Oct. 17, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Athletics has announced the hiring of Kelly Knapp as the field hockey/women's lacrosse director of operations.
"We are thrilled to have Kelly in this new position for us as our director of operations," said field hockey head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss.
"This is our first experience with having a director of operations and I think that we are really fortunate Kelly was available and willing to look at Penn State and come on board with us," Morett-Curtiss continued. "I think it's going to be exciting having her field hockey knowledge as a part of our conversations within our program. We're really looking forward to her connecting with our alumni and improving our alumni donor data base and getting some projects going, as well as being part of our Penn State field hockey family."
"I'll be the director of operations for Penn State field hockey and women's lacrosse programs," said Kelly Knapp.
"It's a new position for both programs, but my duties will be to alleviate the coaching staffs from the tasks that bog them down throughout their day and respective seasons so they can focus on coaching and on the pitch with their athletes," Knapp continued.
"I'm a west coast person, I was born and raised in San Diego, I've been in California my whole life, so the east coast is something new and it's just so beautiful out here. I think what's so nice about this campus is the culture, it really feels like a tight knit family with everyone being on board with "We Are Penn State", I'm learning the small intricacies already and it seems like a really cool place to be a part of. I'm really excited to be here, I think it's a great university academically and athletically and I'm happy to be a part of that."
Knapp spent the last four years as the Director of Operations for the USA Women's Field Hockey team.
As Director of Operations for USA Field Hockey, Knapp created monitored and managed program budgets for the women's national team and junior teams. Managed all aspects of logistics on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis as well as handling and organizing domestic and international travel. The Escondido, Calif. native also developed and fostered strong relationships with USAFH stakeholders, sponsors and donors as well as led the "Paving the Way" fundraising campaign for Rio 2016 that raised $25,000 in four months.
Prior to her experience with USA Field Hockey, Knapp spent a little over a year with The College of Letters and Sciences at National University as the Assistant to the Facility.
At National University, Knapp assisted the Director of the Center for Cultural and Ethnic Studies with event planning and coordinating, provided any and all clerical assistance as requested by the Dean and Faculty, as well as extensive cross training with co-workers and Assistant to the Dean that included budget tracking.
A University of California alumna Knapp spent five years as an assistant field hockey coach after a successful era as a goalkeeper for the Golden Bears from 2001 to 2004.
A 2005 Cal graduate, Knapp majored in sociology with a minor in education. The former Golden Bear spent the 2005 season as head coach of Westview High School in San Diego before making her return to Berkeley.
Knapp's career as a student-athlete was replete with honors, including the NorPac Defensive Player of the Year award in 2004, when she led all Division I goalkeepers with 1591:51 minutes played. Her goals-against average led the NorPac conference for three straight seasons (2002-04).
She played every minute of every game for three consecutive seasons (2002-04). Born in San Diego and raised in Escondido, Calif., Knapp was a four-year letter winner in soccer and a three-year letter winner in softball at San Pasqual High School, where she also lettered in field hockey as her team won four consecutive North County league titles.
Knapp begins work at Penn State Oct. 17 and will hold an office in the East Area Facility where the field hockey and lacrosse programs are housed.