By Katrina Kowitz, Staff Writer
As many as seven former student athletes who competed on Newman teams last year are now working as graduate assistants for those teams, and several say that they enjoy getting to see the other perspective and work behind the scenes.
“It’s different being on the sidelines now – not being a player,” said Yasmine Puentes, who played on the women’s soccer team last year but now is a graduate assistant.
Puentes, now in her fifth year at Newman, graduated with an elementary education degree and decided to get her master’s degree as well. She’s thinking about becoming a high school teacher and coach.
She said she’s enjoyed giving advice to her former teammates on technical skills. She thought transitioning from teammate to coach would be more difficult than it was, but that her former teammates have been supportive.
Tate Cuffy is another soccer graduate assistant. During her senior year on the women’s team, she played in 16 games, started in three and played a total of 359 minutes.
Cuffy got her degree in data analytics and said she wants to have a career in coaching. In her new role, she’s setting up training sessions, going through game film, and helping the team understand what it needs to work on.
The job has given her an opportunity to learn and grow, she said.
“I would love to have a career in sports,” she said. “To coach at the professional level would be my dream.”
Getting an opportunity to be a graduate assistant has been a learning experience, Cuffy said, and she is grateful to be surrounded by such a great team and coaching staff.
Among the other players-turned-graduate assistant coaches this year:
Women's volleyball: McKinzie Weaver was a four-year player and a setter for the Jets. In her last four games of her senior season, Weaver had more than four digs a game.
Men’s cross country: Kyle Silmon was a four-year runner and received his degree in business administration.
Men’s soccer: Andre Cavichione is considered the team’s graduate assistant, but Victor Machado played last year and became an assistant coach this season. Machado transferred to Newman, where he earned his degree.
Women’s tennis: Marie Brunet was a four-year player. In her singles career, she brought in 32 match wins. In her doubles career, she brought in 27 match wins.
Athletics Department: Natalie Morales played libero for the Jets volleyball team. Morales played every game in her senior season, reached 1,000 career digs and led the team in 361 digs.
PHOTO: Courtesy, Unsplash
