By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Lakeside Girls Basketball Head Coach Mia Augustavo-Fisher has an extensive history as both a female athlete and coach.
After playing at The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and professionally overseas for 10 years, Augustavo-Fisher got her first coaching position in 2013 as a marketer and recruiter for the Stanford women’s team as part of Tara VanDerveer’s coaching staff.
“I was really intrigued by women’s basketball and Division One collegiate basketball, and being from the Bay Area I looked to Stanford,” says Augustavo-Fisher. “I was able to learn from some of the best and she gave me an internship position where I was able to travel and be with the team, which I really loved.”
After a year at Stanford, Augustavo-Fisher was hired at San Jose State as a recruiter and administrator before returning to her alma mater, UCSB, where she was a recruiter and administrator for a little over 2 years.
After relocating to Washington in 2017, Augustavo-Fisher met Sandy Schneider, who was the program head and varsity girls’ basketball coach at Lakeside, and served as her assistant coach before taking over the program after Schneider retired in 2018.
Over the years, the Lakeside girls’ basketball program has a storied tradition of winning, and Augustavo-Fisher, who has over 75 victories in her six years as the head coach, is very happy that she has been able to carry on that legacy.
“I think that in the last couple of years we have gotten back to that winning tradition, which I am very happy about, and happy that it is a culture where everyone feels supported and accepted, which gives a really good player experience,” says Augustavo-Fisher. “When players feel comfortable and happy they perform better, so I am glad to get back to our tradition of winning and doing well in the Metro League.”
Director of Athletics for Seattle Public Schools, Tara Davis, a former student-athlete at Rainier Beach High School, says that she loves to see the level of competition increase, especially among women’s sports, and that Davis Augustavo-Fisher is helping to set a standard that other programs can aspire to.
“It is nice to see growth in programs in the Metro League,” says Davis. “What I love about the Metro League is that any given year a new team or program can arise. Lately, we have had a collection of powerhouses within our league with the Garfield and Lakeside programs, where they have been the top two teams.”
While she has had success at Lakeside, Augustavo-Fisher says that this year she has utilized different coaching techniques which helped her connect more and build better relationships with her players than in previous years. The results of her efforts can be seen both on and off the court.
“This year I tried to do things a bit differently, I wanted to hear their voices a bit more,” says Augustavo-Fisher. “We have some players that are very ambitious and have personal goals with basketball. I think people feel more empowered when they are a part of it and they have a voice, so I love when our players advocate for themselves and tell me their worldview and perspective on things.”
Being able to hear from her team and understand what they see out there on the court has allowed Augustavo-Fisher to make her role as head coach a joint and collaborative effort this year.
“It has been much more of a dialogue than a monologue, giving them that voice and making them feel empowered,” says Augustavo-Fisher.
This year, the Lakeside girls’ basketball team (19-3 overall, 13-1 in Metro) has had a remarkable season. They handed the Garfield Lady Bulldogs their first loss of the season and made it to the Metro League championship game for the third year in a row.
Despite their success, Augustavo-Fisher believes that a lot of people counted her team out this year and were surprised with how well they have been performing. However, the team, led by senior Mia Broom and junior Willa Chinn, has rallied around each other and really pulled together as a team. The season, which is still in progress, has been very gratifying for the Lions, as they continue to see their hard work pay off.
“This season has been completely different because we graduated such a good senior class and I think that a lot of people are honestly surprised that we are back after we graduated that class, and no one saw that coming,” says Augustavo-Fisher.
According to Davis, “you never know who is going to rise to the top in the Metro League.” While the league as a whole has seen a slight decline in the athletic program for girls, the strength of programs like the Lakeside girls’ basketball program continues to stand out and inspire others to enjoy the sport.
“Watching Mia come in and [seeing] her growth as a coach is great,” says Davis. “She is dedicated to her team, she is dedicated to her young athletes and you see that in the development of the programming.”
Like many teams in the Metro League, Augustavo-Fisher hopes to make it back to the 3A State Championships at the Tacoma Dome, but this time finishing higher than they have in previous years.
“It is the playoffs so we don’t want to look too far ahead,” says Augustavo-Fisher. “But after we finish the Metro Championship we want to try and do the best we can in the district and make it to those finals.”