Every year, Karin Brower Corbett looks down the sideline and sees familiar faces.
They are the faces of the players she trained to be champions — the former players so inspired by her abilities as a coach that they decided to follow in her footsteps and become coaches themselves.
“It’s very rewarding for me,” Corbett said. “They go off and they know what they’re doing and they know the game. And that means that I did my job.”
It was never about money or fame for Corbett but rather a desire to inspire her players to be the best they can be. And it certainly worked.
Since taking over the program in 2000, Corbett has led the women’s lacrosse team to four consecutive Ivy League championships, three national semifinals appearances and one appearance in the national championship game in 2008. She has coached 50 all-Ivy players.
For Corbett, coaching is in her blood.
Her mother was her first lacrosse coach, and her sister is a high-school coach, so she knew from a young age that coaching was in her future.
Now, with Corbett in her 12th season as head coach, coaching is in the Penn blood.
There are currently three Penn alumni who played under Corbett coaching in the Ivy League, including Penn assistant coach Melissa Lehman. Two former Quakers also coach at neighboring Drexel.
Corbett says she is “very happy” to have as many former players coaching as she does because it is not common for Ivy League graduates to take jobs as coaches.
But the relatively high number of Penn alumni who are coaching is really a reflection of Corbett’s style and the impact she has on her players.
“All of us had a really positive experience with Karin, and you want to stay connected when you have such a great role model,” said Cornell assistant coach Karrie Moore, who graduated from Penn in 2006.
Corbett has provided assistance to all her players who have had a desire to coach, including fielding phone calls, giving recommendations and explaining the lifestyle of being a coach. But most importantly, Corbett helps the future coaches by doing what she does best — teaching.
“Every player coming out of Penn knows that they have been taught the game thoroughly by an excellent staff,” Drexel assistant and 2009 College graduate Hannah Rudloff wrote in an email. “I think many of us have the itch to take what we’ve been taught and try to make an impact on the game.”
Corbett also makes sure to give her players coaching opportunities while they are still on the field. They have chances to teach their teammates and to coach younger players at camps and clinics.
“At camps, Karin really did a good job of making sure that the players were really coaching on the field,” said Lehman, who wore the Red and Blue from 2005-2008. “We were really teaching and helping the girls, and I think that is an extension of Karin. When you play for her, there’s a lot of teaching ... as you get older, to the underclassmen and then to younger kids that come to camps.”
Corbett also helps her assistants who are looking to move up the coaching ladder. Liz Kittleman is now in her first year as Columbia’s head coach after spending four years coaching under Corbett.
Kittleman had not applied for the head coaching position, but the Columbia administration and Columbia alumni called Corbett asking about her.
“I made my ultimate decision sitting across the table from Karin,” Kittleman said. “It was tough because Karin and I had such a great working relationship and we’re close friends.
“Point blank, Karin Brower is the reason that I am ready to be a head coach.”
Kittleman brought 2010 Penn graduate Courtney Lubbe with her to Columbia as her assistant coach.
Corbett has a 3-0 record this season against her former players but she says that playing against them is fun and allows her to see how much they have learned and what they have done with it.
“It’s always interesting because you obviously taught them a lot, and now they’re imparting things that they would like to do differently than perhaps I did,” Corbett said. “At times, they know what I’m coaching here, so I have to make sure that I’m changing and keeping things fresh.”
For the alumni, it can be hard to be on the other end of the sideline.
“It was definitely difficult when we showed up at Franklin Field to play Penn earlier in the season,” Drexel volunteer coach Jill Taylor, a 2010 Penn graduate, wrote in an email. “When the team walked out of the tunnel for warm-ups, I got a little teary-eyed.”
The mixed emotions are a clear indication that the relationships formed as part of the Penn lacrosse program run deep.
“The people were bigger than the game,” Kittleman said of her recent return to Penn. “I was excited to see everybody — those relationships really helped that game.”
And despite her former players and coaches now being on the opposing sideline, Corbett never hesitates to offer them help.
“She’s really good at reaching out to alumni,” Taylor said. “She makes it clear to her players that they’re always welcome to come to her for anything.”
And above all else, Corbett has taught her players lessons that extend far beyond the playing field.
Kittleman said that Corbett prioritizes lacrosse but emphasizes the importance of living the rest of your life, a sentiment echoed by the other coaches.
“Karin made lacrosse about the bigger picture,” Taylor said. “The value of the lessons we learned on Franklin Field reach far beyond the final whistle of your senior season.”
