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Marina Kelly Continuing Time in Collegiate Athletics Industry
Marina Kelly is a 2018 graduate of Clarion University where she was a two-sport student-athlete for the Golden Eagles in soccer and basketball. After she spent her first year of college playing basketball and soccer at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, she decided she was ready for a change of scenery from the New England region, and she found a new home in Western, Pennsylvania.
In her high school days playing for Whitman-Hanson in Whitman, Mass., she was a three-time league champion in soccer, was all-scholastic in soccer and basketball all four years, was the Team MVP & captain in soccer, and was a three-year letterwinner in lacrosse.
In her first college season for the Lady Beacons, she scored 9 goals and dished out 11 assists in soccer on her way to a selection as a Little East Conference All-Conference Second Team performer. She was twice named the Little East Conference Rookie of the Week in 2014, started all 21 games that season, led the Little East in assists, and is second all-time for assists in a season in program history.
Transferring to Clarion meant moving up from the Division III level to the Division II level, something Kelly adjusted to well as she would score 9 goals and dish out 7 assists over her next three seasons with Clarion women’s soccer. She went on to play in 52 games and made 50 starts on the pitch in those three seasons.
In college hoops, she played in 10 games at UMass-Boston before heading to Clarion University, where she played in 47 games and made 12 starts in her career. Her career totals include 80 points, 81 rebounds, 34 assists, and 19 steals for her career. Along the way, she earned distinctions as a PSAC and Clarion Scholar-Athlete.
After her graduation from Clarion University in May of 2018, she moved on to Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts starting in the 2019-20 school year as a Graduate Assistant Coach for the Lady Pride’s women’s soccer team. During her gap year between her Secondary Education and History degree and her time at Regis, she became a substitute teacher, a junior-varsity soccer coach at Scituate High, and freshman basketball coach for her alma mater, Whitman-Hanson High School. She also coached soccer on the travel circuit for the U10 and U17 teams within Mass City FC.
In May of 2021, Kelly completed her masters in Student Success and hopes to one day become an academic coach in higher education. She also is hopeful to become a head soccer coach, and is open to any level of coaching. Presently, she serves as an assistant soccer coach at the University of Scranton and is in her first season with the program.
Some of her favorite memories from athletics include the conference playoff games at UMass-Boston, the Clarion River floats with the soccer team, visiting Lebron James’ high school, playing semi-pro on Nickerson Field at Boston University, coaching her sister in her final season of college soccer, coaching one of Mass City’s club teams in London, and, beating the number six team in the country at the time with the Scranton women’s soccer team.
Some interesting facts about Kelly include her brother, Stephen Kelly, is a sophomore at Clarion University and is the point guard for the men’s basketball team, and her sister, Rachel Kelly, played soccer at Regis College and scored 26 goals in her career.
Congratulations on all you have accomplished in your academic, athletic, and coaching career to date, Marina! Thank you for the chance to share your journey so far ⚽️🏀👩🏫
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