Celebrated Coach Valorie Kondos Field will Speak in Agoura Hills

The City of Agoura Hills announced that retired head coach of UCLA’s champion Women’s Gymnastics team Valorie Kondos Field will be speaking on her book, “Life Is Short, Don’t Wait To Dance”, in Agoura Hills on October 24, 2019. The event is hosted by the City of Agoura Hills in conjunction with the city’s 2019 One City One Book community read program.

Considered one of the finest gymnastic coaches of all times, Fields led her teams to seven-time national, 22-time Regional and 18-time Pac 12 championships. She was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010, as well as the earning four-time “National Coach of the Year”, named “West Region Coach” of the Year and Pac 12 “Coach of the Century”. She mentored hundreds of elite athletes, including Olympic champions Simone Biles, Jordan Wieber, Kyla Ross, Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez and Nastia Liukin. Trained as a professional ballet dancer and choreographer, Field successfully transferred the classical dance art form to her student athletes.

Her credits also include choreographing and directing live variety shows for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Opening Ceremonies for Women’s Basketball, a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar roast, CBS’s “Jump, Jive & Thrive” Breast Cancer Research Foundation benefit, and 26 years of cirque-type shows for Sea World’s Summer Nights and the San Diego Zoo. Since retiring she tours as a speaker with “Corporate Coaching” events for national companies including JP Morgan Chase.

Her inspirational book “Life Is Short, Don’t Wait To Dance” published by the Hachette Book Group in 2018, shares valuable life lessons and encourages readers to strive for individuality and joy. At the OCOB program she will speak on her life philosophy: “Don’t wait to see what life is going to hand you, take control of your life and design ~ choreograph it exactly how you want it to turn out.” As a recent breast cancer survivor, Field also offers an impactful message on how to keep a positive outlook. A friend of the legendary basketball coach John Wooden, she will discuss how he was one of her biggest inspirations, as well as becoming a close mentor and friend.

The book for this year’s community read was selected by Agoura Hills Mayor Linda Northrup, whose slogan has been “Response, Recovery, and Resilience” after the devastating Woolsey Fire that blazed through the city last November on the heels of the Borderline Bar & Grill tragedy in Thousand Oaks. “Ms. Kondos Field’s book is the perfect fit for a community discussion about our ability to rebound and 'reset' as we approach the one year anniversary of these life-altering events,” said Mayor Northrup, adding, "as a UCLA alumnus, I’m thrilled to have one of its greatest coaches spend the evening with us to discuss what it takes to respond to perceived failures, recover from setbacks and be resilient in the face of obstacles...in other words, to be a champion in life. Our One City One Book Committee is, once again, bringing an exceptional program to the public.”

The city-sponsored event with the author is Thursday, October 24, 2019 at Agoura High School Performing Arts Center, 28545 W. Driver Ave., Agoura Hills, CA 91301. Admission is free, but registration is appreciated; space is limited. The public may pre-order a book when registering to receive and have signed at the event. Register at www.agourahillsrec.org. The event begins at 5:30pm with refreshments being served before the program begins at 6pm.

In conjunction with One City One Book, Mayor Linda Northrup is also hosting a group of elementary school students at the Agoura Hills Library for a “Read with the Mayor” morning featuring “P-22 The Journey” an inspiring tale about survival and the mountain lions who live in the Santa Monica Mountains, by local writers Sherry Mangel-Ferber and Calandra Cherry and local illustrator Kathi Colman.

For updated information on all One City One Book events, call 818-597-7361 or visit the website.

Each year, the city of Agoura Hills participates in the One City One Book national literacy program designed to stimulate reading through group book discussions and other related activities. The community reads are sponsored by the City of Agoura Hills, Friends of the Library, Los Angeles County Library at Agoura Hills, the Agoura Hills Cultural Arts Council, and the Las Virgenes Unified School District. For more information about the One City, One Book literary program, contact Amy Brink at call (818) 597-7361 or email ajbrink@ci.agoura-hills.ca.us.