By Calvin Assistant Sports Information Director Mike Gibbons

Dr. Amber Warners has been successful in many roles during her history at Calvin University. As a two-sport student-athlete from 1986-1990, Warners received the Kay Tiemersma Award (presented annually to the Calvin varsity women's athlete who best exemplifies athletic ability, scholastic standing, character, and leadership) after helping the Knights to six MIAA championships and three national top-five finishes in volleyball and softball.
 
After her playing career, Warners was named the head softball coach at Calvin from 1996-2003, helping the Knights to a pair of NCAA Division III Tournaments and one College World Series appearance in 1997.
 
In 2002, Warners took over as the head volleyball coach and has led the Knights to three NCAA Division III national championships with a 636-99 career record and won four national Coach of the Year and seven regional Coach of the Year awards in 21 seasons.
 
In the summer of 2021, Warners added the title of Associate Director of Athletics to her duties as the volleyball coach. Warners took over that role following the retirement of former Calvin Athletic Director Nancy Meyer.
 
"I think I've always been intrigued by being a part of a group of people who are making decisions on behalf of the department.," Warners said. "For me, it was about a challenge to do something that was a little different after doing the same thing for about 20 years. If you know me, I like change. I like doing things different and trying new things."
 
In her new role, Warners works with almost every aspect of the student-athlete experience. With a master's degree in Sports Psychology and doctorate in Psychology and Sociology of Exercise and Sport, Warners oversees all athlete awards and has worked with almost every Calvin team in mentality training and communication. She is also heavily involved in the building of new facilities with an eye on design, as well as being the point person for the branding of Calvin athletics.
 
"There are times where I feel overwhelmed because I'm still coaching and trying to do two things really well can be a little daunting," she said. "But overall, I think it's been really positive, and I've always liked working in this department, from the support staff to other coaches to working with (Calvin Director of Athletics) Jim (Timmer).
 
Last spring, Warners also added the title of author to her resume when she wrote a chapter for the book "Winning Ways of Women Coaches". Warners was one of 20 women to write a chapter in the book, including some of the most famous and successful female coaches across sports.
 
Without knowing the other coaches involved in the project or what people were writing about, Warners says she had a tough time trying to narrow down the broad subject.
 
"It was a little difficult because I think the way we do things here at Calvin is unique compared to how they might do things in other places," she said. "I was constantly feeling this tug of 'Is this worthy enough?' Are people going to read the chapter and go 'Well, duh. This is just so simple.' All I can do is tell people what we've done, and I have to live with that, and hope people thought this was worthy."
 
As she thought about the project, the main objective for Warners became giving readers practical things they could try.
 
"Whenever I read a book like that or am at a conference, I always want the takeaways that I can go 'I'm going to come back to that because I think that can help make us better.' So it was in my mind to give a lot of examples of how people who read that chapter could say 'Hey, that might really work for our team.' But what I wrote about was genuinely the kinds of things we try to do as a program. And sometimes we fall short. But I think it's really having people in your program who are going to buy into what you're trying to do, and that's the most important thing."
 
Along with her new titles as Associate Director of Athletics and author, Warners is also a source of knowledge as Calvin and the rest of college athletics celebrates the 50-year anniversary of Title IX. As a former student-athlete and current coach/administrator, Warners has seen firsthand the battles fought for equality in women's athletics, as well as the progress that has been made.
 
"There's a fine line being a female because you don't want to come off as the person who is just trying to fight about everything. But there are things like having to justify why our softball team could get the same expensive uniform brand as the baseball team. And it was never done before. Bringing up things that maybe were done in the past and questioning those things if they had to do with equality. It's the little things."
 
While Warners is quick to say that Calvin has always valued people and been willing to change and move forward, the importance of Title IX in allowing those discussions to take place has been a benefit on all college campuses across the country to create more opportunities and equality for women in athletics.
 
"I think I've had years and years of experience of having to bring things up to allow our women's sports and athletes to be at the same level. When Title IX passed, that actually allowed women to have more of a say and a voice in things like that. And I think now, dealing with both genders as an athletics director, a lot of it is how you deal with people. And men and women are different."
 
With Warners' history at Calvin as a student-athlete, coach, and administrator, Timmer knows the benefits she brings across all her roles to the athletic program.
 
"Amber is such an incredible resource for not only me, but our entire department," Timmer said. "Amber played for national championships as a player. She has coached three national champions with the volleyball program. To have someone with her skills set and abilities in an administrative role to be able to help our student-athletes and coaches as they strive to compete at the highest levels is a true blessing to our athletic department."