We step back into the coaching ranks for this week's CAC INTRODUCING ... feature, placing the spotlight on Stevenson University women's soccer assistant coach Brittany Tegeler, a former Big East standout at the University of Connecticut who has helped Stevenson head coach Graeme Millar lead the Mustangs to the 2009 CAC Championship Game.

What is your background in the sport you coach?  Playing Background: I started playing soccer at age four for Carroll Manor recreational council in Baldwin, Maryland.  From there I progressed to the Carroll Manor travel team, with my dad being the coach.  At the age of 10, I played for my first club team named the Baltimore Football Club Finesse.  Eventually I moved to play for the club team Bethesda Excel.  I played for the Excel from age 13 until my first year in college.  The Excel established themselves as one of the top teams in the country as we won 3 regional championships and were 2x national finalists.  Every year from age 10 until college I played for the Maryland state ODP team, who became national champions, and the Region I team.  I also attended youth national camp.  I attended McDonogh High School and finished my career as an NSCAA All-American with 100 goals scored.  From 2005-2009 I played for the rich tradition of the University of Connecticut.  Throughout college, I garnered Big-East, regional, and national awards but nothing was more memorable than getting to the Elite 8 my junior year, even though we ended up losing in double OT just seconds from possibly making it to the final four.  In the summer of 2007 I played for Tony DiCicco's WPSL SoccerplusCT team as we won the U-23 national championship.  In March of 2009 I was invited to the Women's Professional Soccer Washington Freedom Team's preseason after numerous combines and tryouts.  For the rest of the summer of 2009 I played for the national finalist Washington Freedom W-league team where I became an All-Eastern Conference team member. 

What is your favorite spot on campus?  The beautiful Greenspring and Owings Mills soccer fields of course!  Nothing could be better than the place on campus where I get to coach and play the game I love and am so passionate about.

What is the most important societal issue facing college students?  The majority of college students intend to have fun as well as work hard.  A major issue in college for a student is being able to find a balance between the two.  Students have so much going on and more often than not severely struggle with time-management as well as with prioritizing.  Students often have a hard time honoring class, hard work, and achieving academically or athletically over partying and hanging out with friends.  In an ideal world a student would be able to find the perfect balance between: having fun, hanging out with friends, going out, maintaining healthy relationships/friendships, taking care of personal needs, studying, athletics, getting good grades, attending class, participating in extracurricular activities, etc.  However, it is not that easy and college students constantly battle with finding this balance. 

What was your major in college, and what is the most important thing you learned in that discipline?  My major at the University of Connecticut was Coaching and Administration, which was in the School of Kinesiology, ranked #1 in the nation.  I learned so many important things in my major throughout my four years at college.  However, the most important message I took away from all of my classes, was a quite simple concept.  I learned that the most important part of working in sports and coaching is loving what you do.  To be successful one must be passionate and enthusiastic about the field they are working in.  If you love what you are doing, you will never feel like you work a day in your life.  As a coach, if you are passionate about what you are coaching your players will be able to tell and they will feed off of it.  When you love what you coach, being able to motivate, teach, and care for your players all while getting positive results and progressions will come easy and feel natural.

Other than your family members, who was the most influential person in your life?  Other than my family members, the most influential person in my life is my youth Baltimore club coach, Coach Quinn.  Coach Quinn taught me more about soccer than anyone, and at such a young age.  He not only taught me how to be the player and coach I am today, but he taught me about passion for the game.  I have never met anyone who loves the game more than him.  He coaches unlimited hours and never asks for a penny.  He coaches solely for free because to him soccer will never be a job.  Coach Quinn has taught me how to love a game and appreciate how special and unique it is.  He has never taught textbook soccer, he has always encouraged me to be creative and play a different style than is typically taught.  If it were not from here there is no way I would have made it to where I have thus far, as far as soccer goes.

If you could give one piece of advice to elementary school children, what would that advice be?  My biggest piece advice would be to follow your dreams.  Elementary school children need to realize that they can achieve anything.  There is no obstacle too big.  If you put your mind to something and dedicate your life to it, you can achieve.  Young students also need to know that they should do what they love.  They cannot chase a goal or dream that someone else has for them, they need to chase after their own passions.  It is near impossible to be as successful as you can be if you don't love what you are doing.

What is your favorite form of entertainment?  My favorite form of entertainment is sports.  Soccer is obviously my favorite sport but I am a huge fan of football, lacrosse, baseball, and basically any other sport there is to offer.  I love watching games live, watching them on TV, and playing in them.  I am currently playing in a touch-football league and although I love it, my competitive side gets the best of me sometimes.  I think I love sports so much because I have been an athlete for my whole life so it is very easy for me to appreciate the accomplishments of any athlete.  Athletes never cease to amaze me and I love watching just to see how incredible an athlete's speed is, how flexible an athlete can be, how strong an athlete can be, etc.  I love watching athletes that are particularly good at something I am not.  I try to take small pieces of different athletes' game and add them to my own game to make me a better player.  Further more, winning and competitive atmospheres is something I can totally relate to.  Watching and playing sports totally feeds into my competitive nature and really pumps me up.

Outside of the Capital Athletic Conference, who or what is your favorite sports person or team?  I am going to go with my favorite league on this one, and that would be the Women's Professional Soccer League.  I one day hope to play in this league; it is something I have worked for my entire life.  The fact that there now is a professional women's soccer league in the U.S., the best one in the world, is very inspirational.  Now myself, as well as other young girls, have something to aim for.  We now know that there is life for women soccer players after college.

Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that you'd like to have dinner with?  The three people I would pick are Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Messi.  Messi is my favorite soccer player and if I could talk to him for just five minutes and learn more about the game from him that would be amazing.  Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are people who I regard as two of the best athletes in the world.  I admire them and would love to know how they came to be so successful.  What did they do that set them apart from the rest?