2000 Hall of Fame Inductee

KAREN STANLEY-KEHL, Santa Rosa, CA

Soccer &emdash; 1980-1984

During the late 1970's and early '80's, Chico State women's soccer teams played in a statewide Club Conference. Thus, there was no way to honor student-athletes with All-Conference and All-American Honors. If there had been, Karen Stanley-Kehl would have been honored each year she played.

Upon her arrival at Chico State in 1980, Karen had already established herself as an outstanding soccer player. By the time she left the University in 1984, she was much more than that. A team captain, Karen was an outstanding student-athlete, making the Dean's List every year of her undergraduate degree in physical education. In 1982, she played for the United State College Women's Select Team. During her final year in Chico Karen sustained a career-ending knee injury. But she claims it was a turning point in her life. She decided not to view it as a tragedy, but instead learned about the mind-body-spirit approach to wellness, and graduated in 1986 with a master's degree in wellness with a 4.0 GPA.

Karen went into coaching, with the encouragement of then-men's soccer coach and current Athletic Director Don Batie as a way to continue her involvement in the game. She had coaching stints as the assistant coach at the University of Puget Sound, head coach at Seattle Pacific, assistant at nationally-ranked Notre Dame, and in 1993, became the first head coach at USC. She made her final move in 1995 when she took the head coaching position at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Coach Stanley is now considered one of the top female coaches in the nation. She is a nationally recognized motivational speaker and clinician, as well as a writer for national and international soccer publications. She has won numerous honors, including National Coach of the Year in 1998 for junior colleges, and Regional Coach of the Year in 1999. She represents everything that is great about the Chico State experience and is an example to her profession and a reminder to those teaching and coaching that sometimes we help produce excellence.