Episode 10 with Rosie Kays: Life Skills, Failure, Character

Rosie Kays joined the Fighting Tiger coaching staff before the start of the 2017 soccer season. In her first three years as the women's soccer head coach, Kays has concentrated on building a solid foundation to ensure long term success through excellent recruiting classes that aren't just talented on the soccer field, but also in the classroom.

Besides being the women's soccer head coach, Coach Kays has worn multiple hats around the athletic department. For a short time, she served as the Director of Campus Recreation and had a major hand in jump starting the campuses intramural leagues. Now, one of the hats she wears within the athletic department is the Student-Athlete Affairs Administrator. As an administrator, she oversees all the members of our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), ensuring that student-athletes have a voice on important topics and that their voices are heard. She is also Cobleskill's Summer Camp Coordinator for all Fighting Tiger camps.

On the soccer field, Coach Kays has experienced one of the best turnarounds in the country. After going 0-17 during the 2017 season, she brought in her first recruiting class and saw an instant change. The next season they improved their win total by six games and went 6-11 on the year. On top of having one of the best turnarounds at the Division III level, she also had three players named to the Third Team All-Conference team.

Kays came to Cobleskill in 2017 after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater Neumann University. In 2016, she helped the Knights post a 9-9-1 overall record including a 6-4-1 mark in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) play, a significant improvement over the 2015 campaign that saw the team finish 3-13-1 with a 3-8 conference record.

During her coaching career, Kays has also served as Big East Conference member Villanova University's Director of Soccer Operations during 2016.

Before pursuing a coaching career, Kays earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Sport & Entertainment Management from Neumann University. While she was there, she was a four-year member of the women's soccer team and a four-time selection to the CSAC All-Academic Team during her playing career.

She later earned her Master of Science Degree in Sport Business from Temple University while serving as Neumann's volunteer assistant coach. She was later promoted and named the first assistant for her excellent work. Kays also has her United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Class D, E and F coaching licenses.