Lacrosse Boss
After graduating from Colby, Katherine "Kay"
Cowperthwait '91 went to California to experience something new. Four years
later, she is head coach of the new Stanford University women's lacrosse
program--a job she says she "stumbled into."
At 25, Cowperthwait has played lacrosse for 15 years--first at Greenwich
Country Day School in Connecticut and then on Mayflower Hill. She was Colby's
starting goalie for four years but says she didn't think she'd play lacrosse in
California until she heard about a women's club league. Cowperthwait started
playing, met the coach of Stanford's women's club program and before long was
helping to coach. She applied for the head coaching position in the spring of
1993 when the university granted women's lacrosse varsity status and was hired
in July 1994.
"It was really a big risk, but I thought that I ought to at least try," said
Cowperthwait, who lives in Menlo Park, Calif., with her partner Ann Vaughn. "I
knew I had the experience, but it also was a relative risk for Stanford to hire
me."
In their first varsity season, the Cowperthwait-led Cardinal compiled a
20-5 overall record (7-0 in the league) playing against California club
teams. Next season she hopes to get more NCAA sanctioned games on the schedule
by playing Division I teams. There are 36 Division I women's lacrosse teams in
the U.S.--mostly in the East.
"It's hard because only eight high schools in California have women's lacrosse
teams so we don't have that feeder base," said Cowperthwait. "[The University
of California] Berkeley women's club lacrosse may go varsity in the next two
years but aside from that there are only club teams."
Cowperthwait's team will have to play more Division I teams to be considered
for postseason tournament play next spring, competing against colleges in
Colorado and Tennessee and other schools outside California. She admits that
these circumstances may impede the success of her program, but she points to
some advantages, too.
"Recruiting is going to be easy because Stanford is such an excellent
educational opportunity," she said, "and I'm so lucky to be in a place where
excellence and hard work are valued so much. There is a lot to aspire to
around here. You get this belief that it's only a matter of time before you
win a national title because you are constantly surrounded by it." Stanford
has won 66 national championships in several sports.
"This seems like the place to be if you want to win a national title. That
really motivates me to succeed," said Cowperthwait, who'd like to see her team
ranked somewhere in the middle of the Division I pack within the next five
years.
"I've definitely learned a lot over the years," she said. "I take seriously
my position as a role model and coach. I know it's not all about lacrosse, but
it's also about teamwork. Athletics is sort of a microcosm of the real world.
I understand the value of that."