Yvette was Born in Pittsburgh, PA, and raised in St. Petersburg, FL, Yvette grew up playing sports and riding horses. After graduating from Clearwater Christian College, Yvette, and her husband set off across the East Coast with their two horses in tow, building farms, fences, barns and renovating homes in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, (Nashville) Tennessee, Alabama, and finally here in North Carolina.

 

Yvette coached college basketball for over 20 years at Valdosta State University (GA), Malone University (OH), Edinboro University (PA), Belmont University (TN), Jacksonville State University (AL), and wrapping up at St. Andrews University (NC) where she finished as the “winningest coach intheuniversity’shistory” for her 5-year stint. Yvette was blessed to participate in the National Tournament at four separate institutions, spanning the worlds of NCAA Div. I & Div. II, and the NAIA. She coached several All-Americans, Player of the Year, and athletes that broke college and national records while performing under her guidance, and she was very active in the national advancement of Women’s Basketball, serving on countless national committees including WBCA Women’s Basketball Vice-President(twice), WBCA/NCAA Conference Captain, National Tournament Committee, All-American Selection Committee, among others.

 

Due to Yvette’s passion for horses, she and her husband purchased, built, upgraded, and completely renovated farms to house their two horses that they carried from state to state in every location they settled into (5 in all!) Whether they purchased a perfect home on land and built up the land around to support the horses, changed a workshop into a barn by removing the back wall, and building in stalls with horse-safe windows to support the outside view of the facility with runouts connecting to a large pasture, or bought an old horse farm gutting out the old farmhouse and giving it a fresh and modern appeal, Yvette has had her hand in building, digging, painting, mudding, caulking, designing, and the rest over the span of her professional career in basketball. She even designed her first barn to scale and subbed it out to be perfectly built in south Georgia.

 

Yvette is married to Jeff Sparks, a national sales manager in textiles who has had the ability to work remotely and has lovingly supported Yvette’s drive to move from state to state, assisting her to build barns, and fences and renovating. Jeff and Yvette have an amazing daughter, Kara, who is presently attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for Drama. The couple also enjoys their dogs, horses, cats, and ducks on their farm and keep busy by enjoying local entertainment and theatre, golfing, tennis, and other activities as well as maintaining and enjoying the farm life. Yvette began painting after retiring from basketball and recently painted one of the Painted Ponies displayed in Downtown Southern Pines on behalf of MFGC, Inc. where all proceeds support the Carolina Horse Park. Yvette is also the District Commissioner for our local Sandhills Pony Club.