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Stories of Transitions and Triumphs.
LaVonna: Welcome, friends.
It's time for taking a deep breath
with your girl, LaVonna Martin Floreal.
So come with me as we journey to
discover life's a ha moments that
catalyze a more profound sense of
self and a springboard for growth.
It is these revelations that create our
stories of transitions and triumphs.
And my goal is to feature these stories
as a way to reiterate that our shared
experiences can encourage each other
on this arduous journey called life.
Today's episode is exciting for me
because it features my girl and a 1988
Olympic teammate and recently named
women's head coach of the 2024 U.
S.
Olympic track and field team that
will compete in Paris later this year.
Latonya Sheffield is the girl, the woman,
Latonya, welcome to taking a deep breath.
Thank you so much, LaVonna.
Thank you so much for inviting me.
It certainly is a pleasure
to be here and can't wait.
I can't wait either.
I'm so excited for you.
And we've talked about this and
to, to know that How our journeys
in life has just progressed.
And you from being an Olympian
to Olympic coach is like, bravo.
It's super, it's, it's
super exciting to all of it.
Really, LaVonna one, there is
certainly that humbleness because
being selected by your peers.
giving the nod by your peers
is just so very, very huge.
There is that moment you said earlier
in their intro, the aha, the aha moment
for me is more of understanding that the
journey wasn't necessarily just me alone,
but there's all these different people
and all the dirt, all the different spaces
that I've been able to To, to be in.
It's just been really awesome.
That's fantastic.
That's fantastic.
All right.
So what I usually like to do when I
host a friend, I like to allow you a
chance to , give two or three words that
would best describe you or adjectives.
And then I'll give the two or three
that I think best describes you.
I would definitely say passionate,
I'm passionate and anointed.
Okay.
All right.
I would say vivacious, cause your
personality is just so vivacious.
Big.
And I would say committed, dedicated.
I have seen that from you as an athlete.
And then I definitely see that as a
coach and I know what you're going
to do as the head coach of the 2024
Olympic team that's going to Paris.
So that's, Oh my gosh, just
saying it again and again,
still, I got to pinch myself,
Okay, alright, so let me just
start with this question.
That you've had an incredible journey
in the world of track and field both
as an athlete and now as a coach.
So can you take us back to
the beginnings and share how
your love for the sport began?
You know, it's really something
because, LaVonna, it's not necessarily,
let me tell you the love happened.
The love was more like Cupid.
And I don't know if you know a little
bit about Cupid, but you know, he
pulls back the arrow and catch you
and all of a sudden you're in love.
I think that that's what happened for
me because I don't, I can't say that
I was looking for track and field.
I think that, that I was
introduced to the 400 hurdles.
First of all, I was not a 400 Hitler.
I wasn't a Hitler.
Even in high school, I was
more of a hundred, 200.
The idea came after my freshman
year in college at San Diego State,
where the coach asked if I would
entertain running the 400 hurdles.
And to me, when somebody asks you
and you are a 100 meter runner or 200
meter runner, if you would like to do
an event like the 400 hurdles, it's
clearly that you are not really fast.
You're not really excelling.
So I said, okay, you know, it was
something for me to think about because at
the end of the day, I was a dance major.
I was a dance major in college.
And so, jetéing across the floor and
doing all the barrel turns and having
really that in air awareness of your
body, I had no problem with that.
And so, it really wasn't a Cupid situation
because my first track meet, I won.
I was like, oh, yeah,
I can get used to this.
And so, it was more of
that, it finding me.
And I want to say, really, kind of
in my whole career, Things have just
kind of found me and I have been able
to just maybe between osmosis and
diffusion been able to go in and out.
So it certainly was a
cupid love affair for sure.
That's, that's, that's fantastic.
I love the way that you, that you put that
but, I wanted to say is, is that, as you
can see, that's that vivacious personality
I was talking about, That was a really
good explanation about Cupid, right?
Because I think most of us feel like
that we had this very deliberate
journey towards the love of this sport.
And basically you're saying it
was a splash, splash, boom, bam.
And then that's what you went with.
And that's what I love about your energy.
And so if you think about,
or I guess I should go back.
Tell us who you were as an athlete.
You know, you told us what event you did,
but give us some more specifics because
there's some really like phenomenal
things that you did as an athlete
that I think the world should know.
Let me tell you, boy, first of all,
I had a blast as as an athlete.
Obviously, there are
those ups and those downs.
I mean, that's how you grow.
You grow when you're in the valley.
You grow while you're in the valley.
And so those things, but
I had an amazing career.
My brother turned to be my coach.
That wasn't something that we've actually
saw, but the coach, the previous coach,
when I came in, He decided to take
another job and then that allowed Ron
Sheffield, my brother, to actually
coach the sprints and the hurdles.
And so I just had to be so
lucky to be one of those folks.
And I can tell you that I was amongst
those, those athletes that You saw
him looking way better leaving than
coming on some of those days for sure.
For sure.
But what really resonated with me
was the ability to trust my coach.
And I think that that had so much to
do with the success of of my career.
Still being that person in dance
and having That type of experience
with just in air body awareness.
It was very helpful for us to
grow and develop into that sport.
But also being dance, I did
performances in, in, in, in
our on campus theater, right?
Right.
And so what they would do is applaud.
After the, after the performances.
And so I got accustomed to that.
And that really like, that's the
way the crowd lets, you know,
if you're doing well or not.
And so I literally took
that on to my competitions.
I had no idea that people were watching.
I had no idea that it might even been
a distraction or that I would even be.
kind of known for that.
But when I would get prepared for the
competition during the warm up, once
I was ready to go, I would applaud.
That was my way of letting my
coach know I'm ready, right?
Because he had other,
he had other athletes.
Right.
And so when you go off as an
athlete and you're doing your
warmup, you're doing your thing.
And then at that point,
I will be communicating.
Well, he might be way across the track
who knew, but at any rate, I would
applaud and I would clap and on and on
and on, even in the, in the block starts.
Right.
So right before the race would
go, I would actually be able to
do the flutters with my feet.
And so it really wasn't an act.
It was a part of my life and I
had not necessarily separated,
nor did I want to separate the
performance from the performance.
Wow.
Wow.
And so you were a part of a brand
new event that debuted at the 1984
Olympics, which was the 400 hurdles.
And tell us a little bit
about how well you did at the
start of that event for you.
Well, I didn't really have
history of the 400 hurdles.
It was other folks saying that we believe
you could be a really good 400 hurdler.
So I'm like, okay, let's go with it.
It wasn't until I actually competed
at the Olympic trials in 1984
and I did not make the team.
That's when I knew what I wanted.
That was the Cupid part of it, right?
That moment, that moment.
And it wasn't until I saw our
late and great And amazing.
Greg Foster, who made the
Olympic team in in 84.
And during the trials, they showed
his picture on the, on the jumbo, on
the jumbo tron, and all I could see
I was very close to the jumbo tron
and I could only see the white pixel.
And I could see his big smile to this day.
I'm not quite sure if he knew, I
definitely have shared this with him, but
he really, really made an impact on that
day and for me to want to do it again.
So when we fast forward to 88.
I was coming in on a mission.
I wasn't looking for anyone, any one,
any lane, any situation, any, any
weather conditions to stop me from
earning birth onto the Olympic team.
I spent four years, LaVon, I spent
four years, I've spent four years
putting down Taco Bell and McDonald's.
I was, I was gonna get on that team.
Got it, got it, got it.
Well, I am glad because that's how we
met during that, during that time frame.
And then we end up being
roommates and here we go.
What, 40 something years later, still
good friends, still cheering each other
from our own little private corners.
And I'm just excited for everything
that's happening for you.
All right.
So here you gave me
some really good advice.
Because while you were at that 88
Olympics, you were planning to get
married after the games were over
and you had children or a child.
I felt like, were you still trying
to compete when you had a child?
Well, I really thought, again, I
really thought that I was going
to be married when I started a
family, that would be the end of it.
But there still was that love.
I had actually fallen in love.
I wanted to continue to compete.
I didn't realize that until
maybe more towards the latter
part of, of the pregnancy.
Got it.
But at the same time, okay.
Because family and friends are
like, wow, you're going to be a new
mom and they probably thought no
track and field, all of that stuff.
Right.
Okay.
But I can tell you more
like, I'm gonna give you.
One more month of nursing,
sister, and then you're out.
Got it.
And I, I just decided to,
to get back in, in, into it.
It was not necessarily a plan.
Again, my career definitely
is a Cupid moment.
Got it.
Got it.
Well, that great advice you
gave me was don't have a child
while you're trying to compete.
And it wasn't not to have a baby.
Maybe it was just the difficulties
of trying to manage being,
you know, a wife of two.
Since that was my choice to be a wife
and to be a mother and the dedication
that it required to be an Olympic
level athlete is kind of challenging.
So my next question is.
At some point you realize this is it.
I'm done.
And I like to talk to athletes and talk
to women in general about what that
transition looks like when it's over.
You know, there's so many when it's
over moments in our lives, whether it
be our children growing up and moving
on into their own life, when it's
over for us to move from one space
in life, like a job to another space.
I'm curious as to what that moment
felt like for you when it was
over with your athletic career.
Just to be very vulnerable.
I definitely went through
an identity crisis.
I had known myself longer than
anything as being an athlete, something
that I had intentionally pursued,
something that I had seen myself as.
And others had seen me that way as well.
So it was definitely a very
vulnerable time for me when I
decided to hang up my shoes.
It's really super something because I go
back to the late and great Greg Foster.
I asked him years before getting
closer to the, to, to my retirement.
I'd asked him before, when do you
know, when do you know when it's time?
And his advice to me at that time was.
When you don't make a final, when you
don't make the USA national final, that's
when the writing can be on the wall.
And so it sure enough happened the first
and only time that I had not made a
final that that writing was on the wall.
I knew it before because
I retired at 37 years old.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, I saw myself for a long time
as an athlete, even though I was
a wife, even though I was a mom,
I was still able to manage some
things and my body just did not.
It wasn't injured.
Where I could not run.
And again, I was still making finals
with that being said, that transition
while I saw me a certain way.
And so the question that kept
coming to me, whether it was
in my sleep or even when I was
awake, who are you, who are you?
And I couldn't definitively answer that.
Because I kept coming back to, I'm an
athlete, then the, what do you want to do?
While there was some.
things that God had placed in me.
I didn't know that right away.
And so it took patience and
it took me diving deeper.
So the anointed part, LaVonna, that
anointed part is deep for me because
the anointing and the gifts, the
spiritual gifts that I know for
certain that I have, and I'm okay
with that is the gift of exhortation.
And so I ended up finding my way
at being a motivational speaker.
Okay.
It's crazy.
I can see that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can see the c and that, goes along
with your cheer background or not
cheer your dance background, right?
Like that's how I always see you as like
a cheerleader as a encourager and as,
as an exhorter, you know what I mean?
And that, that seems to fit.
It, it, it absolutely.
I mean, while you say that, you
know, it's, it's something that
maybe a lot of people don't know
in my history, but that's, That's
how I came to track and field.
I was in high school.
I was a cheerleader.
I was a cheerleader.
Yes.
Yes.
Through and through.
And, and that's what I found.
I mean, I really resonated with that.
And then moving on to track
and field, it was only because
again, my friends were doing it.
The cheerleaders moved
on to the track team.
So it was just really kind of.
evolution and very seamless
transitions for me.
And so being that motivational
speaker, and I did that for
years, that was my livelihood.
For a very long time, I was doing
that as well as kind of dibbling and
dabbling into other, other things of
like, I have a nonprofit organization
where we fight childhood obesity.
So it was just a whole
thing with that, you know?
Yeah.
Awesome.
Awesome.
What inspired you to transition
from being an athlete to a coach?
Wow.
Again, I'm gonna deal
with that Cupid dude.
So how it really came about, it was not
something that I was looking forward to.
I mean, when you are an athlete and
you know, all the things that you
need, and then you are around other
athletes and seeing what they need.
As you, you're not really necessarily
wanting to pursue that part, right?
Cause you got to have a
whole bunch of patients.
I didn't see me as patient.
I, I just didn't see all of those
things, but, but the, the coaching
part of it was came from my children.
Him being in middle school and,
and they doing track for the
day or whatever it might be.
And, and then the, the, the.
The, the teacher, if you will, knowing
that I ran professionally, well, can
you help out and those kinds of things?
And so it kind of really that it laid
the groundwork right then, but then when
you see your kid in high school and,
and the, in the math teacher is teaching
them and you just can't take it right.
That part right there.
And so, you know, it's almost
like, well, Hey, let me help.
And then you, then the
selflessness comes in.
You don't want to just
coach your child, right.
So you kind of help the other people.
And the next thing, you know, you're at
a track meet all day with other people's
children, right, right, right, right.
Okay.
So you, you, your foray wasn't into,
I just finished running track and now
I'm going to aspire to be a coach.
It really is.
Your children kind of drew you in.
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yes.
That's interesting.
I didn't know that.
Yeah.
So tell us where, so
where are you coaching now?
I'm at Long Beach state.
I'm at Long Beach state university.
And it's just been really
a major blast, major blast.
I didn't see myself here.
I didn't see myself.
I was actually, my husband and I, we
were living in, In Arizona, we had
made a commute, if you will, there to
Arizona and embrace our family and I got
a call and I got a call and here we are
today, 12 years later, California girl.
Right.
Oh, California, LA, Long Beach.
. All right.
So can you tell us what some of the
transitions you experienced into coaching?
Oh, wow.
Well certainly there is that
having to empathize with folks.
Right.
So as an athlete, you know, some
of the things that need to happen
and and you also recognize how
difficult things can be, and then
also how celebratory things can be.
And so bringing some of those
things to the forefront of coaching
has been so very important.
helpful.
The transition has been a little bit
easier than I had imagined before.
I was thinking coaching taboo wouldn't
ever do it in a billion years.
But I believe this is my life call.
It's a ministry for me.
It's an absolute ministry for me.
And so I enjoy it.
That's fantastic.
And you're great at it too.
for that.
You know, it's about
the development, right?
Like it'd be great for me.
I'm at a mid major and it's awesome
to be able to just get a talented
athlete that's already running fast.
But many of those athletes were just like
me that just needs growth and development
and someone to believe in them.
And that's what I do.
I can, it can, it resonates with me
very easily because of my own journey.
Okay.
And then tell us what a mid major
is, because I don't think many people
know that there's varying levels
within the NCAA system, and explain
to us what a mid major school is.
That's fair.
That's really fair.
Thank you for asking that
question and even for clarity.
So we have the Power 5 schools.
Are there in a certain conferences,
whether it's the SEC or the big 12
the newly resolved pack 12 Long Beach
state and many of those schools are
not in those in those conferences,
but still are very highly competitive.
Many of the mid majors may
not even have a football team.
I like to think at Long Beach
State with the number of, of, of
track and field people that are
there, we are the football team.
That's wow.
I don't think a lot of
people understand that.
Right.
So that means that some of the,
and this is off topic, but some of
the challenges that you face are
very unique to a mid major school.
Especially if you're going up against
a power five school, let's talk
about like recruiting or sometimes
even some of the resources that are
available to you can be a challenge
if you're going up against recruiting,
let's say against a power five.
Oh, no doubt.
Like absolutely no doubt for me.
I've got to go back to this and what
my lineage and experience has been.
I, I'm, I'm, I come from, you know,
just humble beginnings if you will.
And you know, nothing special about me.
If you cut me, I believe
just like everybody else.
However to be a kid from really middle
of Los Angeles and find my way to be
an Olympian and now Olympic coach,
it really speaks to really what
that mid major person is, at least
under, under, under my, under my
tutelage, it doesn't matter the lane.
It doesn't matter the, the, the, what,
what logo you have on your, on your chest.
It doesn't matter the competitor
that's right next to you.
Then you do your very best.
And you can, you can, you know,
the sky's the limit for, for you.
When we start talking about resources,
no, maybe we don't have all of the
resources, but I can tell you this
in the weight room, that 45 pound
weight still does Olympic lifts.
Now, if an athlete needs to
have rhinestones around that
45 pound weight, so be it.
But at the end of it, you
still get that education.
Okay.
You still have, matter of fact, you
may even have even that much more of a
passionate and well versed college coach.
It's, it's so many things that
we can say, yeah, they don't have
this and they don't have that.
But sometimes you've got
to pull yourselves up from
your own bootstraps in life.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And again, like you said,
I can see you doing that.
I mean, encouraging kids and at whatever
level, whatever lane that they're
in, so to speak, no pun intended.
You see, that's, that's who you are.
And so it should work
for you where you are.
The mid major life can be very
challenging, especially now that
we have all of the other nuances,
whether it be the transfer portal.
Whether it be the, the, the, the NIL, all
of those things, they don't necessarily
make it very easy for the mid major when
we started speaking very bluntly about
the transfer portal, maybe, maybe at a
mid major school, a person is able to grow
and develop and then now be seen by that
high end, if you will, or the power five.
And so now they go on
to the transfer portal.
What I think about is.
Still the loyalty, the commitment, and
those are some of the characteristics
that a person will need to have in life.
Got it.
Got it.
Yeah.
We still are able to teach.
We still are able to give them experience.
Yes.
I'm not afraid of it.
I just know that it exists.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, I have one more question
for you and it's the big question.
Looking ahead to the 2024 Olympics in
Paris, France, where you are the women's
head coach of the 2024 Olympic team.
I love saying that.
What, what are your goals as head coach
of the women's track and field team to
be as available to be as transparent,
to be the server, if you will, to be of
service to all of the athletes, as well
as our coaching staff is, I am there to
do exactly what I do now, and that is to
uplift the The ones that will be on that
field, on that track, around the oval.
And that's what I look to do.
I look to create a space for people to
be elevated in that momentous manner.
Right there at the ultimate, the highest
of track and field, the Olympic Games.
Latonya, I'm like, girl,
you're about to do it.
I'm just excited for you.
And you know, you come or you
come on the heels of a lineage
of women, starting from Dr.
Neal Jackson in 1956 to all the
way up into Connie Price Smith,
Jeanette Bolden, Sue Humphreys,
Terry Crawford, Karen Dennis.
Dionne Bocheser, if I said her
name correctly Barbara Jacket, Amy
Dean I don't think Rose Monday.
Rose Monday.
Thank you.
Rose was the latest one.
So you come on the heels of a lot of women
that have given so much to our sport.
And what would you say to them as you
make your way into the 2024 Olympics?
Obviously.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Because you've paved the way.
You, they have paved the way.
So coaching is generational life
and motherhood generational, right?
There are these nuggets of, on
this thread of life of coaching
that we all get advantage for.
Right.
So whomever was your coach
give him a small dig that Edric
Floreal, whomever was your coach.
He got coaching from someone else that
coached him and that person and on and on.
And so that's the same thing
in the same way, how I see it.
So yes, I stand on the shoulders of a Nell
Jackson, absolutely of a Karen Dennis.
Absolutely.
And so those folks have
created the pathway.
But my most recent counterparts,
which would be when in 2016, I
actually served as the sprint and
hurdle assistant coach under Connie,
Connie price and just amazing.
And, and learning and, and, and
understanding the nuances and being
okay, being okay with this burden,
if you will, of an opportunity.
Right.
It's just so huge.
And also watching in 2020 or 21 watching
Rose Monday and how to communicate
even in difficult situations.
And so I just have been really blessed
to see it up front, close, and personal.
So I'm really, I feel very prepared,
but I also feel very thankful for
those that I stand on shoulders to,
and I'm hopeful that I make them proud.
LaTonya, I am Supremely proud of you.
I am so excited for you.
And I am just thrilled that
our women are, they're going
to have you as that role model.
And so congratulations again.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
And I look forward to cheering
you on as you move through the
rest of your collegiate season
and then make your way to Paris.
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
LaVonna, LaVonna, LaVonna Martin Floreal.
That's, that's that girl.
That's that girl.
Thank you, girl.