Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/23/11
From Press Releases
Former Germantown Academy great Julie Young has been named the eighth head coach in the history of the Villanova women’s lacrosse program, it was announced today. Young spent the past three seasons building a contender at Haverford College after serving as an assistant coach at Penn, where she helped lead the Quakers to the 2008 NCAA Final.
“We are thrilled to welcome Julie to the Villanova community,” said Villanova director of athletics Vince Nicastro. “Julie is one of the brightest young coaches in women’s lacrosse. She has built a remarkable record of achievement as a student-athlete and coach at some of the finest institutions in the country. We look forward to working with Julie as she brings her experience, enthusiasm and leadership abilities to Villanova.”
Young replaces Jebb Chagan, who coached Villanova for six seasons before resigning in May
“I’m honored to be the next head coach here at Villanova,” said Young. “This is a wonderful opportunity to work with an impressive group of student-athletes. I’m excited about the future we have here and the chance to compete against some of the top programs in the country in the BIG EAST. We’re going to work hard each day and I can’t wait to get started.
“I want to thank Vince for this opportunity and look forward to working with so many great people here in the Villanova community.”
In her three seasons as head coach at Haverford College, Young built a Centennial Conference contender. In 2010 her squad went 13-5, the highest single-season wins total in the Haverford program’s history, and earned the Fords’ first berth in the conference tournament where they won their first round game and advanced to the semifinal. The Fords’ followed that with a 10-7 record in 2011 and featured their first IWLCA All-American since 2000 in junior Josie Ferri (Pennsbury).
Young led Haverford to a 10-6 record in 2009 and her efforts earned her Centennial Conference Coach of the Year accolades.
After completing a stellar career at Princeton University, Young was named lead assistant at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. While at Penn, she helped head coach Karin Brower transform the Quakers – a team that had one winning record since 1983 – into a two-time Ivy League champion (2007, 2008) and an NCAA championship finalist in 2008.
Young coached seven All-Americans while at Penn and served as the program’s recruiting coordinator and chief scout of Quaker opponents. For Brower, Young planned practices and developed game strategies that have propelled the women to five consecutive winning seasons and a 73-42 overall mark.
Locally, Young is the co-founder of the Philly Women’s Lacrosse League which has created opportunities for post-collegiate players to continue playing lacrosse after college. In addition, she has developed a local club lacrosse team, Philly Blast.
A dual-sport athlete at Princeton University where she earned a B.A. in psychology in 2001, Young was All-Ivy eight times earning four honors each in both soccer and lacrosse. As the team captain in 2001, Young led head coach Chris Sailer’s Tigers lacrosse team to the Ivy League championship and a second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Penn’s leap into the 2008 NCAA championship game was Young’s second visit to the final after her Princeton squad played in the 2000 final. A three-time Brine/IWLCA All-American (’99, ’00, ’01), she was a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist—presented to the top women’s collegiate lacrosse player—in 2001.
A two-time Tigers soccer captain, three time team MVP (’97, ’99, ’00) and three time Mid-Atlantic Regional All-American in soccer (’97, ’99, ’00), Young was presented the C. Otto von Kienbusch Award at the culmination of her senior year at Princeton, an honor given to the University’s Sportswoman of the Year.
