11/05/1955
Miss Lydla Sierra Proud of Trophies
Miss Lydia Sierra, athletic coach of St. Joseph's Catholic School, is proud of the school's bulging trophy case.
When she went to St. Joseph's five years ago, there was one basketball trophy.
Since she has been coaching, the school has won several dozen trophies for fencing, baseball, football, basketball and sportsmanship.
When she began coaching at St. Joseph's, she had the task of proving herself.
She Can Pass and Punt
"It's a natural reaction with the boys," Miss Sierra said. "Sometimes they resent having a woman football coach and sometimes they don't. But the popular reaction is to wait and see how I play the game."
So Miss Sierra shows them.
When they see her pass and punt, their attitude, regardless of whether it is one of resentment, doubt or curiosity, turns to admiration.
"I haven't had any difficulties," Miss Sierra said.
"Of course, it's not difficult to beat boys at the age level of 13, at kicking. When they see how far I can kick as compared to their rather shorter kicks, they decide I'm all right"
Miss Sierra has been coaching football for almost 15 years.
She Changed Her Mind
"I've always liked the game," she said. "I came from a family of football players. My brothers liked to play.
"I never intended to teach football, but when I saw the need for coaches, particularly in grade school, I changed my mind.
"When I came to St. Joseph's, the boys played touch football, softball and volleyball We decided to start tackle football, baseball and fencing."
Miss Sierra attended Las Cruces Union High School. While she was a high school student, she coached basketball and track at Holy Cross Catholic School in Las Cruces.
She attended New Mexico A. and M. College for two years.
"I took several coaching courses," she said. “We used to play football to get the fundamentals of the course and for the purpose of demonstration. We had two teams. We played regular games except we didn't tackle."
Miss Sierra spent eight months observing recreation programs in Manhattan and Brooklyn, N. Y. She trained as a parachute and fabric inspector at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio for nine months, then went to Biggs Air Force Base where she worked for four years as a civilian during World War II.
After she quit work at Biggs Field, she taught at Alamo School for two years. During this time she was in charge of sports of the Catholic Community Center. She taught swimming, basketball, badminton, football and tennis. Next, she took a job as physical education instructor at Sacred Heart School for two years.
Then came her job as athletic coach-at St. Joseph's. This is her fifth year there. She is parish recreation director and physical education teacher for the boys. She coaches all sports. This includes football, fencing, baseball, track and basketball. She also teaches square dancing to boys and girls and a "little ballroom dancing."
Miss Sierra Is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Sierra of Las Cruces. She lives at 1015 North Florence street.
She has three brothers, Bernard F. Sierra of El Paso; Frank Sierra of Los Angeles and James Jr. of Las Cruces. Her sisters are Mrs. Harlan Stamm of Long Beach, Calif., and Mrs. Paul Maese of Las Cruces.
She started two of her nephews off in the fundamentals of football. They are Bernie Jr., president of the El Paso High School senior class, and Paul Jr., a student at Las Cruces Union High School.
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