Penn hires softball coach

The move from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia will be a relatively easy one for Leslie King Moore.

Penn's new softball coach spent 14 years starting at shortstop for the New Zealand national team before going to Pennsylvania three years ago to serve as an assistant coach at Lockhaven University.

"I went down there to play one year," Moore said. "Much to my mom's chagrin I played nearly 15."

However, after a 2000 season which saw her named New Zealand player of the year, captain the nation's Olympic team and lead the same team to a silver medal at the world championships, King Moore made the tough decision to come back home.

"There were no jobs in softball in New Zealand and that's what I really wanted to do," King Moore said.

From Lockhaven, King Moore took over George Washington's softball program in its inaugural year in 2003. GWU posted a 3-36 record, 0-16 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

King Moore cited a long commute -- as her family still lived in Pennsylvania -- and living expenses in Washington as her reasons for resigning from her position with George Washington.

Penn's position had been open for about seven weeks. At a May 5 meeting between Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky, Penn Associate Athletic Director Earl Cleghorn and former softball coach Carol Kashow, a decision was reached not to renew Kashow's contract.

About three weeks ago, Sharon Taylor -- the Athletic Director at Lockhaven -- contacted Penn's Associate Athletic Director Earl Cleghorn on King Moore's behalf.

"From there the ball rolled pretty quickly," King Moore said.

Taylor had reason to be pleased with King Moore's performance at Lockaven. In 2002, the Eagles won a school-record 37 games and a gained a berth in the NCAA Regionals.

Among the attributes she brings to Penn, King Moore feels the most important are her ability to recruit and to deal with student-athletes.

"I think I'm a pretty good recruiter and can bring in the talent to make us competitive," she said.

Competitive is not a standard that the Quakers softball team had met in recent seasons. Penn went 10-27-1 last season and 77-173-2 in Kashow's six years.

In another troubling sign for the future of the program, seven players quit the team in 2001. Several of them cited Kashow as the reason to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

"When recruiting, I need to assess how committed the athletes are," King Moore said. "Their level of commitment needs to be as high as the coach's"

However, King Moore noted the importance of allowing some leeway to the athletes.

"Being flexible is important in this environment," King Moore said.

For a program that has reason to want a clean break from its recent past, King Moore is an ideal choice.

"I've never seen Penn play," King Moore admitted.

However, her lack of experience with Penn in no way dampened her enthusiasm for a new challenge.

"I'm really looking forward to going to Penn," King Moore said. "There's no reason we can't produce a very competitive softball team and bring pride back to Penn softball."

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