Amanda O'Leary
Encyclopedia
Amanda "Mandee" Moore O'Leary (born 1967) is an American college lacrosse
coach and former player. O'Leary was an All-American lacrosse midfielder for the Temple Owls women's lacrosse team of Temple University
, and she is a member of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame. O'Leary was formerly the head coach
of the Yale Bulldogs
women's lacrosse team of Yale University
, and she is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's lacrosse
team of the University of Florida
.
and field hockey
teams from 1985 to 1988. She was honored as a two-time first-team All-American in field hockey, and a three-time first-team All-American in lacrosse. O'Leary led the Temple women's lacrosse team to a perfect 19–0 record and an NCAA championship
in 1988, and an appearance in the NCAA finals in 1987. She was named NCAA Midfielder of the Year in 1987 and 1988, and NCAA Most Valuable Player in 1988. Lacrosse Magazine recognized her as its player of the year.
After graduation, O'Leary played on the U.S. national lacrosse teams that won the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Association
(IFWLA) World Cup in 1989 and 1993. She played nine years of post-collegiate club lacrosse. O'Leary was named the USWLA's Beth Allen Award winner in 1997. She was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.
, winning the Coach of the Year honors in 1996. Through her final season at Yale, O'Leary compiled a 162–65 record as a head coach; her 162 wins and .714 winning percentage ranked seventh among all active coaches. O'Leary's Yale lacrosse teams qualified for the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Tournament in 2003 and 2007. Her 2003 Yale team was the Ivy League tri-champion. Prior to coaching at Yale, she was an assistant coach at the University of Maryland
and the University of Delaware
.
O'Leary has also served as the chairman of the U.S. national team selection committee, and formerly was a member of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA) Board of Directors.
The new Gators women's lacrosse team officially began play on February 20, 2010, and now competes in the American Lacrosse Conference
(ALC). O'Leary's first Gators recruiting class of twenty-four players featured seven US Lacrosse high school first-team All-Americans and six Under Armour high school All-Americans.
In only the second season of the Gators' lacrosse program, O'Leary's mostly-sophomore team clinched its first regular season ALC championship by defeating the defending conference champion and second-ranked Northwestern Wildcats
13–11 on April 14, 2011. The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 ALC season three days later by defeating the seventeenth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores
8–7. O'Leary's Gators received their first invitation to the sixteen-team NCAA women's lacrosse tournament, defeating the Stanford Cardinal in the first round, before falling to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA quarterfinals. In two seasons of play, the upstart Gators have compiled an overall win-loss record of 26–12 (.684).
and kinesiology
in 1988. She is married to Kevin O'Leary, a former goaltender for the Maryland Terrapins and current NCAA referee official, and they are the parents of daughter Madison and son Ryan.
Field lacrosse
Field lacrosse, sometimes referred to as the "fastest sport on two feet," is a full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867....
coach and former player. O'Leary was an All-American lacrosse midfielder for the Temple Owls women's lacrosse team of Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, and she is a member of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame. O'Leary was formerly the head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the Yale Bulldogs
Yale Bulldogs
The Yale Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the Yale University. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in men's swimming and diving, and twenty one in men's golf.-Men's baseball:...
women's lacrosse team of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and she is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's lacrosse
Florida Gators women's lacrosse
The Florida Gators women's lacrosse team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college lacrosse. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the American Lacrosse Conference . They play their home games in Donald R...
team of the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
.
Playing career
During her collegiate playing career, O'Leary was a four-year starter for Temple University's lacrosseLacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
and field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
teams from 1985 to 1988. She was honored as a two-time first-team All-American in field hockey, and a three-time first-team All-American in lacrosse. O'Leary led the Temple women's lacrosse team to a perfect 19–0 record and an NCAA championship
NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship
The annual NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the top women's lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III....
in 1988, and an appearance in the NCAA finals in 1987. She was named NCAA Midfielder of the Year in 1987 and 1988, and NCAA Most Valuable Player in 1988. Lacrosse Magazine recognized her as its player of the year.
After graduation, O'Leary played on the U.S. national lacrosse teams that won the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Association
World Lacrosse Championship
The World Lacrosse Championship is the world championship for international men's field lacrosse. From its inception in 1967 through the 2006 event, it was sanctioned by the International Lacrosse Federation...
(IFWLA) World Cup in 1989 and 1993. She played nine years of post-collegiate club lacrosse. O'Leary was named the USWLA's Beth Allen Award winner in 1997. She was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.
Coaching career
On June 22, 2007, the University of Florida announced that Amanda O'Leary would assume responsibility for the start-up Gators women's lacrosse program. Before accepting the Florida job, she spent the previous fourteen seasons as the head lacrosse coach at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, winning the Coach of the Year honors in 1996. Through her final season at Yale, O'Leary compiled a 162–65 record as a head coach; her 162 wins and .714 winning percentage ranked seventh among all active coaches. O'Leary's Yale lacrosse teams qualified for the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Tournament in 2003 and 2007. Her 2003 Yale team was the Ivy League tri-champion. Prior to coaching at Yale, she was an assistant coach at the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
and the University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
.
O'Leary has also served as the chairman of the U.S. national team selection committee, and formerly was a member of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA) Board of Directors.
The new Gators women's lacrosse team officially began play on February 20, 2010, and now competes in the American Lacrosse Conference
American Lacrosse Conference
The American Lacrosse Conference is a NCAA Division I women's lacrosse-only college athletic conference whose members are located in the Midwest, on the East Coast, and increasingly in the Southeastern states from Illinois to Florida....
(ALC). O'Leary's first Gators recruiting class of twenty-four players featured seven US Lacrosse high school first-team All-Americans and six Under Armour high school All-Americans.
In only the second season of the Gators' lacrosse program, O'Leary's mostly-sophomore team clinched its first regular season ALC championship by defeating the defending conference champion and second-ranked Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern has eight men's and eleven women's Division I sports teams. The mascot is Willie the Wildcat...
13–11 on April 14, 2011. The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 ALC season three days later by defeating the seventeenth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt Commodores
The Vanderbilt Commodores are the NCAA athletic teams of Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The university fields 16 varsity teams , 14 of which compete in the Southeastern Conference...
8–7. O'Leary's Gators received their first invitation to the sixteen-team NCAA women's lacrosse tournament, defeating the Stanford Cardinal in the first round, before falling to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA quarterfinals. In two seasons of play, the upstart Gators have compiled an overall win-loss record of 26–12 (.684).
Personal
O'Leary was born Amanda Moore in 1967. She grew up in Royersford, Pennsylvania, where she attended Spring-Ford High School. O'Leary graduated magna cum laude from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in exercise physiologyPhysiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
and kinesiology
Kinesiology
Kinesiology, also known as human kinetics is the scientific study of human movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, mechanical, and psychological mechanisms. Applications of kinesiology to human health include: biomechanics and orthopedics, rehabilitation, such as physical and occupational...
in 1988. She is married to Kevin O'Leary, a former goaltender for the Maryland Terrapins and current NCAA referee official, and they are the parents of daughter Madison and son Ryan.
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- History of the University of FloridaHistory of the University of FloridaThe history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, colloquially known as "Florida" or "UF," originated as several distinct institutions that were merged to create a single state-supported university by the...
- Lacrosse in PennsylvaniaLacrosse in PennsylvaniaLacrosse has been played in Pennsylvania since the 19th century. Today, there are many respected amateur programs at the club, college and high school level, as well as several respected past and present professional teams at the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse ...
- List of Temple University people
- Temple OwlsTemple OwlsTemple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a very long-running athletic program. The school's sports teams are called the Owls, originating from the university's early days as a night school. The current athletic director is Bill Bradshaw....
- University Athletic AssociationUniversity of Florida Athletic AssociationThe University Athletic Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...
- Women's LacrosseWomen's lacrosseWomen's lacrosse, sometimes shortened to wlax or lax, is a sport played with twelve players on each team. Originally played by the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the first tribe to play it was the Hauser tribe, of the Great Plains. The modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at the St...
- Yale BulldogsYale BulldogsThe Yale Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the Yale University. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in men's swimming and diving, and twenty one in men's golf.-Men's baseball:...
External links
- Amanda O'Leary – Official biography of O'Leary at GatorZone.com.
- Amanda (Moore) O'Leary – Official biography of O'Leary at National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
- Florida Lacrosse – Official webpage of Florida Gators lacrosse, O'Leary's current team.