Spring has sprung. The new turf is down. Courses for the fall are out. Theater and dance have selected their productions for next year’s season. Off-season training is intensifying for athletes. Around campus, there is new life and hope for the future. The perfect time for a new Women’s soccer head coach. Muhlenberg, it is time to swing open those red doors and welcomes Coach Kathy Prescott.
Since before she could remember, Prescott has been playing soccer. “I started playing young, my dad was my coach when I was little. Everyone in my town played, we all played together,” said Prescott. In the years following, she would continue to play soccer with her father, but her competitive spirit could not be contained as she competed in basketball and even served a few aces out on the tennis courts.
While on the pitch, Prescott switched between playing on the field and playing in the net. It wasn’t until she was 12 or 13 that she had her first run-in with Destiny. “I remember the point when I made the transition from field player to goalkeeper full-time. We were in a penalty kick shootout and after we won in penalty kicks I realized I wanted to play goalkeeper full-time.”
It was this transition to playing full-time that helped to make Prescott into the coach she is today. In her time coaching, she noticed that “A lot of my best friends who are coaches were goalkeepers.” As for her, the experience of coaching has been a lot about learning where the buck stops. “As a goalkeeper, you see the whole field, you are constantly communicating, you are managing the players in front of you. I think it gives you a little bit of empathy and maybe understanding because you are that last line of defense and you know what the pressure feels like.” Despite the ups and downs, Prescott says “It was a pretty fun career.”
Prescott’s capacity for empathy was only compounded by her experience as a goalkeeper an hour east from academic row, at Haverford College. For her, college taught her about the variety of highs and lows that a student-athlete can experience. “[I] didn’t play much my freshman year, started to play more my sophomore year, was starting goalkeeper my junior year, ended up getting injured that year, came back my senior [year], and was all-conference goal keeper that year.”
After that incredible all-conference season when she set the school record for goals against with .60 per game, she stayed in the area and was an assistant coach for Bryn Mawr College; and as if a job isn’t enough work Prescott continued her education, receiving her masters in sports business with a concentration in sports analytics from Temple University.
From there, Prescott continued to bring her fearless attitude with her to each and every program she coached from her time at the University of Pennsylvania to Fordham University to most recently in the hinterlands at the University of Wyoming. No matter where she went, she knew she wanted to return home to the Centennial Conference as a Head Coach. So when the position at Muhlenberg opened up, “it felt like the right fit because I knew the area, I knew the conference and I wanted to be in a high-academic place where the student-athlete experience was really important,” said Prescott.
Within a week of receiving the offer to come coach at ‘Berg, Prescott flew her can-do attitude all the way from Wyoming to hold practice in Scotty Wood Stadium. As she looks forward to the upcoming season with the expectation of winning games she is certain in her mission. “I want our Muhlenberg women’s soccer players to love coming to practice, I want them to enjoy being part of the team, I want them to be a proud part of the team, and I think such an important part of the student-athlete experience is balancing academics. First and foremost they are here for the academics that Muhlenberg provides, so giving them the space to do all the other things they want to do while still being successful on the field.”
Prescott’s attitude towards a new challenge and her goals for the women that will walk out on that new turf field in the fall are demonstrations of what makes her a Mule. Leader and center back Olivia Oberman ‘24 said, “The team is extremely excited and grateful to welcome Coach Prescott to the women’s soccer family. After accepting the position, she flew out here right away to finish up our spring season with us and to start building relationships, which we appreciated so much. Her coaching experiences at the highest levels, true understanding of the division three athlete, contagious passion for coaching, and eagerness to promote Muhlenberg proudly are just a few clear indicators of this program’s future successes under her leadership.”
