TOWSON, Md. – The Landmark Conference is proud to spotlight the campus leaders who help shape the student-athlete experience across the league. This month’s feature highlights Kelly Essler, head swimming and diving coach at Lycoming College. From building a supportive team culture to balancing the demands of coaching and family life, Essler shares insight into the experiences that have shaped their journey in collegiate athletics.
What’s your favorite part of the DIII experience?
My favorite part of the D III experience is getting to work with athletes and coaches who truly love their sport, and getting people to participate in athletics without the stressors of scholarships. I feel that this brings a more genuine desire to compete.
Who’s had the biggest impact on your professional journey?
I have had several people who have had a big impact on my professional journey, including my high school coach, Brent Gonzalez from Sandpipers of Las Vegas, and my college coach, Jes Sutton, who hired me to be his assistant coach at Milligan College, which is what gave me my start in college coaching. I was also impacted by numerous fellow coaches from other schools who mentored me: examples of these people would be Mickey Wender from Colorado Mesa, Jon Lau from Queens University, Lars Jorgensen from Kentucky, and Scott Armstrong from Johns Hopkins University.
How does your department prioritize wellness and belonging?
My department prioritizes their wellness and belonging by supporting and accepting their coaches' lives outside of their careers. Lycoming hired me when I was pregnant, and accepted that I would have to be out for maternity leave. They were invested in supporting my roles as both coach and mother, as they knew what my potential as a coach was.
What makes your athletic community unique?
What makes our athletic community unique is the camaraderie that all of the sports have together. Not only do the athletes support one another, but the coaches have been the best sounding board out of any college I’ve ever worked at. My Athletic Director, Glenn Smith, and my Associate Athletic Director, Joe Guistina, are always willing to help me out, and they go above and beyond to support me in my program.
How do you collaborate with coaches/staff across campus?
The coaches and staff across campus collaborate by having monthly meetings with one another, and sometimes we get lucky enough to get to go to lunch and just have casual conversations with one another. A lot of us have dual sport athletes as well, so we have to work together to make that possible and to give our athletes the best college experience that we can.
Fun fact about you outside of athletics?
A fun fact about me is that I have completed two full-distance Ironman triathlons and four ultramarathons. I have also represented Team USA at the Age-Group Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Switzerland in 2019.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Some advice that I would give to my younger self is to not be distracted by unimportant people and things. Just to stay focused and not worry so much!
If you weren’t in athletics, what would you be doing?
If I weren’t in athletics, I would still be in the medical world. I was a former Registered Nurse, and so I would probably still be practicing in the ICU, and hopefully would have my NP license by now!