Brittany Runyen (’18) is the newest addition to the women’s soccer team. She is the new coordinator of athletics student programming. Brittany graduated from Cabrini in 2018 with a degree in English and secondary education. While attending Cabrini, Brittany played soccer and was a walk-on for the basketball team. Brittany knew she always wanted to get into coaching and had a passion for sports.
Her senior year at Cabrini she got really serious about pursuing a coaching job. She talked to her head coach, Ken Prothero. He asked her what she could bring to the coaching staff that he doesn’t have already. The biggest thing she had to offer was time. He offered her a part-time position and she was ready to dive in.
“It was challenging to change from being a player to a coach,” Brittany said. She could no longer have the perspective as a player. She had to deal with situations involving her players as a coach now.
“Coach Britt took a tough role as an assistant coach and some people may look at it as unfair, but she really cares about the team and pushes us to do better every day,” said a junior back and business management major, Rachel Wood. Wood played with Brittany in her sophomore year.
Runyan really emphasized how much her head coach has helped her along this process. He helped her transition from a player to a coach, and she always goes to him if she has second guesses about anything.
“I love having coach Brittany, she brings contagious energy and adds important key points at practices and games,” said junior goalie and early education major, Ashley Tuztauer.
This is her second year as the assistant coach. She also helps manage the fitness center and making sure the community is safe and happy there. Her new role this year is that she is in charge of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
She meets with SAAC once a month. They plan events like Halloween HAVOC and the haze presentation for the freshmen. She is able to put a lot of her time into SAAC and helps the student-athletes have a voice in athletics here at Cabrini.
“I love being able to be involved in SAAC and really help the student-athletes have a say in their everyday athletics here at Cabrini,” Runyen said. She wants to be able to give the students all the resources and information they need to able to succeed in their sport and in the classrooms as well.
She also has a big role in the game staff. She makes sure officials are here and the locker rooms are ready.
Brittany is really looking forward to the current soccer season and wants her team to be back on top of the conference. She is really excited to see the year develop and see what new changes she can bring to Cabrini Athletics and take Cabrini to the next level.
