Wooster’s athletic department will add women’s golf as a varsity sport this year, becoming the College’s 23rd varsity sport and 12th varsity option for women.† Women’s golf is the first varsity sport to be added since 2000, when softball transitioned from club to varsity status.
“Wooster will be the fifth women’s golf team in the North Coast Athletic conference, and consequently, we’re hopeful that the sport will now conduct an official conference championship,” said Keith Beckett, director of athletics, physical education and recreation.
According to the Wooster web site, there are currently 167 NCAA Div. III women’s golf teams, including 36 in the Great Lakes Region.† Allegheny College, Denison University, Hiram College and Wittenberg University are competitors in the NCAC.
Lisa Campanell Komara, head coach of the women’s basketball team, will serve as the head coach of the women’s golf program in her 27th year of her coaching career.† In addition to her dual coaching responsibilities, Campanell-Komara will also serve as an assistant in the management of the College’s Student Recreation Center, which is expected to open in January 2012.
Campanell-Komara has been active in golf for a number of years, acting as a clinician, competitor and volunteer.† During her tenure at Bethany College (1985-97) she taught physical education classes in golf and volunteered at several LPGA events, including the 1992 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, located outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.† She has also taught the sport at local elementary schools.
Campanell-Komara has experience heading several different women’s collegiate athletic teams, and although she has not coached golf before she said her ability to get a program up and running will be the most important aspect she can bring to the team.
She has coached the women’s basketball, volleyball and tennis teams at Bethanny College and the women’s basketball team at Wooster.† At Bethanny, Campanell-Komara served as the coordinator of women’s athletics and was the all-time winningest coach in all three sports.
In Campanell-Komara’s 12 years as the women’s basketball head coach at Bethanny, she won 126 games, took the team to the NCAA Div. III Championships for the first time and was awarded the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors in 1997.
Campanell-Komara’s record at Wooster has been no less impressive.† She has helped establish a more consistent women’s basketball team, with victories over rival and North coast Athletic conference champions in 2009-10 Wittenberg University (74-61), 2004-05 Kenyon College (68-61) and 1997-98 Wittenberg (65-57).† She also helped the Fighting Scots finish 14-12 in 2006-07, the team’s first winning record in 14 years.
Campanell-Komara hopes that her players will continue to gain confidence in their games as they get more experience throughout the season, eventually being able to build their games to another level.
“We have some solid players to begin with this year, so I am very optimistic in the building blocks that are in place for the success of the program.† The athletes are very dedicated to taking their game into the intercollegiate level, and we committed to improving.† This is an exciting time those involved to be a part of the athletic history at Wooster,” she said.
The women will play against several other teams in the NCAC, including nationally-ranked Allegheny and DePauw.† She hopes the Fighting Scots will be competitive among the newer programs.
The women will debut as a varsity team on Sept. 18 against Ohio Wesleyan University, which is also in its first year as a varsity program, at their home turf Wooster Country Club in Wooster, OH.