Only a few minutes before game time, the Penn women's soccer team is bustling with excitement and anticipation.
Assistant coach Katy Cross flits about the group of players, giving last-minute advice and encouragement before taking her spot on the sideline.
But this time just a year ago, Cross was in a much different position -- on the field.
Cross was an offensive powerhouse to be reckoned with during her collegiate career as a forward. She is Penn women's soccer's all-time scoring leader, to name one of her many athletic accomplishments.
Cross looks at her new position in the team as a way to stay involved in the sport, and also as a means to continue to be a part of the soccer program at Penn.
"I have a job [at Penn] and I am just trying to stay involved with soccer in general," Cross said. "There aren't that many places to play these days post-college at a high level; it's just really a way to stay involved with the game and still have it be a part of my life."
Cross, who majored in psychology, has been working in research at the Neurology Department of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania since graduating, and has plans to attend medical school.
Joining Cross on the sidelines will be assistant Anna Halse, who also finished her career with the Quakers last year.
Halse, a goalkeeper, accrued numerous accolades while at Penn as well, including the fewest goals allowed in a career of 30 or more games and the second-lowest career goals against average in program history.
However, like Cross, Halse does not plan to use this year of experience toward a coaching career, but would instead like to attend med school. She looks at coaching as a way to stay involved with the sport.
"You get addicted to soccer and you want to be a part of it any way that you can," Halse said.
In contrast, men's basketball assistant coaches Shawn Trice and Matt Langel look at their time spent in this new role from a different perspective.
Langel played for Penn from 1997 to 2000 before traveling to Europe to play professionally in Holland, France, Switzerland and Germany.
At Penn, Langel scored 1,191 points and helped his team reach the NCAA Tournament twice.
Now that his playing days are over, Langel is looking to start a career in coaching, and feels fortunate that his first job could be at Penn, alongside his former coach and basketball role-model, Fran Dunphy.
"Coaching is something that I wanted to get into when I was done playing, and there was an opportunity to start that here at Penn, where I'm most comfortable," Langel said.
Trice also welcomed the opportunity to start his coaching career at Penn after spending a few years in the business world and is eager to learn about the game of basketball from a new perspective.
Penn "is where I really learned the game," Trice said. "I am really appreciative of Dunphy and all the guys who taught me how to play the game, and now I want to learn how to coach from all of those same people that helped me be successful."
Penn women's soccer head coach Darren Ambrose admits that it took a while to fully integrate Halse and Cross into their coaching roles. However, once the player-coach relationship evolved in to a more peer-like relationship the benefits of the arrangement became apparent.
"Their insight as a former athlete at Penn is invaluable," Ambrose said. "It took a little while to get used to at the beginning of the year, but it's almost like having a player who you can bounce ideas off of. They've been in the athletes' shoes, they know what stress the girls are under, and at the end of the day it helps the players."
Langel also described how the dynamic between him and Dunphy has changed since he has made the transition from player to coach.
"When you're a player, he's your coach. That's the relationship that you have and that's pretty much the extent of it," Langel said. "Then when you're no longer playing for him a friendship develops. I see him daily and talk about business as well as the rest of life, and it is ... a continuously developing relationship."
Both Halse and Cross expressed similar feelings regarding the changing relationship between each of them and Ambrose. After some adjustments, Ambrose now looks to them for additional insight when dealing with the players.
"I think he sort of looks to us as a link to the players and a way that he can better understand what the players are thinking and how he can be more effective as a head coach," Halse said.
This is just one of the many benefits of hiring former Penn athletes to fill assistant roles, according to head football coach Al Bagnoli. He had a role in the hiring of former defensive back Kevin Stefanski -- who graduated in 2004 -- to the position of assistant director of football operations for the Quakers.
Bagnoli feels that there are many advantages to employing someone who is already familiar with the program, and in fact could not think of any drawbacks to the arrangement.
"It's a win-win situation with a former player," Bagnoli said. "They already understand the program, they know the school, can relate to the athletes, and know the alumni."
Dunphy concurs with Bagnoli's thinking, and sees only benefits from the addition of former players.
"You have so much respect for these guys and what they did here as players, and if you had an opportunity, all things being equal, why not go back to those guys that know you so well," Dunphy said. "Not only do they know the University, but they know the basketball program."
Ambrose added that such recently graduates have provided excellent role models for athletes currently on the team.
"I think that having the insight of two young females who were successful in the program ... and can demonstrate and show things that are required to be successful is a really positive thing for the players," Ambrose said.
While the benefits of having played in the program recently are obvious, many former athletes feel that it is not always easy adjusting to the role.
"A lot of times we'll still play in practice, and so you'll feel like a player again, but then you have to step back and recognize that there are some coaching discretions that make your relationship different with the players," Halse said.
Cross added that while friendships remain with some of the older players, her role in the team has changed substantially.
"It's hard when you are right out of being on the team to make a big change in that dynamic; it's sort of unnatural," Cross said. "With the younger players it's a little less peer-like, but I think the older players feel like they can come to us both as a coach and a friend."
While this type of relationship can be beneficial in some circumstances, Langel points out that there are still boundaries that should be maintained between coaches and players.
"It's definitely a coach-player relationship," Langel explained. "There's a difference in that you can be their friend off the court but not to the point where you are socializing with them."
Another problem that the assistant coaches have faced is the inability to influence games by playing in them.
"You have a different capacity as a coach," Langel said. "I can no longer do anything on the floor during the game. You help prepare these guys and do your best to help them try and understand what it's going to take to win games."
Trice also noted that with coaching comes a completely different mindset that results in a new approach to games.
"It's different in the sense that ... as a coach you're looking at detail and you're looking at the team concept," Trice said. "As a player you're looking at it more as you achieving your goals within the structure of the team."
Cross added to this, saying that there is a whole different aspect of the team that she realized only after becoming an assistant.
"You really see the other side of being part of the team that you don't really see as a player," Cross said.
Bagnoli emphasized that if the opportunity presented itself and the right circumstances existed, that the football program would not hesitate to hire a former player.
"The athlete would have to have the right skill set and there would have to be an opening available, but if these conditions are met, then we would certainly hire the former player," he said. "We have had positive experiences with them in the past."
The arrangement also seems favorable from the former athlete's perspective, no matter what the reasons for wanting to remain a part of a program might be.
Whether it's a useful starting job to be used as a springboard for a future coaching career, or just a way to stay involved with the sport, the experience seems to be a positive situation for former players and head coaches alike.
And with the success that these athletes have already seen on the field or on the court, there is every reason to believe that they are capable of achieving that same level of success on the sidelines.
The P's have it - Of Penn's three men's basketball assistant coaches, two were former Quakers - Two of Princeton's three men's basketball assistants are former Tigers - Not one of the Ivy League's other 17 assistants played at their current schools
