NORTHBOROUGH, MA – The IWLCA today announced the graduation of 17 assistant and associate head coaches from the inaugural IWLCA Aspire Program. This newly created professional development program targeted growing both the personal and professional elements of coaching in an intensive nine-month course. One of the cohort is UVA Wise Assistant Coach Jordan Blackburne, who was one of the two coaches in the program from the NCAA Division II ranks.

Blackburne recently completed her second season as an assistant coach at UVA Wise, having joined the program in July, 2023. Prior to that the Indianapolis native was the head coach at Bethany College. There she led the Division III program to their best season in program history in 2022 as they posted seven wins. She joined Bethany as a graduate assistant in 2021 and was promoted to head coach the next year.

Her coaching experience also includes stints with the Indy United Lacrosse Club, Elite Athlete Development, and Intrepid Lacrosse Club.

As a student-athlete, Blackburne was a four-year standout goalie for Earlham College, where she was named all-conference twice and was a team captain from 2018 to 2021.

"It was very exciting to participate in the virtual graduation ceremony for the Aspire participants and hear them reflect upon the experience they had as part of the inaugural cohort for the program," said Kelly Gallagher, IWLCA President and head coach at the University of Tampa. "One of the IWLCA's primary objectives is to support, engage, and educate our members, and the Aspire program did that and more. The pilot program was undoubtedly a success, and we can turn our focus to how we can expand the program to impact more coaches in upcoming years. On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff, I'd like to extend our gratitude to Sarah and Julie from e.t.c. Coaching Consultants, who took the lead in devising and delivering the curriculum, and also to each of the participants in the program that put in the time and effort to not only better themselves professionally, but also to build a collaborative community that allowed them all to flourish."
 
Approved by the Board of Directors in June of 2024, programming for Aspire was led by Sarah McQuade and Julie Muller from e.t.c. coaching consultants. The duo served as the lead facilitators and guided the initial cohort of 17 coaches through a hybrid curriculum consisting of online courses, live webinars, in-person sessions at the 2024 IWLCA Convention, and individual mentoring session throughout the academic year.  The goal of the Aspire program aimed to enhance coaches' professional knowledge, harness personal reflective practices and build on the critical interpersonal skills needed to thrive in collegiate coaching.

The inaugural class of 2025 consists of the following individuals:
 

Clara	Bissell	Wesleyan University	Division III	Associate Head Coach
Jordan	Blackburne	The University of Virginia's College at Wise	Division II	Assistant Coach
Avery	Blackmon	Washington and Lee University	Division III	Assistant Coach
McKenna	Blick	Stevenson University	Division III	Assistant Coach
Taylor	Blick	Dickinson College	Division III	Assistant Coach
Ariana	Cambio	Colby College	Division III	Assistant Coach
Erica	Erb	Amherst College	Division III	Assistant Coach
Sean	Hansen	University of Redlands	Division III	Assistant Coach
Allyson	Heavens	Rutgers University	Division I	Assistant Coach
Kelsey	Howard	Stanford	Division I	Assistant Coach
McKenna	Kincaid	Saint Leo University	Division II	Graduate Assistant Coach
MacKenzie	Plaskey	Florida State University	Division I	Associate Head Coach
Sharn	Muffett	University of South Florida	Division I	Assistant Coach
Madison	Mulligan	Ithaca College	Division III	Assistant Coach
Leah	Peppelman	George Washington University	Division I	Assistant Coach
Tatiana	Samuel	Kenyon College	Division III	Assistant Coach
Katherine	Yarusso	Widener University	Division III	Assistant Coach