Seated in her inviting office, next to a basket of snacks for her visitors, lacrosse coach Kristen Skiera explains her journey to professional coaching. “I was the product of a coach’s kid through and through, my dad never played lacrosse, but he coached my club team and stayed very involved.” A Maryland native, Skiera took up lacrosse at the age of 10. She grew up watching her brother play, but women’s lacrosse was not an organized sport until she reached middle school. She played throughout high school, and worked hard enough to earn a collegiate spot on Duke’s women’s lacrosse roster. During her time at Duke, the squad won the ACC tournament and went to the final four on three separate occasions. “I never saw myself coaching, but I lost in three final fours by a goal. Ending my career on that note left some unfinished business. That’s what got my foot in the door with coaching, I felt like there was something still left for me.” Skiera’s competitive drive is what brought her to coaching, and is what continues to push her. This idea was solidified during her time at service academies. Of her 16 years as a professional lacrosse coach, 11 of which were at Army West Point and the Naval Academy. Prior to her job at Virginia Tech, Skiera spent seven years at Army, transitioning the program from a club team to a competitive varsity team. While Skiera did not have any plans to coach at a service academy, her time there shaped who she is as a coach. Service academies are male dominated, Skieras’ job was to surround her athletes with strong female influences. When describing the role that she wants to play in the lives of her athletes, the word Skiera chose was mentor. She considers her college coaches as sisters, her first calls, and the women she counts on. Those women laid the blueprint for Skiera as both a coach and a mentor. During her time at West Point, the team went 48-40 and competed in their first ever league-tournament. During her time at Navy, the team went 13-4 and 13-5. Having winning seasons early in her assistant coaching career were what propelled Skiera to jump into full time professional coaching. An addiction to winning is one that many coaches possess, and Skiera is among them. However, this hunger for a championship win does not affect the relationship she has with her players. “The opportunity to work with 18-22 year olds and play a small part in one of the biggest journeys of their life, I just love it… This environment is just so college, this is exactly the environment I had as a college athlete. It allows me to sympathize with them and put myself in their shoes.” This is Skieras’ second season coaching at Tech, and one she is ecstatic about. She strives for firsts every season, as a way to never let her team be satisfied and to always push for more. The 2022 campaign saw the first time ever that the Hokies beat James Madison. The Dukes were No.13 in the country at the time, and Tech took them down on their campus in Harrisonburg. Tech also edged No. 15 Notre Dame later in the year 13-12 in Blacksburg at Thompson Field, giving the Hokies their second only win ever against the Fighting Irish. As expected for any elite competitor, these moments are not enough for Skiera. She aims to do things that no one has done before. “Every day that I am here, I am getting closer and closer to my personal goal of a National Championship.” The Hokies have many opportunities for firsts this season. This year’s team is much younger than last season and they have an opportunity to take the ACC by storm. Having young student-athletes is a grab bag and unpredictable, but Skiera is confident that the examples set by her seniors will push these girls to be the best they can. In two of their most competitive inner-conference games last season, the Hokies battled their competitors tight for the first half, and struggled to keep that competitive play up for the full campaign. Tech had No. 7 Duke on the ropes at home, going into half all knotted up at 7-7, but unfortunately dropped a 15-14 heartbreaker after storming back in the 4th quarter. This theme occurred again at home vs. No. 16 Virginia. The SKIERA LACROSSE HEAD COACH FOCUSED ON GROWTH IN SECOND YEAR By Lucy West inside.hokiesports.com 5 Continued on page 6
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