Kylie Kelce isn’t letting her increased public profile impede her from doing what she loves.
Kelce, 32, will return as varsity field hockey coach at Philadelphia’s Lower Merion High School when the season begins this fall, a job which continues to challenge the former college athlete.
“I think one of the most important things in being specifically a high school coach and a public high school coach, is that we get a wide range of athletes,” Kelce told People in a story published Thursday, August 15. “Some people will decide to go on to play Division I. Other people won’t play past their senior year — they’re really there to just enjoy the sport and enjoy time with their friends. In our situation, all are welcome.”
The upcoming season will mark Kelce’s eighth consecutive year coaching the Lower Merion Aces. “I think team sports help mold people to be able to work together,” she added.
“Even for the people who don’t choose to play after high school, they still get to take that away,” Kelce continued. “So we want them to be more confident when they leave. We want them to be able to work with a team, whether that’s athletically or in a workplace or in a classroom.”
Kelce, who played field hockey at Division III Cabrini University, stressed the idea that the team is your “family.”
“You don’t have to like them, but you do have to love and respect them,” she urged. “And those are all things that I think moving forward in life are really important. They make you a better, more well-rounded person and more prepared for the world after high school.”
The mother of three — she and husband Jason Kelce share daughters Wyatt, 4, Ellie, 3, and Bennett, 18 months — further explained that the lessons she teaches on the field are really just a metaphor for what happens away from the game.
“Yes, we focus on skill. Yes, we focus on endurance. We focus on all the things that could potentially help us win in field hockey, but ultimately, I’m trying to help them win at life,” Kylie said. “So all of those character-building opportunities are things that we focus on mostly.”
As Kylie prepares to return to coaching, Jason is getting ready to start his next professional chapter as a cohost on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. The role comes after he announced his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year following 13 seasons in the NFL.
“I am mostly excited to see Jason excel in a new position,” Kylie said of Jason’s new gig.. “I jokingly say it’s a pain in the butt that he’s good at everything, and I know I’m biased in that, but I truly believe he’s good at everything because even if he’s not good at the start or the best at the start, he will work endlessly and tirelessly until he can achieve that.”
