While hundreds of Penn student-athletes spend their college years balancing academics with sports, very few graduates ever attempt the task of playing professional sports while maintaining a full-time desk job.
Alicia McConnell, who graduated from Penn in 1985 with a degree in economics and national honors in squash and lacrosse, was recently promoted to the post of Director of Athlete Development Programs at the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colo.
While college graduation day marks the end of many athletes' sporting careers, McConnell continued to play in pro squash matches, continuing her athletic life as she established a work life.
After taking home national, junior and collegiate titles in squash while at Penn, McConnell continues to rack up the honors today. She currently holds the U.S. National Women's Doubles title, with former Penn squash coach Demer Holleran, for the eighth consecutive year.
In her new position, McConnell oversees the USOC's Athlete Service and Youth Sport Development Programs. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing collaborative programs with USOC-member organizations as well as, according to McConnell, "sport groups and national government bodies" to expand the athlete development pipeline. This brings more athletes into the sport development system.
She also oversees programs for the personal development of Olympic-caliber athletes and coaches in order to impact performance, "making sure athletes have what they need to be successful, not just in their life but also in the Olympic games at the highest potential of their sport," she said.
McConnell did not search for the USOC directorship -- in fact, her landing at the Committee was more like a stumble.
After serving as the national women's squash team coach from 1994-98, McConnell heard about an executive job opening from a friend who was a USOC employee.
McConnell was coaching the national junior squash team and running a top national squash program in New York when she decided to join the Committee.
"After coaching for quite a while, I thought I would take a stab at it and take the job," McConnell said.
This "taking a stab at it" philosophy also worked at Penn, when No. 1-ranked squash star McConnell decided to learn a second sport -- lacrosse.
"The trainer at the time had a Franklin Field office with a window view, and that's when I saw lacrosse," she said. Penn men's squash coach "Al Malloy tried to get me onto the tennis or golf teams, but I loved lacrosse."
While two-sport athletes were more common when McConnell was on campus, she had an even bigger commitment because of her national caliber squash abilities, which required her to practice with both the men's and women's squash teams to maintain her level of athleticism.
"Every year there were different events all over the country," she said. "But ultimately, when you have something you're really focused on, you don't get distracted into having too much fun.
"It's important to have some sort of focus. It kept me out of trouble."
Some excerpts of McConnell's long list of squash achievements include winning the World Junior Championships in 1980, winning all three titles of Junior, Intercollegiate and Women's National Championships in her freshman year at Penn, continuing to win the National title for seven straight years (1981-88) and earning as high a ranking as No. 15 in the world.
McConnell -- who grew up in New York -- chose Penn mainly for academic reasons.
"I wanted to go to a really good school, and I loved the campus," she said.
McConnell certainly made the most of her athletic opportunities at Penn. In three years on the squash team, she went 20-0 and was a first-team All-Ivy selection each of those three years.
On the lacrosse team, McConnell had a breakout year as a junior, netting 38 goals in 14 games, leading the Quakers with 42 of her 58 career points in that season alone. That year, she was an all-Ivy selection and earned a spot on the U.S. National Women's Lacrosse team.
But McConnell had to leave lacrosse when she became a squash pro during her senior year.
"Penn, being an Ivy, it didn't allow someone in one professional sport to play another, even though there is no correlation between squash and lacrosse," she said. "I needed to accept the money to pay my tuition, so it was unfortunate that I ended up not being able to play."
Looking back, McConnell sees the lessons she learned from both Penn athletics and academics.
"The great thing about Penn is that you're learning a lot of life skills through sports and getting a great education as well," she said. "At Penn you're expected to perform and expected to be good. And when challenged, people tend to rise to it."
