Amanda Moore O'Leary (born 1967), née Amanda Moore and also known by her nickname Mandee O'Leary (and formerly, Mandee Moore), is an American college

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

coach and former player. O'Leary was an All-American lacrosse

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 18 ...

women's lacrosse team of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, and she is a member of the

US Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood campu ...

. O'Leary was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Yale Bulldogs The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in ...

women's lacrosse team of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, and she is now the head coach of the

Florida Gators women's lacrosse The Florida Gators women's lacrosse team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college lacrosse. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and are single-sport members of the American ...

team of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Playing career

During her collegiate playing career, O'Leary was a four-year starter for Temple University's

and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

teams from 1985 to 1988.GatorZone.com, Lacrosse, Coaching & Support Staff
Amanda O'Leary Biography
. Retrieved May 4, 2011. She was honored as a two-time first-team All-American in field hockey, and a three-time first-team All-American in lacrosse.US Lacrosse, National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Amanda (Moore) O'Leary
. Retrieved May 4, 2011. O'Leary led the Temple women's lacrosse team to a perfect 19–0 record and an

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

in 1988, and an appearance in the NCAA finals in 1987. She was named NCAA Midfielder of the Year in 1987 and 1988, and NCAA Most Valuable Player in 1988. ''Lacrosse'' Magazine recognized her as its player of the year. After graduation, O'Leary played on the U.S. national lacrosse teams that won the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Association (IFWLA) World Cup in 1989 and 1993. She played nine years of post-collegiate club lacrosse. O'Leary was named the USWLA's Beth Allen Award winner in 1997. She was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.

Coaching career

On June 22, 2007, the University of Florida announced that Amanda O'Leary would assume responsibility for the start-up Gators women's lacrosse program. Before accepting the Florida job, she spent the previous fourteen seasons as the head lacrosse coach at

, winning the Coach of the Year honors in 1996. Through her final season at Yale, O'Leary compiled a 162–65 record as a head coach; her 162 wins and .714 winning percentage ranked seventh among all active coaches. O'Leary's Yale lacrosse teams qualified for the

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Tournament in 2003 and 2007. Her 2003 Yale team was the Ivy League tri-champion. Prior to coaching at Yale, she was an assistant coach at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. O'Leary has also served as the chairman of the U.S. national team selection committee, and was a member of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA) Board of Directors. The new Gators women's lacrosse team officially began play on February 20, 2010, and now competes in the

American Lacrosse Conference The American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) was a women's lacrosse-only college athletic conference whose members competed at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). All of the ALC's members throughout its histor ...

(ALC). O'Leary's first Gators recruiting class of twenty-four players featured seven US Lacrosse high school first-team

All-Americans The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

and six Under Armour high school All-Americans. In only the second season of the Gators' lacrosse program, O'Leary's mostly-sophomore team clinched its first regular season ALC championship by defeating the defending conference champion and second-ranked

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

13–11 on April 14, 2011. The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 ALC season three days later by defeating the seventeenth-ranked

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

8–7. UF lacrosse team makes history
," ''The Gainesville Sun'' (April 18, 2011). Retrieved May 4, 2011. O'Leary's Gators received their first invitation to the sixteen-team NCAA women's lacrosse tournament, defeating the Stanford Cardinal in the first round, before falling to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA quarterfinals. In their first five seasons of play, her upstart Gators have compiled an overall win–loss record of 81–21 (.794).

Personal

O'Leary was born Amanda Moore in 1967. She grew up in

Royersford Royersford is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, northwest of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. History The town drew its name from the location of a Ford ( ...

, Pennsylvania, where she attended Spring-Ford High School. O'Leary graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in exercise

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

in 1988. She is married to Kevin O'Leary, a former goaltender for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

and current NCAA referee official, and they are the parents of daughter Madison and son Ryan.

Head coaching record

Women's lacrosse

References

External links

Amanda O'Leary
– Official biography of O'Leary at GatorZone.com
Amanda (Moore) O'Leary
– Official biography of O'Leary at National Lacrosse Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Amanda 1967 births Living people American lacrosse players Florida Gators women's lacrosse coaches People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Temple Owls field hockey players Temple Owls women's lacrosse players Yale Bulldogs women's lacrosse coaches American female field hockey players