Hundreds of local high school girls student-athletes packed into Earl Warren Showgrounds on Monday for the annual SB Athletic Round Table Women in Sports Luncheon.
A panel of UCSB softball head coach Jo Evans, SBCC women’s basketball head coach Sandrine Krul and Westmont women’s swimming head coach Jill Lin offered stories and provided advice to the young athletes in the crowd.
UCSB director of athletics Kelly Barsky moderated the event, while Cottage Health and Mullen & Henzell L.L.P served as the presenting sponsors for this annual SBART event.
After an introduction by Alison Bernal that highlighted the importance of Title IX in the world of sports, Cottage Primary Care medical director Jane Varner, MD, provided the student-athletes with a brief message before handing it off to Barsky.
“Today, we celebrate [Title IX’s] legacy, and we celebrate all of you,” Varner said to the student-athletes in the crowd. “On behalf of Cottage Health, thank you for being amazing. We are inspired by you and are so proud to support you. You are the leaders, role models and trailblazers who will shape our future.”
The panel began with Barsky asking each of the three coaches how sports have impacted their lives and how they could impact the lives of high school student-athletes. Krul offered insight into her personal story and how sports transcend simply playing a game.
“[Basketball] was where I found my identity,” Krul said. “[My stature] was celebrated for being bigger. I didn’t have representation, but my strength on the court, it was celebrated
“Sports don’t just open doors. It transforms you… It’s such a positive experience, even when you don’t think it is. So I just want to tell all of you, stay the course. Don’t give in, don’t give up before the miracle can happen.”
Lin also touched on the importance of taking the lessons from athletics and applying them elsewhere in order to facilitate self growth and improvement.
“There’s so much personal growth and development that can happen through athletics if you have a growth mindset of seeing it as an opportunity for growth,” Lin said. Be present, see it as an opportunity and have a vision of what you want to do and accomplish and who you want to become.”
In the conversation, the concept of leadership and the power of leadership in women’s sports came up and Krul left the local student-athletes with a motivating message to take onto their own teams.
“Trust your training, trust your voice and don’t let anyone silence you,” Krul said. “It’s okay to struggle sometimes, but when you have your support system that you trust, the leadership tends to follow. Have confidence, don’t let anyone take away your confidence.”
The trio and Barsky also touched on their favorite aspects of coaching and their proudest moments of their coaching careers, as well as what they look for in prospective student-athletes looking to take their games to the next level.
When the panel was opened up to a Q&A segment for the student-athletes, the coaches were asked what they hope the near future of women’s sports may hold. Evans’ response included a hopefulness for the future and a call to action to everyone in attendance.
“We’re putting so much money into paying athletes, which I’m happy athletes are getting paid, but it’s been becoming such an enterprise that I’m worried about women’s athletics,” Evans said. “I hope that we can get people energized and excited about women’s athletics and girls athletics, and see what tremendous value it has to young people in our community in general.
“We really have to advocate for ourselves. We have to get in front of people. I firmly believe that if we can gather people together and have them come out and watch us and meet us and know who we are as people, they will get engaged, and they will be fired up about what we’re doing, and they’ll want to come and support.
“We can’t just sit back and say, hey, we want things to be better. We have to get out there and make it happen. I always feel like if people come to meet our players, they’re gonna fall in love with them, and then there’s no telling how they’re gonna support.”
Information on the Panelists
UCSB’s Jo Evans: She took over the Gaucho softball program in August of 2022, but has a long career in softball as a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee. In her time in Isla Vista, she has guided the program to new heights. The 36-win season in 2025 was the highest win total in program history, and they reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
SBCC’s Sandrine Krul: She is in the midst of her 22nd season at the helm of the SBCC women’s volleyball program, and she has accumulated a 326-252 record along the way. The Vaqueros have been one of the top teams in the state under Krul, including eight SoCal Regional appearances and several WSC North conference championships.
Westmont’s Jill Lin: She has been the head coach of the Westmont women’s swimming program since its inception seven seasons ago, guiding it through the jump from the NAIA to the NCAA Div. 2 level. In her time as a Warrior, the program has earned 34 NAIA All-American titles and 39 swimmers were awarded All-Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference honors.
The event was also sponsored by SBCC Athletics, StormoHealth, Cerity Partners, Tournament of Champions, Swell Athletic Club, Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, OriginPoint, Sycamore Wealth Management, Outhwaite Foundation, Community West Bank, Village Properties, Carp Physio, Maho & Prentice LLP, Santa Barbara Trust Company and Fidelity National Title Group.