Mercede Daugherty, a Hope College assistant softball coach, has been selected to participate in the select NCAA Women's Coaches Academy.

Daugherty is one of 119 female coaches who will convene in Denver, Colorado, for the 53rd annual event that runs Sunday-Wednesday, June 16-19.

The NCAA Leadership Development Office partners with WeCOACH, a non-profit organization founded in 2011, to provide a four-day growth and leadership development academy for women coaches across all sports and collegiate levels, including two-year and four-year colleges.

"I cannot begin to describe how much it means to me as a young female coach to have others want to pour into me," said Daugherty, who has coached for the Flying Dutch for two seasons. "I am grateful to Hope College and WeCoach for equipping me with the tools and opportunities to take my coaching and impact to the next level.

The coaches selected represent 25 different sports, including five of the six NCAA emerging sports, and come from a diverse range of institutions including NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, NAIA, 3C2A, NJCAA, and NWAC.

"I am looking forward to diving into my coaching style and learning advanced leadership skills and strategies that I can use to directly impact my personal and team success," Daugherty said. "I am eager to grow the game and the student-athletes around me."

The NCAA Leadership Development Office serves to educate and empower student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators through transformative experiences that develop strong, effective leaders, cultivate an inclusive community and enhance the college sports landscape, said DeeDee Merritt, NCAA managing director of leadership development.

"These Academies for women coaches align with our mission and have had tremendous results in supporting, advancing and retaining women coaches in collegiate athletics," Merritt said in a statement. "WeCOACH performs a valuable service in providing support and development for women coaches across the collegiate sports landscape. Collaborative efforts such as this allow us to expand our reach and broaden our impact."