October 25, 2011

Catching up with Kathy

I’m back!!!!!!!!!!!!!    My name is Kathy Drysdale and some of you may know me as Kathy Phillips.  I was a Lady Lion from ’88-’92 and enjoyed every minute of it.  I have recently moved to the State College area from Philadelphia as I stepped into the Director of Marketing position for the Lady Lions. It’s funny how things have come full circle for me.

When I left Penn State I went overseas and played professionally in Germany.  When I came back to the States I got an internship with the Philadelphia 76ers.  I worked as an intern for 2 weeks stuffing envelopes, answering phones, etc… and was then offered a full time position in their ticket office.   My first “real” job was as an Account Executive for the Philadelphia 76ers.  I moved my way “up the ladder” by working hard and working long hours and helping as many departments as possible. 

My final position with the Sixers was as their Director of Game Operations.  The best way to describe my job as the Director of Game Operations was when you are at an NBA game … the coaches coach, the players play and I pretty much did everything else.  I organized “the show” around the game.  I booked the anthem singers, halftime acts, Hip-Hop, the dancers, the contests, the music, the video prompts, the in-arena host, the PA announcer and anything else that came up.  The best thing about working for the 76ers was that I had the best seat in the house… I sat … for every home game….courtside – center court.  I needed to sit there in order to run the game and it was pretty awesome. I worked for them for 13 years and went through 3 owners and several coaches.  

After my experience with the 76ers I got the coaching bug.  I started coaching the AAU team, Comets, based out of Delaware County in PA.  I coached the same team from 2006-2011.  They started out as 11 years old and my last time coaching them was this past summer (2011).   Those were some great girls that I coached.  After my first year of coaching the Comets I was approached about the head coaching position at Penn State Abington.  Knowing that I didn’t have anything else going on I eagerly accepted that position.  A year later I applied for the SID job at Penn State Abington as they were taking their steps to becoming NCAA D-III members.  I was working with 14 varsity sports as the SID for 4 years and coaching the women’s basketball program for 5 years. 

A friend of mine at Penn State called me in July of 2011 about the Marketing Manager position that just opened up for the Lady Lions.  To be honest I didn’t hesitate as I responded to her … I WANT THAT JOB!!  I found out the qualifications for the job and I felt that I was the one that needed to fill that position.  Everything I did for the 76ers is what I would be doing for the Lady Lions.  Needless to say I was so excited throughout the interview process and still am as I work everyday to get people to attend the Lady Lions Basketball games.

I am back where things started for me and can’t be any happier.    Hope to see you this season at the games!!!