Teammates For Life is a special, deeply personal initiative to us both whose mission is to elevate the visibility, support and impact of women’s athletics in our Penn State community. As part of the advisory board — with Char as the director and Maribeth as head of communications and marketing — We Are…proud to recently celebrate our first anniversary and commemorate our many successes and contributions on campus and across the country, on and off the field.
Here’s how Teammates For Life came about, what so many have accomplished working together and what is ahead for Penn State women’s athletics in a college sports landscape that is shifting under our feet:
CHAR: SUCCESS AND SUPPORT
“While Teammates For Life focuses on engaging, elevating and celebrating our current female student-athletes, it has really become a movement for so many women to not only support our athletes, but each other as well.
“It really is hard to believe that one year has flown by. Retiring from something I loved so much, coaching field hockey, and to segue into the initiative — which I also love — has been incredibly rewarding. I cannot fully express how overwhelmed and inspired I am by the outreach of our former student-athletes, the State College community, women leaders on campus and our proud alumni.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead this initiative for my alma mater and appreciate the support of Dr. Pat Kraft, vice president for intercollegiate athletics, since the beginning. When I first spoke to him about my idea, he immediately said, ‘I love it!’ Pat has been very excited and fully engaged with promoting TFL. He recognizes the value of growing support for our women’s teams within our community and among Penn State fans. His enthusiasm is contagious — I love when he gets in front of our alums, as he did last October at the Penn State Sports Night in NYC at Fanatics!
“This first year has been incredibly successful beyond my expectations. I had a vision, but really no skills to develop a business model. As coaches, we all know that it is so important to have assistant coaches who have diverse abilities, match your passion and believe in the mission. Our board is just that, and more. I love working with these women and creating something special. Thanks to board members Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, E. Lee Beard, Elizabeth King, Maura Pilewicz, Tara Rowlyk Hohenshelt, Susan Robin-Fruchtl and Brandi Stuart.
“While I was excited to present this new initiative a year ago, I have myself become inspired and motivated daily to grow this support base and create events where we can all come together to make new teammates. The enthusiasm that has been ignited among so many communities of women has been electric. Among our successes over the past year:
“An Aspire Speakers Series, that included Lisa Salters, Julie Walker and Jen Burdis; PowHer Hour, where we engaged our student-athletes with Mt. Nittany Health workers, our community leaders of businesses and nonprofits; Corks on the Court, supporting women’s basketball; alumni events with our teams when they hit the road; and podcasts and programs featuring some of our terrific women’s coaches, such as Carolyn Kieger (basketball), Missy Doherty (lacrosse) and Clarisa Crowell (softball).”
CHAR: THE BEGINNING
“Penn State is different. Our women’s athletic programs at Penn State have historically been the leaders across campuses nationwide, going back to the 1970s, when Penn State made the decision to offer women athletic scholarships long before many others. In my opinion, they did it because it was the right thing to do. And, now — five decades later — Teammates For Life is the right thing to do as well.
“I knew that Penn Staters would rally around this initiative to support our athletes. For three years I had ideas bouncing around my brain: build relationships starting with our community and campus leaders, connect our athletes with our alums across sport lines, develop a mentoring program and enhance leadership skills.
“But where to begin…and how? My first call was to fellow Penn Stater Maribeth Schmidt, a successful communications entrepreneur who I met through a mutual friend. I was so impressed with her loyalty, passion and dedication to Penn State that I knew her energy and knowledge would elevate the initiative. She jumped right on board without hesitation. Maribeth is humble, creative, thoughtful, a hard worker and fun. I am extremely grateful for her insight, advice, time and friendship.”
MARIBETH: MOTIVATED AND MOTIVATING
“When I was approached by Char to help her develop Teammates For Life, I didn’t hesitate for one single second. She’s a proven winner. Her standards are sky high, and absolutely no one can outwork her. I knew working with Char would be a recipe for success, and would yield a much-needed initiative for our women student-athletes that is uniquely Penn State — because she is so appreciative of her own unique Penn State experiences.
“I give huge credit to Dean Marie Hardin of the Bellisario College of Communications. She immediately saw the potential of Teammates For Life when Char and I shared our vision with her back in April 2023. Dean Hardin helped us staff a mini-communications agency, with six students from her college who brought a wonderful mix of talent, experience and enthusiasm to our inaugural year. Their contributions were so very important; thank you to Ali Brigham, Amelia House, Alison Sinicki, Sydney Smichnick, Kathryn Tague and Ashleigh Webb.
“Meeting with them weekly to tackle everything from social media and website development to in-game messaging and media relations has been one of the highlights of my involvement in the initiative. I’m sure I learned as much – or more – from them as they may have learned from me. Best of all, we forged genuine relationships that have made us ‘Teammates For Life.’ ”
ON TO YEAR TWO: ‘A DIFFERENTIATOR’
MARIBETH: “There’s no question that the landscape of collegiate athletics is changing quickly. Char’s retirement and desire to launch this initiative could not have been more perfectly timed.
“Teammates For Life can ultimately be a differentiator for Penn State in recruiting and retaining those student-athletes who recognize the unique advantage of engaged, passionate Penn State alumni who support our female student-athletes, not just from the stands, but far beyond the field — providing mentorship, navigating professional development and ultimately, launching careers! I’ve always said that our alumni are Penn State’s superpower. I’m thrilled to play a small part in leveraging that amazing power for our women student-athletes.”
CHAR: “We are aware of similar initiatives at other universities, but most are more or less veiled fundraising campaigns. Dollars matter, but TFL makes sense: I had this vision, passion and motivation to start with building relationships among our current student-athletes, alums and coaches, within our community, on our campus and to engage with our vast alumni base.
“Our recent one-year anniversary celebration included golf, yoga, a luncheon and evening social. Caroline Fitzgerald’s speech to our attendees about the importance of investing in women’s sport and athletes was educational and motivating. Five-time Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, the new swimming and diving coach at Boston College whose daughter Tessa is a new Penn State student and burgeoning sports photographer, wowed everyone with her Olympic success stories and amazing comeback journey at age 41.
“Truly in one year we accomplished a lot, developed relationships and inspired our athletes. Oh yes — we engaged, elevated and celebrated. We are working on launching a mentoring program and building upon last year’s events. Our alumni are thrilled to be a part of this emerging community and impactful program, and our women athletes are learning lessons and gaining new Penn State teammates — for life.”
