The Coach T Way

It’s been years since Marie Thomas, head coach of the girls’ golf team at Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School, has seen her team lose a state title. They’ve won five consecutive 5A State Championships in Kansas, in no small part because Thomas is not a typical high school golf coach. 

Thomas’ voice radiates pride and determination as she discusses her team. She rarely speaks of their impressive scores or records, choosing to focus instead on her players’ development. It’s obvious that Thomas’ coaching superpowers are her empathetic motivational ability, and how she connects on-course lessons to something larger.

“We haven’t always been perfect and we just tell the kids, yeah, we didn’t play well that day but that’s golf,” Thomas says. “You’re not going to be perfect, but control what you can control. You have to learn, make an adjustment. That’s not just in golf, that’s a part of life.” 

Including her time as an assistant coach, Thomas has been a part of nine state championship teams, and yet, when contacted for comment about her inspiring success as a coach, she replied, “Is this legit?” 

“What makes her even more special is her humility,” says Corey Novascone, who coaches both the boys’ and girls’ golf teams at Kapaun. “Despite all of her success, she remains incredibly down-to-earth and always deflects recognition, often using humor to downplay her own achievements. That’s part of what makes her such a great leader—she’s not in it for the accolades, she’s in it to make a difference for her players and her team.”

Thomas is a Physical Education teacher at Kapaun, a private Catholic high school in Wichita with around 1,000 students. She attended Wichita State, walking on the softball team as a freshman, and played all four years. After coaching softball and basketball at the University of Dallas, Thomas landed a job at Kapaun in 2002, and has coached softball, volleyball, and bowling, but golf is where she’s made her mark. Thomas grew up in Louisiana, in a military family that moved around frequently. The one constant in her family’s life was bowling: her Mom and Dad would travel to tournaments, and Thomas rolled in local leagues. Her only childhood connection to golf was through her best friend’s father, who was the high school golf coach, but Thomas never had a desire to play. 

“I thought of it at the time as a rich white person’s sport,” says Thomas. “That wasn’t in my DNA. Then Tiger Woods comes along and it just opens up possibilities. I’m older than Tiger, but he comes along and has success, and there’s someone that looks like me, and it opens up more possibilities.” 

Years later at Kapaun, a fellow teacher needed help with the golf team and Thomas stepped up, despite not knowing much about golf. She began spending more time around the game, playing, watching and learning.

Thomas would turn on the television just to watch Tiger play. On Sundays, she would tune in to marvel at his intense focus and masterful execution. She took a summer job in the cart barn at Tallgrass Country Club, which led to an interaction with the legendary golf instructor who coached Tiger, Butch Harmon. Harmon gave a speech at the opening of a nearby course, and Thomas asked Harmon what made Tiger different from everyone else. She learned from Harmon how much work it takes to be successful – a lesson she imparts to the players on her team. That conversation between Thomas and Harmon changed her appreciation for the game’s top players. At the end of the meeting, Harmon signed a hat with his initials on the back and gave it to Thomas. She calls it a “cherished gift.” 

“I see how good these guys are. They hit the ball so far and they’re so consistent,” says Thomas. “They work at it. I see that in our kids. The hard work it takes to master this sport is endearing to me.” 

Over the past five years, Thomas has used her past experience in team-oriented sports, like softball and basketball, to build support for individual players on her golf team. While she’s had some exceptional high school players, there are six competing players on a state championship team, and their collective score is what determines who wins. 

Last season, there were three Kapaun players attempting to qualify for the final spot on the roster. Thomas elected to take the two girls who didn’t qualify to cheer on their teammates at the state championship. As they watched their teammates, Thomas planted encouraging seeds: if the girls dedicated themselves over the summer to improving their golf games, she told them, they would make all the difference at next year’s championship. They came back from summer more consistent and determined, and were a constant force through the season. The team captured another state title with those two girls in the lineup.

“What’s rewarding for me is to see those kids who are maybe not the best golfers when they start but they fall in love with it,” says Thomas. “They like to work and they see the rewards in practicing and getting better. You can see their level and interest just grow.”

Thomas tries to understand each player individually and rally the team around them. “The girls love Coach T and she loves them,” says Eric Johnsen, who also coaches the boys’ and girls’ teams at Kapaun. “She sets high expectations and guides them to succeed.” Thomas’ team has become more diverse in recent years, and watching the girls come together to achieve their goals is deeply satisfying to her.

“On top of her impressive record, Coach Thomas holds a unique and important place in history as one of the few African American female head coaches in the nation with state championships under her belt,” says Novascone. “It's a testament to her skill, leadership, and determination, but also to the trail she’s blazed for women and minorities in coaching.”

Thomas doesn’t spend much time thinking about that. She wants to inspire her players to become better golfers and people. She appreciates that her team has become more diverse, which is reflective of our society, but doesn’t dwell on her place in that.

“I’m just Coach T. I just see it as I’m a coach, and I’m coaching these young ladies. It gives me pride to know I’m helping to lead this team and being African-American,” Thomas says. “We’ve had two African-Americans there (on the team), we’ve had Hispanic golfers, we’ve had Asian golfers and Caucasians. We’ve had a wide variety of kids,” Thomas says. “To me, that’s the makeup of our country.” 

She hopes at the end of their time at Kapaun, her girls learn to endure hard times. When golf, and life are challenging, she hopes they remember that hard work conquers temporary hardship. Above all, she hopes her girls have fun along the way.

“Have fun. It’s a game. Enjoy it,” says Thomas. “You get to play golf. It’s sunny outside, you’re not sitting in school, and you get to play golf. So enjoy it. Hopefully they’ve learned something from that.” 

Whether they capture another state championship or not, as long as Coach T is leading, her players are winning. 

‍