Cabrini women’s basketball coach teaches student-athletes lifelong skills that they can use, not just on the court. Kate Pearson helps develop players as both athletes and professionals entering the workforce after graduation. She instills in her team the importance of valuing themselves as well as valuing each other.
“When [my players] come back [as alumni], I hope that I helped form something for them that makes them a better person in their profession, a better mom, a better sister, a better friend. I try to have the most positive influence I can have on my players knowing that it’s tough because there are high standards that come with coaching and how the games are played,” Pearson, the head women’s basketball coach and assistant director of athletics, said.
Pearson has been coach of the women’s basketball team at Cabrini for 16 years, 11 of those as head coach. She graduated from University of Scranton in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and earned a master’s and certification degree in secondary education English at Cabrini University.
Pearson was an all conference player in basketball and lacrosse at the University of Scranton. She was awarded the Tom O’Hara Award in 2004 as a top female athlete. She was also inducted into the Springfield, Pennsylvania school district’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.
Pearson was awarded coach of the year three times. Her record as a head coach is 189 wins and 90 losses for a winning percentage of .677 percent. She also set the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) record for 26 wins from 2017-2018. For the first time in its conference history, under Pearson, Cabrini won four straight conference championships. Pearson is known as one of the nation’s top defensive coaches.
Pearson values her players as part of the team but also cares about them outside of the student-athlete and coach relationship. Pearson has mentored and inspired many Cabrini student-athlete alumni to pursue sports-related jobs.
Brittany Runyen, a 2018 alumna and former basketball team player under Pearson, now works alongside Pearson as Cabrini’s assistant women’s soccer coach. She claims Pearson inspires her coaching approach.
“The best way to describe Kate as a person and as a coach is how much she cares about every single person around her. Sometimes when you are a coach you are not always able to display that attribute because you have a lot of athletes, and with certain plays you are focusing on certain athletes but Kate always found a way and continues to find a way to make every single person on her team feel valued in everything they do,” Runyen said.
Pearson imparts on her team that learning time management is crucial when it comes to being a part of the team. Specifically team members must balance their time effectively to make sure they get their homework done so they can make it to practices and games and for some even to work. This skill-set can be carried on post-graduation.
Maggie McElroy a 2014 alumna, former basketball team player under Pearson, and current assistant coach for Cabrini’s women’s basketball claims that Pearson has helped her form into the professional she is today.
“Being a student athlete on Kate’s basketball team has helped me organize my time to be able to do homework, see my friends, and also join other clubs at school. But time management has also helped me when I was out of school. I learned how to get tasks done everyday at my job, talk to people, socialize and network,” McElroy said.
Pearson helped McElroy figure out where she wanted to be in her career and introduced her to connections in the basketball field. Finally, she was instrumental in informing McElroy of the athletics office specialist position at Cabrini, which she currently holds in addition to coaching.
