Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Celebrating Black History Month: Sherri Pla
2/12/2019 3:24:00 PM | General
FAU will be featuring stories of African Americans with connections to FAU athletic programs in honor of Black History Month. These stories will feature former FAU athletes of color who share about their experiences playing their sport, reflect back at their time at FAU, as well as talk about the significance of black history and the month of February. This series will feature four stories of former FAU student-athletes. We caught up with Gary Durrant last week. Next up: Sherri Pla of women's basketball, softball and golf.
Sherri Pla came to Florida Atlantic University in 1994 to play basketball. She was impeccable on the court. In fact, Pla will be remembered as one of the best in FAU women's basketball history and among the leaders in several statistical categories, but she was also quite talented at other sports as well. It's one thing to be a Division I athlete, but another to letter in multiple sports.
When Pla graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in education, she had been a four-year member of the women's basketball and softball teams, competed on the golf team her senior year and hit the cross-country course a number of times as well.
Pla has always taken a great deal of pride in who she is and what she has been able to achieve over the years. Today, Pla is able to do what she is passionate about each and every day as a PGA golf teaching professional, something that may have not been a reality for her had it been decades ago.
"I take a lot of pride in who I am, and I believe history is really important to know where you come from and the struggles people have endured before you," said Pla. "It especially makes me proud to be a black PGA professional because there was a time when no blacks, yet alone black women could be a PGA professional."
Pla is one of only a few athletes in the FAU Hall of Fame to be inducted in more than one sport. When Pla recently came back to FAU for a football game with her daughter, she took her to the exact arena where she had played from 1994-97. After stepping on the court where Pla would dominate in the paint, she showed her daughter the Hall of Fame plaque, hung alongside the most accomplished student-athletes in FAU history.
"The legacy of being in the Hall of Fame is important to me," said Pla. "Being in the Hall of Fame in multiple sports is something my daughter will see and what her future kids see forever. It lasts forever and being a part of a group or club of athletes who are the best to have played at FAU in their sports is pretty significant."
From her very first game versus the Miami Hurricanes, Pla lit up the basketball court. During her career as a point guard at FAU, Pla scored more than 1,000 career points and earned a spot at No. 2 of all time in assists (413). She was also an Atlantic Sun Second Team selection from the 1997-98 season and knocked down the game-winning shot in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in 1996 to power FAU past Mercer.
Pla played a lot of sports growing up, but it wasn't until her senior year of high school when she realized that she was on track of being able to play collegiate basketball. She received a lot of offers from schools to play hoops, but FAU was the only D1 school proposing her a full-ride scholarship. FAU offered everything Pla was looking for in a school and place to play, so the decision to sign with the Owls was a no brainer for the Rivera Beach, Florida native.
The first year of the FAU softball program coincided with Pla's freshman year. Having played slow pitch growing up and encompassing the athleticism it took to play the sport, Pla was a match made in heaven for Joan Joyce's inaugural team. The team was scrappy but had all the ingredients to be successful. FAU captured three conference crowns while Pla was a member of the team and she is among career leaders in triples, stolen bases and career batting average, even to this day.
"FAU was a blessing," said Pla. "Not all colleges would have let me use my talents by playing multiple sports and when I went to FAU, there were a lot of female programs growing, which opened a lot of doors for me as well."
As senior year approached, Pla was beginning to realize she had a shot at playing in the WNBA. One day, she was watching a Chicago Bulls versus Orlando Magic game and there was a segment in the programming that featured Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway golfing together. She figured at the time that if she were to ever become "famous" as a baller she might have to figure out how to play golf.
Immediately following her "ah-ha" moment, Pla asked softball coach Joyce, who was also the head golf coach at the time, to teach her how to play golf. After learning how to hit golf balls and practicing with Joyce whenever she could, Pla was beginning to develop into a very promising golfer and would later turn that passion of golfing into a career.
When Joyce lost out on a commitment on an international player on the golf team, she asked Pla if she would be interested in filling in her spot. Being the competitor that she is, she took on the challenge and continued to polish her craft. At the time, she would never guess in her wildest dreams she would be a PGA golf teaching professional in the years to come.
"Coach Joyce was life changing for me," said Pla. "She gave me the opportunity to be on the golf team, was a big mentor for me and I can't really put into words the amount of time she put into me."
Just the opportunity to be on the golf team opened so many doors for Pla. After spending eight years as a teacher and coach for multiple sports in the public-school setting, she became a head PGA Professional at the Sandhill Crane Golf Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
"Most people go to work every day and it's not very often those people are getting to do what they love and are passionate about every day," said Pla. "The things I do on a daily basis for my job are mentoring and shaping other people's lives."
Pla takes pride in being able to do what she does as a PGA professional, while representing her family in a positive light. Without the opportunity to play multiple sports at FAU, she would not have had the chance to do what she does for a living today, which is something she truly loves.
"Being able to make a positive impact has been something that has made my life more meaningful, and to be able to do that as a career is pretty special."
Sherri Pla came to Florida Atlantic University in 1994 to play basketball. She was impeccable on the court. In fact, Pla will be remembered as one of the best in FAU women's basketball history and among the leaders in several statistical categories, but she was also quite talented at other sports as well. It's one thing to be a Division I athlete, but another to letter in multiple sports.
When Pla graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in education, she had been a four-year member of the women's basketball and softball teams, competed on the golf team her senior year and hit the cross-country course a number of times as well.
Pla has always taken a great deal of pride in who she is and what she has been able to achieve over the years. Today, Pla is able to do what she is passionate about each and every day as a PGA golf teaching professional, something that may have not been a reality for her had it been decades ago.
"I take a lot of pride in who I am, and I believe history is really important to know where you come from and the struggles people have endured before you," said Pla. "It especially makes me proud to be a black PGA professional because there was a time when no blacks, yet alone black women could be a PGA professional."
Pla is one of only a few athletes in the FAU Hall of Fame to be inducted in more than one sport. When Pla recently came back to FAU for a football game with her daughter, she took her to the exact arena where she had played from 1994-97. After stepping on the court where Pla would dominate in the paint, she showed her daughter the Hall of Fame plaque, hung alongside the most accomplished student-athletes in FAU history.
"The legacy of being in the Hall of Fame is important to me," said Pla. "Being in the Hall of Fame in multiple sports is something my daughter will see and what her future kids see forever. It lasts forever and being a part of a group or club of athletes who are the best to have played at FAU in their sports is pretty significant."
From her very first game versus the Miami Hurricanes, Pla lit up the basketball court. During her career as a point guard at FAU, Pla scored more than 1,000 career points and earned a spot at No. 2 of all time in assists (413). She was also an Atlantic Sun Second Team selection from the 1997-98 season and knocked down the game-winning shot in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in 1996 to power FAU past Mercer.
Pla played a lot of sports growing up, but it wasn't until her senior year of high school when she realized that she was on track of being able to play collegiate basketball. She received a lot of offers from schools to play hoops, but FAU was the only D1 school proposing her a full-ride scholarship. FAU offered everything Pla was looking for in a school and place to play, so the decision to sign with the Owls was a no brainer for the Rivera Beach, Florida native.
The first year of the FAU softball program coincided with Pla's freshman year. Having played slow pitch growing up and encompassing the athleticism it took to play the sport, Pla was a match made in heaven for Joan Joyce's inaugural team. The team was scrappy but had all the ingredients to be successful. FAU captured three conference crowns while Pla was a member of the team and she is among career leaders in triples, stolen bases and career batting average, even to this day.
"FAU was a blessing," said Pla. "Not all colleges would have let me use my talents by playing multiple sports and when I went to FAU, there were a lot of female programs growing, which opened a lot of doors for me as well."
As senior year approached, Pla was beginning to realize she had a shot at playing in the WNBA. One day, she was watching a Chicago Bulls versus Orlando Magic game and there was a segment in the programming that featured Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway golfing together. She figured at the time that if she were to ever become "famous" as a baller she might have to figure out how to play golf.
Immediately following her "ah-ha" moment, Pla asked softball coach Joyce, who was also the head golf coach at the time, to teach her how to play golf. After learning how to hit golf balls and practicing with Joyce whenever she could, Pla was beginning to develop into a very promising golfer and would later turn that passion of golfing into a career.
When Joyce lost out on a commitment on an international player on the golf team, she asked Pla if she would be interested in filling in her spot. Being the competitor that she is, she took on the challenge and continued to polish her craft. At the time, she would never guess in her wildest dreams she would be a PGA golf teaching professional in the years to come.
"Coach Joyce was life changing for me," said Pla. "She gave me the opportunity to be on the golf team, was a big mentor for me and I can't really put into words the amount of time she put into me."
Just the opportunity to be on the golf team opened so many doors for Pla. After spending eight years as a teacher and coach for multiple sports in the public-school setting, she became a head PGA Professional at the Sandhill Crane Golf Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
"Most people go to work every day and it's not very often those people are getting to do what they love and are passionate about every day," said Pla. "The things I do on a daily basis for my job are mentoring and shaping other people's lives."
Pla takes pride in being able to do what she does as a PGA professional, while representing her family in a positive light. Without the opportunity to play multiple sports at FAU, she would not have had the chance to do what she does for a living today, which is something she truly loves.
"Being able to make a positive impact has been something that has made my life more meaningful, and to be able to do that as a career is pretty special."
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