Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 12/15/09
From Press releases
The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) has announced that two Philly women – United Sports Training Center Chief Operating Officer Kim Basner and Immaculata coach Jennifer Wong – have been named as honorees in the final series of awards for the 2008-2009 season, including the Diane Geppi-Aikens Lifetime Achievement Award, the IWLCA Service Award, and the President’s Cup for outstanding service to the game. In addition, the team community service awards were named along with the Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Basner, the NCAA Coordinator of Officials, is a member of the Philadelphia Lacrosse Association Board of Directors and a former US Lacrosse Board member. She starred as a player at Swarthmore High and West Chester University, is director and coach of the SEPA club team and was a World Cup umpire.
Basner is being cited for working tirelessly on behalf of the collegiate game through her role as coordinator of officials and as a non-voting member of the NCAA rules Committee. Her presence and insight is valuable and her willingness to perform an often thankless job is underappreciated. With the expansion of the NCAA interpretation sessions for officials, the way the game is called has gotten more consistent. Basner has also been instrumental in the rules training video and in communicating interpretations to coaches and officials. She also assigns officials to every single NCAA tournament game for all three divisions.
Wong, the recently-hired head coach at Immaculata who formerly was an assistant at Temple, is the Chair of the IWLCA Outreach Committee and also spearheaded Project IRM. Jen’s work on Project IRM is quite impressive. She chaired the committee that chose the participants and mentors, and coordinated conference calls and in-person events. Her work has given nine minority coaches the opportunity to receive training and support as they pursue a career in coaching women’s lacrosse. Her work has also provided several current coaches with the opportunity to mentor these young coaches and give back to the game.
William Smith’s Pat Genovese was named the recipient of the Diane Geppi-Aikens Lifetime Achievement Award, while Kim Basner, the NCAA Coordinator of Officials, earned the President’s Cup award for outstanding service to the game. Immaculata’s Jennifer Wong is the 2009 IWLCA Service Award honoree, recognizing that member of the organization who has provided exemplary service to the sport.
The teams from the University of Cincinnati, the University of New Haven, and the Catholic University of America were cited for their Community Awareness. In addition, Vanderbilt’s Susan Ellis, Lock Haven’s Shannon Houck, and RIT’s Melissa Pearsall were named the 2009 Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Genovese, who was inducted into the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in November of 2007, has won more lacrosse games as a coach than any other person at the collegiate level. A three-time National Coach of the Year, Genovese has led her team to the NCAA Tournament 16 times and to the DIII National Championship game five times. She boasts a 362-133-1 career record, which ranks first all-time in total games coached. A three-time Regional Coach of the Year, three-time NYSWCAA Coach of the Year and three-time North/South All-Star Game head coach, Genovese has also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. women’s national team program. She was inducted into the US Lacrosse Greater Rochester Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1998) as well as the SUNY Cortland Hall of Fame and the William Smith Hall of Honor.
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