Lori Galloway Cochran has a few favorite hashtags she uses on social media, #lovethegame, #whyIteach, #whyIplay. The former elementary school teacher has taught for 22 years at Jacksonville State University College of Health Professions and Wellness, instructing future physical education teachers.
#Love the Game
Cochran’s love-the-game mentality keeps her humble despite her many athletic accomplishments. She instead sees sports as an opportunity for enjoyment and health, instilling that message through the courses she offers.
“I try to teach my students that even if you’re a collegiate athlete, that will end one day. I was that person. I was at Livingston University for five years, and my eligibility ran out after four. I can relate to many of these students who don’t know what to do with themselves when it is over. You’re not always going to have 10-15 people calling you saying, meet me at the rec and let’s play some basketball or go work out. You have to find things to do to keep you active and put you in positive and good social circles,” she said.
The Hall of Fame softball pitcher recently started a pickleball team at Jacksonville State to provide students with a positive and constructive outlet. Cochran discovered pickleball in 1991 when she had finished her softball career. She laughs about the wooden paddles and whiffle balls that were used in those days, but the game and sense of community it brought were still the same.
Pre-pandemic 2019, she noticed pickleball started to explode in the area. She began to do some research and take steps to possibly make it a club sport at Jacksonville State.
“I started a physical education class in our department, HPE 112 Beginning Pickleball. I taught that this summer, and I had about 15 students. I taught them from the ground up,” she said.
After her close friend, University Provost Dr. Christie Shelton, indicated she wanted to learn and other staff expressed interest, she began teaching pickleball to colleagues. The University students would often join the staff to play. Cochran got the green light to pursue the application to start a club sport.
“So all of a sudden, in the fall, I had like 20 or 25 people that were staff on the President’s Council or the Dean’s Council wanting to learn pickleball. I spent every Tuesday after work teaching all these people I’d never met on campus because I stayed in my little world of athletics and PE. I taught them how to play, and then they met on their own and played even more,” she said.
Cochran applied through the University Student Services and presented her application to the University Recreation Center (UREC) to compete as a club team. She also has applied through USA Pickleball to become a sanctioned USA Pickleball club which will allow grant opportunities. Cochran is constantly networking and honing her skill set. The USA Pickleball Association required her to add an app called Places to Play to locate courts near you. She also registered the JSU team with DUPR, pickleball’s most accurate global rating system.
#Why I Play
“I have an RV. My husband Rory and I often travel toward Huntsville to see my stepson. I’ll get on Facebook or Places to Play and look and see if they have somewhere to play Friday morning, Saturday morning, indoors and outdoors. And then I’ll go play a few hours with them,” she said.
Cochran has two children of her own, a son Brett Thornburg 25, a video marketer at Mississippi State University, and a daughter, Brooke Thornburg 19, a business marketing student at Auburn. She also has two stepchildren, Lauryn Cochran, a delivery nurse for high-risk pregnancies at UAB, and Gray Cochran, who is a Junior at Huntsville High School, where he plays football. Her baby is her dog Finn, a Boykin Spaniel that goes everywhere with her, including the pickleball courts.
Her family is a source of strength and a blessing she doesn’t take lightly. She realizes that the values she instilled growing up are why she was able to excel at sports and focus on becoming a successful educator.
Cochran and her younger brother Scott had their jerseys retired at Salmen High School. Scott went on to play baseball at the University of Mobile. Their parents were always involved. Her dad was her coach, and the kids spent most of their childhood practicing or working concessions. Her father was on the athletic boards, served as commissioner, and helped to build batting cages for local schools. Her mom was at every game taking pictures, and their house was the hub for all the kids.
They were mentally tough, and while it wasn’t always perfect, she considers her childhood of playing sports with a supportive family wonderful. She plays pickleball with her 76-year-old dad and his friends whenever she can. Her parents taught her that it takes a community to build a sports program and hard work for athletes to succeed.
“I work with University Recreation, our club team sponsor, and our marketing department. I started an Instagram page @jsu_pickleball_club to promote ourselves as a club team. I’ve reached out to Auburn and the University of Alabama Birmingham since many of their people play the same places I do,” she said.
She has made many contacts, but now she needs the students. The current team has just 6 members, but she is confident that will change. She will continue to offer the one credit course on beginning pickleball, and she often finds herself asking younger people she meets when playing where they go to school. If they have dual enrollment, she lets them know they are eligible. The sales pitch is easy for her, the game itself and the fact the program is entirely funded by JSU Rec.
#Why I Teach
Cochran is an active 53-year-old. She has been a runner and a triathlete and plays in two pickleball tournaments a month. Even after having had 5 knee surgeries she keeps playing. After the 4th surgery, she was non-weight bearing for 6 weeks. Her pickleball friends purchased her a rolling stool so she could sit on it and ‘play’ dinking games from the kitchen line. That was when she finally learned to use her left hand. She combines her athletic background, competitiveness and her desire to help others when teaching the game.
“I teach them the skills, the rules, the strategy, but I don’t coach them. I’m good from the ground up, the positions and how to stand and how to keep score. We do a lot of drilling. That is the only way to improve your game. Practice the weaknesses,” she said.
She cherishes moments when she can work with students that want to play and realizes she speaks her mind and has expectations. But she is secure in showing her students a sound foundation and then letting them move forward with that knowledge. One of her HPE students, a 300-pound nose tackle at Jacksonville State, told her he respects her but is intimidated by her. He appreciates her work ethic and love of teaching. “He is special. I just love that kid. I have taught him for 3 years. He is going to succeed in whatever he chooses and is going to be amazing,” she said.
She admits to the mantra that what she says is what she expects, but in sports, that often leads to watching students mature. Passionate is perhaps a better description for the educator. She pushes her students to succeed but also to accept that pickleball is different for everyone.
She aims to offer athletes and non-athletes an outlet for a lifetime sport. A sport she believes will continue to grow and offer more opportunities for the students as a result. She is an educator that demonstrates her willingness to help daily. #lovethegame, #whyIteach, #whyIplay.
