Betty Ann Kempf Townsley
Head Coach
Phone: 610-436-6903
Email:
ekempf@wcupa.edu
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley enters her third year along West Chester’s sideline after leading the Golden Rams to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II women’s soccer tournament in each of the past two seasons.
The 23-year veteran of college coaching was introduced as the eighth head coach of women’s soccer at West Chester University on July 29, 2007, following a long and successful career as a Division I college mentor. She owns a career college coaching record of 174-208-34 with a two-year mark of 31-6-8 at West Chester.
West Chester is 17-3-4 at home in Kempf Townsley's tenure while showing an unbeaten mark in league games on home turf (19-0-5).
Last fall, Kempf Townsley mentored first team All-American Brittany Yetter, marking the first first-team All-America selection at the Division II level for Kempf Townsley. The Golden Rams finished 14-3-5 overall and put up another unbeaten regular-season in the PSAC with an 8-0-4 ledger.
In 2007, Kempf Townsley tutored one NSCAA All-American, Sarah Oswald (third-team) and a Daktronics All-American in Lauren Boyer (second-team). The campaign also produced four all-league first team honorees, Brittany Yetter, Boyer, Oswald, and Christine Thurwanger. She also mentored a Daktronics all-region first team and CoSIDA academic all-district honoree (Boyer).
In her first year coaching the Golden Rams, the lady booters captured their second consecutive PSAC regular-season and tournament titles while finishing the regular season ranked second regionally and 19th nationally. After advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, the team posted a final record of 17-3-3.
Kempf Townsley’s husband, Ed Townsley (WCU ’67), served as West Chester’s head women’s soccer coach for two years (1997-98) prior to helping current men’s head coach, Kendall Walkes, as an assistant on the women’s coaching staff the first five years of the program’s existence as a varsity program. Walkes coached both the men’s and women’s teams at West Chester from 1992 to 1996.
Kempf Townsley, who spent 13 years at Division I Seton Hall, owns 143 wins at the top level of intercollegiate athletics to go along with a coach of the year honor in the BIG EAST in 1997 and four trips to the conference tournament.
Kempf Townsley guided the Pirates’ women’s soccer team since its inception in 1994, before stepping down after the 2006 campaign. She built the Pirates into a reputable program, which has been competitive in the BIG EAST - one of the top women’s soccer conferences in the nation.
With a reputation as an outstanding recruiter, Kempf Townsley brought a diverse group of student-athletes to Seton Hall over her 13-year span. One of Kempf Townsley’s most noteworthy recruits was Kelly Smith, the NCAA’s career leader in points and goals per game, and a current star for the W-League’s New Jersey Wildcats as well as the English National Team.
Kempf Townsley’s 13-year record at Seton Hall was 103-118-17, with four winning seasons and four berths in the conference tournament, including two in the BIG EAST semifinals (1997, 1999). In 22 seasons as a head coach, her mark stands at 160-205-25.
The 2000 Pirates squad advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament for the fourth consecutive season before suffering a loss in the quarterfinals. In 1999, Seton Hall went 11-9 and reached the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship for the second time while Kelly Smith was the nation’s leading scorer for the second year in a row and the program’s first All-America selection.
In 1998, Seton Hall stunned the college soccer world when the unranked Pirates defeated No. 2 Notre Dame, 3-2, in overtime, ending a 37-game unbeaten streak for Notre Dame against BIG EAST foes. The upset vaulted the Pirates into the Top 20 for the first time in school history with a ranking of 17th in the nation. Seton Hall finished the campaign with an 11-6-1 record and Kempf Townsley was named the 1998 New Jersey Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Kempf Townsley guided the 1997 Pirates to their best season in school history with a 14-5 record and a 9-2 mark in the BIG EAST, with conference losses only to NCAA Final Four teams Notre Dame and Connecticut. Seton Hall made its first-ever appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament, reaching the semifinals as the third seed. Among the highlights of that banner season was a school-record nine-match winning streak.
By leading the Pirates to third place in the conference after an eighth-place finish the previous year, Kempf Townsley was named the 1997 BIG EAST coach of the year. She also received the 1997 New Jersey coach of the year award.
Kempf Townsley has guided and developed the program, which became the newest intercollegiate sport at the University with its first season of play in 1994. She was named the first Seton Hall women’s soccer coach on Nov. 18, 1993.
The 1995 squad achieved the first winning season in school history with a 9-8-1 mark while the 1996 team was one game under .500 at 8-9-1. In Seton Hall’s inaugural season in 1994, Kempf Townsley led the Pirates to a 4-12-1 record, including a 3-0 victory over Iona in the program’s opening match. The Pirates scored a 3-1 win at Georgetown for the team’s first-ever BIG EAST triumph.
Kempf Townsley is very familiar with the task of building a program as she served as the first coach of the women’s soccer team at La Salle University. During her eight-year tenure with the Explorers, which began with the program’s inception in 1986, Kempf Townsley amassed a 40-84-9 overall record. She was named the 1991 Eastern Pennsylvania Coach of the Year.
A well-recognized figure in Pennsylvania soccer, Kempf Townsley guided the Pennsylvania Olympic Developmental Girls Under-18 squad to a semifinal berth during the summer of 1994 in the world’s largest soccer tournament, the Gothia Cup, held in Gothenburg, Sweden. She also coached the Eastern Pennsylvania Olympic Developmental Girls Under-19 team in one of the world’s premier women’s tournaments held in Bremen, Germany, in the summer of 1995.
In March 2000, Kempf Townsley coached the New Jersey team in the first Pennsylvania vs. New Jersey all-star game prior to the Philadelphia Kixx-Buffalo Blizzard National Professional Soccer League contest in Philadelphia.
In May 2001, she was inducted into the Philadelphia Old Timers Soccer Hall of Fame, becoming only the second woman to earn the distinction.
Very active in the community, she is the driving force behind the Eddie Polec Memorial Soccer Camp in her native Philadelphia, which has been held for 11 years. Kempf Townsley started the camp in the summer of 1995 to establish a scholarship fund at St. Cecilia School in Philadelphia in memory of Polec and aid a community deeply affected by tragedy. The camp has become a positive experience for the community of Northeast Philadelphia, bringing together many youngsters with friends and classmates of Polec, who serve as volunteer coaches. She received a special award from the Fox Chase Soccer Club in 1996 for her work in the community.
Kempf Townsley has also devoted time over the years to other community efforts, including volunteer work with the poverty-stricken community in Appalachia, Ky. She also continues to serve as an instructor for St. Cecilia Parish in Philadelphia.
Kempf Townsley received the Lanzera “Dedication Award”, as presented at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention in Philadelphia in 1996.
A 1982 graduate of nearby Immaculata College, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a certification in Early Childhood Education. Kempf Townsley lettered in basketball and set the school scoring record in field hockey.
Prior to her appointment at La Salle, Kempf Townsley coached Cardinal Dougherty High School girls’ soccer team from 1982-1985 and served as the coach for the Philadelphia Fox girls’ soccer program and various soccer camps throughout the region.
A native of Philadelphia, her playing career includes stints on the United German Hungarian Club, the Phoenix Sports Club, the State Select, the Region One Select and the Region One Keystone State teams and the Philadelphia Freedom professional team in the former USISL.
Kempf Townsley currently resides in nearby Coatesville, Pa., with her husband, Ed.
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