the game,” she continued. “So when you know the sport and you’re good at it, you really stand out as a female golfer.”

Ho is able to empathize with her female athletes’ competitive drive, but she knows the importance of being able to balance athleticism and life skills.

“In the end, no one will remember how many championship games they won,” she said. “The bond between us as a family is what they’ll remember…the laughter, the good and the bad…not who got what GPA, who got what award.”

So if not by trophies, how does she judge her success as a coach? “You’re thrown to the wolves (when you enter college),” she said. “You leave the security of your home. You have to have the tools to handle what’s going on…I teach them to handle failure and adversity. You go in the real world and you don’t get the job that you want; how do you face criticism? If we can teach them to handle those things then they’ll be wonderful mothers, daughters…that’s how I judge my success.

“It’s rewarding to see them as successful individuals later in life,” Ho added with her characteristic sincerity and warmth. “It’s an amazing experience to be a part of their lives.”