New Penn State Hazleton Women’s Soccer Coach Rebuilds Program

By TORI MURPHY

This story is the second in a series of features submitted by Penn State University Park students taking a sports journalism course.

Madison Polumbo never intended to have a career in coaching. But this year she has taken on a big job – rebuilding the Penn State Hazleton women’s soccer team as its new head coach.  

Polumbo graduated from Penn State Hazleton in 2020 with an Information Sciences and Technology degree. She played all four years on the women’s soccer team, serving as captain for both her junior and senior seasons. She even led the team to the Penn State University Athletic Conference championship game in 2019.  

These days, Polumbo works full-time for Cross Valley Federal Credit Union while also coaching the team. She didn’t know that coaching was something she would be interested in until the assistant athletic director at Hazleton said he could see her natural leadership skills.

“I knew I always wanted to be involved after graduating but I never thought about coaching until the position came up,” Polumbo said. “I thought, why not see what happens and try to build this program back up?” 

Polumbo has stepped in at a time when the soccer program needs her the most.

After two years with no season due to COVID-19 and low participation numbers, the program is truly starting from nothing.

“I just want to build the program back up,” she said. “It was heartbreaking to see the program break away after COVID,”

The team had only one recruit when Polumbo became head coach. Her recruiting tactics included getting some help from high school athletic departments to identify players, and sending emails out to students on campus who might be interested in playing.

“I didn’t lose hope so that was the biggest thing,” Polumbo said. “We made something out of it.”

By the time the season kicked off in September, the team roster had 14 players on it, and four or five of the team’s starters have never played a game of organized soccer before. While the team is short on numbers and experience, Polumbo said she has found success in recruiting players who play other sports on campus.

“Three of the basketball players came out for soccer. They know how to read a field, know how to be aggressive and how to use their teammates,” Polumbo said before the season began.

In the PSUAC, the results have been about what you might expect. Hazleton has lost all its games, but has scored several goals, including one by Justine Bernazeau and one by Makenna Bankes. Bernazeau is also a member of the women’s basketball team at Hazleton.

“Our first goal was off a penalty kick,” said Polumbo. “The second goal surprised me but it was great to see them finally click and it was a really big moment for the program.”

“The season is going decent right now,” said Polumbo. “We are doing good for having some inexperienced players.”

Being only two years removed from school herself, Polumbo believes her time as a player will help her transition into coaching and allow the girls to connect with her more.

“They feel more comfortable coming to me because I’m closer to them in age and just graduated from school,” said Polumbo. “I think that is going to help them transition into college athletics and the college environment in general.”

“I’ve definitely have had to figure out a balance between being a coach and being someone who is not that much older than them,” said Polumbo.

One of Polumbo’s main philosophies as a coach is one she took from when she was a player. Aside from winning, Polumbo is motivated by the people around her.

“I always wanted to put my best out there because it not only affected me, but it also affected my teammates,” Polumbo said. “I want this team to give me their best efforts and 1% past that.”