Jada Pierce – ‘Every Day You’ve Got to Prove Yourself’

Jada Pierce has been the head women’s basketball coach at Niagara University since 2015. The Philadelphia native has raised the program to a new level, leading the Purple Eagles to their first two Division I postseason appearances and first ever D1 postseason win in the first round of the 2024 WNIT…

Delaware Women's Ice Hockey's Allison Coomey - 'You Have to Work Together to Win'

The first coach in the history of the University of Delaware's women's ice hockey program is Allison Coomey. She will build the program from the ground up as the Blue Hens prepare to begin play during the 2025-26 season. Coomey comes to Newark after several years in State College as an assistant an…

Penn Men’s Squash’s Gilly Lane - A Great Day to Win a National Championship

Gilly Lane has been the head men’s squash coach at his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania since March of 2016. On his watch Penn has been one of the nation’s elite programs and this past March, he led the Quakers to their first-ever Potter Cup, the men’s squash national championship. In Epi…

Kutztown Football’s Jim Clements – A Foundation of Trust

Jim Clements has been the head football coach at Division II Kutztown University since 2014. In his 9th season in 2023, he led the Golden Bears to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship and an appearance in the National Semifinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Prior to taking ove…

Widener Football's Mike Barainyak – A Great Teammate

Mike Barainyak is the head football coach at Division III Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. The 2023 season was his fifth at the helm of the program and he led the Pride to a 7-4 campaign. His coaching career has also included stops at his alma mater Delaware Valley University, Villanova…

Heather Long – Winning is Fun

Heather Long is a volunteer assistant field hockey coach focusing on goalies at Division III Ursinus College in Collegeville. She also is still playing field hockey at an elite level, as she has earned a spot as a goaltender on the Over 35 United States Masters Field Hockey Team. Long has accomplis…

Emily Snowden – Bring Your Best, Leave Better

Emily Snowden is the founder and owner of The Goalie Trainer. She works with dozens of field hockey goaltenders from all over the country at different levels of development at her facility in Malvern, PA. In Episode #206 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Snowden in studio to talk about her…

Saint Joseph's University's Don DiJulia – The Heart of Hawk Hill

Don DiJulia spent 35 years as the athletic director at Saint Joseph’s University in two separate stints. The first was 1976 to 1981 and the second from 1988 to 2018. He is truly one of the most respected administrators in the history of Philadelphia collegiate athletics. He was also a two-sport stu…

Samantha Sayward – Dodgeball is Life

Samantha Sayward is the founder and owner of Philly Dodgeball. In just a couple of years she has developed a thriving community in Philadelphia of people bound together by their love of playing dodgeball. In Episode #204 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Sayward in studio to talk about all…

Stockton’s Devin Jefferson – 'I Started Feeling Like Myself Again'

Devin Jefferson is the head women’s basketball coach at Division III Stockton University in Galloway, NJ. This is her first collegiate head coaching job.  She previously served as an assistant at Vermont and associate head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson. The 2023-24 season is proving to be Jefferson’…