Yvonne Wade oral history interview, 2025 August 07

Oral history interview with Yvonne Wade conducted by Stefani Evans on August 7, 2025 for the Game On! An Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Wade talks about her athletic career, both as a competitor and coach. Born in Tokyo, Japan to a Jamaican father and Japanese mother, she and her younger sister traveled extensively and around age two, Wade and her family moved to California. Wade recalls joining the track team during her senior year of high school, and earning a scholarship for track to attended the University of Colorado, Boulder. After initially wanting to major in engineering, Wade realized she enjoyed learning about people and their thought processes and switched to sociology. After graduation, Wade decided to continue competing in track, but could not be on the United States Olympic team as a Japanese citizen. She decided to compete for Japan and made the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams. While training for the 2004 Games, Wade was injured and had to retire.

Wade eventually combined her sociology experience and love of sports working as an assistance coach at California State University, Long Beach. For Wade, a focus on academics was crucial for success amongst her teams. She brought this mentality to UNLV in 2007, and succeeded in boosting the team's overall performance. Eventually she left UNLV, worked as assistant athletic director at the College of Southern Nevada, and eventually as Director of Athletics at Nevada State University. The university has introduced its first two sports, women's flag football and men's track and field. Wade has a passion for finding opportunities for young students, and is fully committed to the Las Vegas community and its growth. Digital audio and transcript available.