Hall of Fame Spotlight: Lindsey (Zerr) Hood
1/20/2015 6:00:00 PM | General, Athletics
By Marc Bowman
As an athlete and coach, Lindsey Zerr Hood stands out.
After earning all-conference, all-region and all-state volleyball honors at Oak Park HS, Zerr came to UMKC and began to etch her name in school record books while earning first-team All-Mid-Con honors.
Accolades aside, however, it is as a teammate that she made the most indelible mark.
“She was the consummate teammate,” said Charmaine Wong Woodward, who starred alongside Zerr from 2000-02. “She was one of the strongest and fastest teammates on our team but so kindhearted, giving, and loving. She worked hard to build relationships with her teammates and grew to be an unspoken leader that led through her actions.”
Zerr began making an impression at an early age.
“Out of all the years of coaching she was the first freshman I moved up to play varsity,” said Oak Park coach Linda Jones. “She was the first in more than twenty years (of coaching). Lindsey deserved to be the first. She's a very giving person who always gave credit to others. Lindsey had the skills. She had the height, she had the ability, and she was a hard worker. Every assignment I gave to her she did it.”
When the time came for Zerr to choose a college, her coach wanted to find out what direction she wanted to go.
“She's getting offers and thinking about where she's going to play and writing to coaches, and I say to her 'we've got to talk',” Jones said. “I asked her: 'Do you want to be a big fish in a little pond, or a little fish in a big pond?' Lindsey looked at me and said: 'I want to be a big fish in a big pond'. I thought, why did I even ask? Kid, you've set your goals high. She wanted to be a big fish in a big pond, and she was.”
Upon arriving at UMKC, Zerr earned the immediate trust of teammates and coaches.
“As a freshman she had easily earned the starting position but it was not just because of her talent,” Wong said. “She earned it through hard work, dedication, and unwavering work ethic.”
“I think I did this by nature,” Zerr said. “I was always mothering. I got voted captain as a freshman and was for four years. I was always taking the initiative for travel plans and coordinating. It made me learn about being in charge of other people.”
Except for being sidelined for part of her junior year with a torn ACL, Zerr was a starter for four seasons, winding up in UMKC's top ten all-time in kills (fourth with 1,116), attacks (sixth, 2,998), solo blocks (third, 75), block assists (third, 325) and kills per set (seventh, 2.85).
She was a second-team All-Mid-Con choice as a sophomore in 2001, then earned a first-team selection as a senior in 2003.
“She was one of the stars of our team, one of our go-to hitters,” Wong said. “But you would never know it from the way she acted. She was always a part of the team. She was very down to earth and took care of everybody. She has the biggest heart.”
True to her nature, Zerr has better memories about her teammates than about the games themselves.
“It's not necessarily any game that I remember,” Zerr said. “It's my experiences with my teammates. Being in the dorm and watching movies together or travelling. The expression on somebody's face. Those are the things I remember most. I liked the aspect of team. I think I was a very serious player, but I liked to have a lot of fun, too.”
Even her injury helped her learn.
“Once I tore my ACL it made me a smarter player,” she said. “I didn't have the vertical; I had a different perspective. I always saw it as a team sport, but I had to get my teammates' perspective. I feel like I knew every single person's position and how to best help them. I think it helped me with coaching to step back and realize everybody's role. I picked up the good with the bad and learned from it.”
That perspective has helped as she moved into a coaching position at Park Hill HS five years ago.
“I can't think of an experience good or bad that hasn't been a learning experience I can't carry over into my coaching,” Zerr said. “As I've grown into adulthood I realize our gifts are given to us and it's our job to maximize them.”
She will be officially enshrined into the UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday night in downtown Kansas City at 6 p.m. at the College Basketball Experience, next to the Sprint Center.
Each member of the Hall of Fame will be spotlighted this week leading up to the induction ceremony.
