2008 Woodie Awards
Vettori anchors in new regime
Pete Theis
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
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Staff Writer
With the start of the 2009 fall sports schedule, the Loyola women's soccer team will embark on a quest to reach new limits. After three successful years at the helm of the program, the Greyhounds found head coach John Byford's successor in another experienced coach with high expectations for a special regime of her own.
"Loyola is a fantastic school with a great academic reputation," new head coach Katherine Vettori said. "I have been waiting for a while for this position to open up. This is a tradition that I wanted to become apart of."
Vettori comes to Loyola after spending eight seasons as the Women's Director for the Soccer Association of Columbia. Vettori was in charge of more than 3,200 female soccer players as she led training sessions, travel teams, and educational programs for the coaches in the SAC. To say that Vettori had her hands full would be a gross understatement.
Vettori's prestigious on-field experience includes a stellar career at Duke University from 1992-96, including All-American honors from Soccer News and making the Atlantic Coast Conference first team in 1993. She was named to the All-ACC tournament team from 1992-94, and was voted the Most Valuable Player of her Blue Devil squad in each of those seasons.
"She was actually on the field so much at such a high level that she knows what we have to get done to be that much better," said senior co-captain Sara Moller. "She knows the game very well being at a Division 1 level at Duke," added senior co-captain Amanda Piccirilli.
Upon completion of her playing career at Duke, Vettori was hired as an assistant head coach at the University of Pennsylvania from 1996-98. In her second season in Philadelphia, the Quakers won their first ever ECAC championship in addition to recording a school record 14 victories.
After her time with Penn, she moved on to an assistant coaching job for the University of Maryland from 1998-2001. During her time, the Terrapins reached the College Cup in all four seasons with two of her players earning All-America honors.
It is clear that her high-caliber experience prepared her well for a lengthy stay in Baltimore. "From playing on a certain level, I understand the hard work, sacrifice and competitive nature that are necessary," Vettori said. "The support of the women's soccer program from the athletic department is fantastic. I want to build upon the success that Loyola has had, and make it that much further at the end of the season."
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