Amanda Dinunzio had a decision to make.
The former Penn State standout could either continue playing professionally with the United States field hockey team or pursue a field hockey coaching career.
Dinunzio was wrapping up her season with the U.S. field hockey team late last spring in Lancaster, Pennsylvania when she decided to seek advice from her former college coach, Char Morett-Curtiss, a former U.S. team member herself, on what she should do next.
Dinunzio and Morett-Curtiss went out to lunch at The Deli in downtown State College that spring where they discussed Dinunzio's future plans.
"I was still playing for the U.S. team and I was just realizing that I knew I wanted to keep field hockey a part of my life so I turned to Char for advice on how to get into the coaching world and what she went through," Dinunzio said.
During lunch, Morett-Curtiss mentioned to Dinunzio that there was an opening as a volunteer assistant on Penn State's coaching staff and if that was the path the State College native wanted to take then the program would "love, love, love" to have her.
Dinunzio jumped at the opportunity to join the staff and return home.
"She's such a great mentor and with me being from State College it presented itself as a great opportunity to start off here and learn under Char and get my start," Dinunzio said.
However, Dinunzio does have some prior coaching experience.
After graduating from Penn State in 2015, she was a volunteer assistant with the team during preseason before leaving to start her professional career in Holland with the HC Rotterdam Dames Ladies First Team.
While living in Holland and playing for the first team, Dinunzio also coached the club's U14 girls team.
"That was amazing because when I went over to Holland I knew I was going to play and to train but I also wanted something else to do," Dinunzio said. "I was the head coach of that team at the club and that was so awesome."
Dinunzio learned a lot from coaching the U14's, especially how to communicate effectively since her players were still new to the English language.
The U14 girls do not really learn English until they're about 10-12 years old according to Dinunzio, so that challenged her to be precise in her instructions to the team.
"By 14 years old they knew English but there was still a language barrier with how I described a drill or a coaching tactic that they might not be used to hearing or how we (Americans) talk field hockey so I was definitely challenged to really be concrete with what I was saying," Dinunzio said.
Some of the Dutch coaches from the club would occasionally come and help her with the team but Dinunzio was mostly on her own and had to be flexible when talking to her players.
"I always had to be flexible on how to teach them and not get frustrated if they didn't understand," said Dinunzio. "That taught me a lot about coaching."
The U14s would go to school during the day and Dinunzio would train them on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings then they would play games on Saturday. On Sundays Dinunzio played in her own games with the first team.
The decision to play professionally in Holland was a leap said Dinunzio, who had never travelled abroad before joining HC Rotterdam, but ultimately helped her earn a tryout with the U.S. team.
"If I never would've went to Holland, I wouldn't have played on the U.S. team because the Netherlands is like the No. 1 country for field hockey," said Dinunzio. "They have multiple gold medals in the World Cup and the Olympics and being there the year after I graduated really improved my skills and sense of the game."
Midway through her season with HC Rotterdam, Dinunzio tried out for the U.S. team and made the squad. She finished the season with the Dames and moved back to the States to join the U.S. team.
After competing for two seasons and earning 11 international caps with the US team, Dinunzio retired from international play. If it was possible, she would play and coach but playing for the U.S. team requires a significant commitment.
"It's tough because you can't do both, be on the U.S. team and coach, so you have to decide at some point to stop one and start the other," Dinunzio said. "I wish you could do them at the same time but it's too much of a commitment being on the US team because it's all year."
Now Dinunzio is back at Penn State but in a different role.
She earned numerous accomplishments on the field and in the classroom and a degree in Spanish as a student. However, she now returns to campus as a coach.
Rather than attending classes, living in an apartment and working out at a scheduled time, Dinunzio watches and analyzes film after practice and games, lives at home with her parents and works out on her own time.
"I'm back in a different sense. It's a totally different experience than being a student," Dinunzio said. "As a player, you almost don't realize the amount of time your coaches put in every day."
Dinunzio's responsibilities include working with individual players on technical skill development like stick work and shooting, assisting associate head coach Lisa Bervinchak-Love with the attacking players and helping Morett-Curtiss with the midfield.
"She brings that freshness to our staff," Morett-Curtiss said. "We've been together for a while. LB's (Bervinchak-Love) been with me for 25 years and Stuart's (Smith) been with me for nine. She has ideas from playing with the U.S. team and playing internationally over in Holland and she's a Penn Stater."
In addition to working with the team, Dinunzio plans on substitute teaching in the State College Area School District and tutoring periodically. As for her plans after the fall, Dinunzio's focus is on the season and what she can learn from the experienced coaching staff.
"I hope that the girls are able to learn a lot from me," Dinunzio said. "Char has been a great mentor and she's done so much for me that I love to come back and help bring new things to the team. Char, Stu and LB are going to teach me so much that I can take into future coaching wherever I may go."
