WEST CHESTER, PA - West Chester University has bolstered its coaching staff by adding several assistant coaches during the course of the past month and naming Tom Papi as the new part-time head coach of the mens and womens tennis program.
Papi joined the Golden Rams just before the abbreviated fall season began and has already begun to mold two teams full of young and talented players. For the past three years he served as an assistant coach for both the boys and girls tennis teams at Chester High School, and he has served as the head coach of the middle school program.
A resident of West Chester, PA, Papi is a graduate of Widener University where he played number one singles for the Pioneers from 1990-93, leading the team to its first .500 or better season in school history. He also competed at number one singles for Salesianum in Wilmington, DE, while in high school, earning a state singles ranking of ninth in 1989.
Papi also competed in the Boys 18 division in the Middle States Tennis Association (MSTA), a section of the USTA, where he was ranked 43rd in an area comprised of Pennsylvania, Delaware, southern and central New Jersey, and part of West Virginia. He was ranked 14th in the Philadelphia Tennis Association in 1989.
A graduate of Widener University with a B.A. in psychology, Papi owns masters degrees from Duquense University in school psychology (M.S.Ed.) and Widener University (M.Ed.) in adult education. He is presently completing his doctorate (Ed.D.) in higher education leadership with a concentration in administration.
For the past six years, Papi was employed as a program director for the City of Chester directing a $500,000 contract from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) aimed at reducing violence and intentional injury. During his tenure he wrote bicycle helmet grants, implemented a youth tennis program, and supervised a nationally-recognized basketball camp entitled Camp Umoja Nia. Many of the participants in the program have competed in collegiate basketball at all levels, including NBA standout and St. Josephs University star Jameer Nelson. The program was highlighted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, WPVI TV-6 and at numerous national conferences in the field of public health.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Papa is self-employed as a mental health therapist working with children and adolescents in both Delaware County and the Philadelphia area.
Papi continues to compete at the 4.0-4.5 level in both singles and doubles.
He plays in USTA Mens Open tournaments, USA League Tennis, and at local club tournaments. In 2004, he was a finalist in the NTRP Classic on the clay courts at Bellevue Park in Delaware.
Jason Kilgore joined the track & field staff as a part-time assistant coach in September after completing his career at West Chester University last spring. His duties include instructing the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and multi-event performers.
Kilgore begins his college coaching career at his alma mater where he was twice named team MVP and earned numerous All-PSAC selections. He is USATF Level 1 and Level 2 certified in sprints, hurdles and relays. He has worked with athletes of all ages through optimum performance training and as speed and strength coach for the East Pennsboro Area High School football team.
Kilgore received his bachelors degree in kinesiology with minors in coaching and public health in the spring of 2005. He is a graduate of East Pennsboro High School in Enola, PA, and currently resides in West Chester, PA.
Marcie Boyer begins her first year as West Chester Universitys Rams first full-time assistant field hockey coach. The Dillsburg, PA, native and graduate of Northern High School returned to Pennsylvania in mid-August after serving as the assistant field hockey coach at Saint Louis University beginning in January of 2004. Saint Louis joins the Atlantic 10 this season and will face the Golden Rams on South Campus October 21.
As an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire, Boyer was a four-year starter for the Wildcats who combined athletics and academics. She graduated magna cum laude in the spring of 2003 with a degree in kinesiology. During her senior season in 2002, Boyer earned First Team All-American honors and was a finalist for the Honda Broderick Award. She was selected the Field Hockey Scholar Athlete of the Year in the America East Conference in 2001-02, claimed national academic honors three times (2000-02) and was a Golden Key International Honor Society member.
In 2002 and 2003, Boyer was selected to compete for the United State Under-23 Junior National Team.
After joining the staff six years ago as a volunteer, Henry Henny Hiemenz becomes a part-time assistant with the Golden Rams in 2005-06. The 1966
graduate from West Chester University returned to his alma mater after 30 seasons of high school and age-group coaching. He brings a wealth of experience and perspective to one of the strongest coaching staffs in the area. He coached numerous PIAA champions and record holders during his long tenure as Radnor High Schools head coach.
The Golden Ram softball team welcomes back Laura (Themens) Reidy to the fold after she completed her career as a West Chester University pitcher in 2003. She will serve as a part-time assistant coach for the 2006 campaign.
Reidy is still ranked among the Top 10 pitchers in West Chester University history. She completed her career by allowing just 1.74 walks per seven innings, while she struck out 2.72 per seven innings during her tenure. She finished up with 86 strikeouts, 221.1 innings pitched and 21 complete games to rank eighth all-time in all five categories. Her 58 appearances ranks as the sixth-most in team history.
A 2003 graduate with a degree in kinesiology, Reidy was a multiple member of the West Chester University Athletic Directors Academic Honor Roll and served on the athletic advisory board.
She has served as a pitching and field instructor with the WCU summer camp program since 1999 and runs her own softball pitching business in the West Chester area which she also began in 1999.
A native of West Chester, PA, Reidy is a graduate of West Chester East High School.
Kirk Johnson, a native of Chester Springs, PA, and a graduate of Downingtown High School, joined head coach Kendall Walkes as an assistant mens soccer coach during the early part of the 2005 season. Johnson arrives from Syracuse University where he finished in the Top 10 all-time in career scoring for the Orangemen.
As a sophomore, Johnson was selected All-Big East First Team and All-New York Region First Team after recording 34 points on 13 goals and eight assists. His single-season total that year ranks as the sixth best in Syracuse history and he finished ninth in the nation in points per game (2.18). It was the greatest single-season output by a Syracuse player in more than a decade.
As a freshman, Johnson was the only rookie Orangeman to start all 19 games and he was selected to the Big East All-Rookie Team for his outstanding performance.
While at Downingtown, Johnson led the Whippets to back-to-back state championships and was named the Pennsylvania State Player of the Year and an All-American. He had 64 goals and 26 assists during his Downingtown tenure.
Jason Luzak joined head coach Tara Koleski in August as the assistant coach of the womens soccer team. He has helped the Golden Rams build a phenomenal 13-0-2 overall record and a first-place PSAC East record of 8-0-1 through October 14.
A 1989 graduate of Strath Haven High School, Luzak earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1993. His playing experience includes competing for the U.S. mens U-18 and U-20 national teams, as well as two years professional competition Germany. In 1999 he received his USSF National A coaching license.
