The Rediscover State College Podcast
This is the Rediscover State College Podcast, where we talk to locals about how they were able to find their happy place in Happy Valley.
The Rediscover State College Podcast
Penn State Women's Soccer Coach Erica Dambach on Finding Her Village
Erica Dambach is the head coach of the Penn State women’s soccer team.
In this episode, she shares how her career and coaching style have evolved over the years. She also talks about the tight-knit athletics community and how she found her village in State College.
Erica also reflects on life in a multi-generational household and spending time in nature with her family. Toward the end of the episode, she offers an inside look at what it was like working with the U.S. women’s national soccer team. Plus, we hear about some of her favorite spots in and around the State College area.
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Brad Groznik (00:05)
This is the Rediscover State College podcast. On this show, we talk to locals about how they were able to find their happy place in Happy Valley. I'm your host, Brad Groznik. Today we're joined by Erica Dombach, head coach of the Penn State women's soccer team. In this episode, she shares how her career and coaching style has evolved over the years. She also talks about the tight-knit athletics community and how she found her village in state college. Erica also reflects on life in a multi-generational household and spending time in nature with her family.
Toward the end of the episode, she offers an inside look at what it's like working with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Plus, we'll hear about some of favorite spots in and around the State College area. Erica Dombach, thank you so much for joining us. In the last 21 years at Penn State, you've led your team to 17 NCAA tournaments, 11 Big Ten regular season titles, five Big Ten tournament titles, and the 2015 NCAA National Championship.
Erica Dambach (00:48)
My pleasure. Great to be here today.
Brad Groznik (01:05)
Penn State's women's soccer is indomitable. They're great and has produced numerous global superstars. Take me back to year one. Take me back all the way beginning. Why did you come to Penn State? What was it like that first year and how did it all get started?
Erica Dambach (01:21)
Yeah, so when you start going through that and talk about 21 years, things started to flash through my brain, right? Just so many highlights and just so many moments throughout my time here. And going back to 2007, was at Harvard. I was in Boston at the time when I got a call from the athletic director, Tim Curley, and the president at the time. It took me a total of about three seconds before I decided to get on a plane and come check out this job.
As I was coming in, as the plane was coming down into State College and I was looking out the window, just, honestly, it just felt like home. know, everything was so green. I saw the mountains and some lakes and I thought, I love the outdoors. I love to explore.
As I started to come onto campus, obviously this place is beautiful and the timing was perfect and that everything was blooming. That first season, obviously it's always challenging when you take over somebody else's program and somebody else's players. I would say that I was welcomed with both arms from this community. My players felt like they were ours right away and they welcomed us into their program. The previous coach, Paula Wilkins, had done an unbelievable job. So my thought process in year one was just to don't screw it up in year two.
was to not screw it up and then we started to get into our own groove and bring some more players in. But those early years were fun, they were hard. We also came into athletic department that was a family and that was really important to me. What do you think?
Brad Groznik (02:43)
surprised someone about the community surrounding women's soccer.
Erica Dambach (02:47)
I think the biggest thing is just how fun this community is. Jason and I are older parents. We have seven and eight year old daughters in this town. And as much as the students are a part of my daily life, life outside of the student community is just massive and bustling. And there's so many different things to do with our kids. I feel like when I have friends come into the area from outside and I take them around and we do different events, they're just like, there's just so much going on, especially for those
Raising a family in this community, obviously, it's so safe and all the things you always hear about state college, but more than that, there's just a lot to do.
Brad Groznik (03:23)
You mentioned you've had kids and they're six, eight years old now. Tell me about the difference between your career prior to that and your career now.
Erica Dambach (03:30)
As you can see with what I've done through the course of my career, that took a lot of time and it took a lot of commitment and it took a lot of investment of my own personal time. And so I was very career oriented throughout my thirties and most of my forties as well. I got an opportunity. Jason was working for the state college spikes. So I did meet Jason in town, which was wonderful. And we were both in our late thirties and going on 40 and both wanted kids. And so that all, that all happened pretty quickly. But that time before I had met Jason,
The social life was great, met a lot of really good people, young professionals, whether professors or people working throughout state college, but we just had a really good community of friends.
Brad Groznik (04:05)
you know, whenever I think about Penn State athletics, it's almost shocking because a lot of times I'm feeling like I'm living in this small quaint town. And then I realized what a powerhouse Penn State athletics. So how do you how do you balance like that fast paced national program with the kind of like pace of state college?
Erica Dambach (04:23)
I think for one, it's nice that the town of State College appreciates the athletic programs. The support is incredible. And then when I go out and watch my eight-year-old play and I'm in the community, they're just so welcoming. It's nice that it's not a matter of, wow, there's the Penn State women's soccer coach. It's like, no, there's Addie's mom. I can play that role and I embrace that role. I love being a mom and I love being the wife to Jason Donva and all those things.
The most important thing is I try to live where my feet are and when I'm home, I'm home, I try to shut the phone off and try to really live in that moment with my kids because these are the best days right now.
Brad Groznik (05:02)
Would you say it's one of the things about state college is that you get that balance? That there is like that home life and you can be home in 10 minutes and you just get to run, you know, one of the premier women's soccer programs in the country?
Erica Dambach (05:14)
hit the
nail on the head there. think even just talking to my peers around the country, just commute time alone. Like those are minutes back in your day that you can't pay for, that nobody can give you time, right? And just even have those minutes, be able to shoot back for lunch, to be able to pick kids up at school and all the things that it's easy to take for granted. You kind of have to step away from the environment before you realize, okay, this is really special. But more so it's even just
the proximity of all the people that you work with, right? And so I can spend time with the lacrosse or baseball coach and their family because we're all kind of a couple miles from the campus. I can shoot onto campus and help out a student athlete if I need to. And all of that, the hospital right around the corner, those are life simple pleasures that you got to make sure you don't take for granted.
Brad Groznik (06:01)
You mentioned when you were flying into State College that first time, it kind of felt like home. Was there another time either once you said, okay, I'm going to take this job, I'm going to move here. When did State College start to feel home and what were the things that needed to fall in place for you to make that feeling happen? ⁓
Erica Dambach (06:16)
Honestly,
I think when Penn State went through everything back in 2014, I think the athletic department in particular and the whole community, I think that was a time where I realized just how passionate I am about this place, this community, and everything that who we are and who we stand for. And I found myself in deep conversations with people outside of our community and feeling just the pride that we all carry for our community and for our university.
And now looking at our athletic department as a whole right now, I think we're sitting number three in the Director's Cup and one of the top athletic departments in the country just shows the strength of this community and shows the strength of this university and athletic department. I think it's those times of challenge that you really have to look at yourself and look at your surroundings and you have to answer some questions. And I think that was a really important time in my career, as well as just some job offerings that I've had over the course of the years where I look at and go, no, no, no, I've got a really good thing going on here.
Brad Groznik (07:14)
Yeah, that was actually one of my questions. Has there ever been a time where you thought about leaving State College after 21 years and what kept you here?
Erica Dambach (07:21)
One of things right now that's going on is our professional league. Our third iteration of our women's professional soccer league has actually found its footing and it is live and flying and we are adding two new teams next year. And so there are opportunities, abundant opportunities in that league right now. so sure, you have the conversations and again, I think as a family, we keep looking at it and go, we have a really good thing going on here, right? And it's
it's always appealing, especially to work with professionals. And I think there's excitement involved in that. But there's also a lot of excitement in college athletics right now. And I think as much as the house settlement that just went through, all of it could be very scary. But I think under the guidance and leadership of Pat Kraft, our athletic director, he's given us such a vision and such excitement for this time and has made it very clear that when all the dust settles, we will be positioned, we will be the top athletic department in the country. That just makes you want to...
drive every day and push. And that's just, it's a really exciting time here at Penn State.
Brad Groznik (08:22)
paint the picture of if we become if Penn State becomes the number one athletic department in the country. What does that look like and how what benefit would the community have?
Erica Dambach (08:30)
That is a great question because one of the things that I think about all the time is just community involvement. And especially as I sit at my daughter's sporting events is we have our student athletes are some of the most impressive young women in the country. They are 4.0 GPA. They are involved in the community. They are top world-class soccer players. And you want to expose those players to the community as much. I want my daughters to be around the players. So just getting to games.
Women's soccer, for example, it's free. Bring your family, run around, have a hot dog and enjoy it. That's what my kids do. We go to men's soccer, we go to all the sports. It's a fun, easy, family-friendly activity that is away from phones. It's away from technology. It's so pure. And you find yourself driving home and your kids are asking questions about Sam Coffee. And you're like, yeah, that's the connection that I was looking for. And I think that's a huge benefit to the community that they can.
roll on over to campus, go to Rec Hall and see the national championship women's volleyball team or wrestling program that people would drive hours and hours to be exposed to. We have it in our backyard.
Brad Groznik (09:34)
You're a two-time National Coach of the Year. How would you describe your coaching style?
Erica Dambach (09:40)
I would say it has changed since having kids on the front end. was very much about all the little details and very type A, making sure everything is on point and the players know exactly what's going on at any given moment. And I think since having kids, I've relaxed a little bit in that I've added way more of the human side, way more of the finding ways to have more fun and finding ways to understand that we can compete for national championships while also
really enjoying the journey and I think that's a cliche you hear a lot, but I do think that to live it is to bring my kids around for them to be around to see my players interacting with my children and see my seven-year-old dominating me on a daily basis. That brings them a ton of joy.
Brad Groznik (10:25)
I have a six year old daughter, I can definitely relate to that sentiment. Do you think having showing that more human side improves your leadership in your coaching?
Erica Dambach (10:29)
Yeah, for sure.
I think it improves my relationships and I think my relationships therefore it improves my coaching and my recruiting. You know, I think that every recruit that comes in, they ask about culture and culture is not a ropes course or a planned activity. Culture is every minute of every day of everything that you do. I think when you're around our team and you feel our team, you feel this family. I think when a recruit comes into this environment, they can feel the energy within the group.
Brad Groznik (11:02)
I'm curious what the pros and cons of coaching one of the best soccer programs in the country in a small town like State College are. For recruiting, is it pro or con?
Erica Dambach (11:11)
Well, definitely a pro. And for those that don't know, there's a soccer facility being built right now. If you drive down Park Avenue, you'll see the soccer building, the Jeffrey Field soccer complex. And that's a $21 million soccer complex that is going to change the whole face of Jeffrey Field, which is already one of the best surfaces in the country and stadiums in the country. But one of the really neat things about coaching in this town is
I'll be walking around with a recruit and I'll be downtown and walking into Snap Pizza and there's a student, know, hey coach, great game this weekend or a member of the community or our pastor, whoever it is, you know, and just bumping into them and seeing them and especially as a women's sport, feeling relevant I think is really, it feels really good that people are following and know what you've been doing because that's not always the case.
Brad Groznik (11:58)
You mentioned you have two daughters. What advice do you have for people raising kids in state college?
Erica Dambach (12:02)
take advantage of what we have. Get out, explore, whether it's the trails and the hiking paths. Every weekend, I look at my calendar and there are so many activities that we could go to and the kids could have an unbelievable experience. It's just a matter of choosing them. Or you could just fly through the weekend and stay at home and do your thing and to each their own, right? But there is so much out there for us, even going a little bit beyond our borders, right? Like I take my kids this week.
to Camp Invention and that's in Lewisburg, PA. And that's, you know, again, that's only an hour from State College and that's kind of expanding, but there is just so much out there for families.
Brad Groznik (12:41)
This is a podcast that you were on and you mentioned that you recently had your parents move in with you, is that right? And now you are this one of these multi-generational households. How's that going? I think for a lot of people moving to stay college who don't have their family here, thinking about what they're going to do when their parents need to be around more. And so I'm just curious about how that decision was made and how it's going.
Erica Dambach (13:06)
So
during COVID, we both chose to sell our homes and move in together. I would say for me, it's been an unbelievable experience, but it's my parents. And so to have the right spouse is important. Obviously, Jason's been a saint. It's been really neat to have my daughters grow up with their grandparents. I mean, this is time that I'll never get back. And it's just, it's such a valuable time in their lives. And both my parents are turning 80 this year. So these are the years, right?
saw that that Brian Wilson just passed away at the age of 82. And I remember going to the BJC and taking my mom and dad to go see the Beach Boys at the BJC in our town. Here we are just bopping around to the Beach Boys. made me think about growing up and driving around in my dad's big Crown Victoria company car that he used to drive around in. But again, that's another huge perk of this town is that it's not just for the students. It's not just for the young professionals or the parents and the families. There's also this entire
subset of 60 to 80 to 90 year old that there is programming for and there's continuing education for in this town and a wonderful religious community as well. And so I think that that's been to really see them get involved and to be around them and see their involvement. It's been really neat to watch.
Brad Groznik (14:17)
You mentioned your husband Jason a number of times and I also know he just opened a business. Can you tell us a little bit about that business like and how that got started and what conversation you guys had as a family of when it was time to ready to do that?
Erica Dambach (14:28)
It's been really exciting. My husband Jason's business is called Nittany Cards Plus and it's sports cards and memorabilia. It's on South Atherton and it opened up last February. It has exploded. And I remember when he started talking about it about three years ago, he was dabbling a little bit on eBay, selling some cards. He's a huge sports guy, but never really was a card collector. When he started talking about starting this small business, he thought that first of all, there wasn't anything in the community, the closest
similar business was down in Altoona and he thought, you know what, I think there's a real, during COVID, think a lot of people went back to collecting and that was when people were digging it out of their grandfather's garage or attic or whatever. So anyway, we did it. We leased out some property across from the CVS and he opened his doors and it's just been an explosion and he is firmly planted in this community. Now he knows everyone, but the neat thing about walking into that shop is
It just takes you back to your childhood. You see grandfathers and their grandsons and moms and daughters and everybody wants a Caitlin Clark card. Everybody wants a Clayton Clark. And he is so knowledgeable and he's so passionate about it. And just to see him in his element, I'm really proud of the success that he's having and the fact that he was brave and took the leap.
Brad Groznik (15:43)
you've had a role with the national soccer team. What did it mean to again be someone living in state college and working with these Olympians?
Erica Dambach (15:52)
So my time with US soccer was 2007 to 2021 with some gaps in there as I was raising my daughters. I mean, I got the chance to work with the best stars in the world, Carly Lloyd and Hope Solo and Abby Wambach. And these are names that you see on TV. And it's neat to talk to my daughters about it now because just Monday night we were watching Carly Lloyd in a TSD tournament. to realize that I was on the field coaching her, working with her. I remember in 20...
and 2021 when I was going to go to the Tokyo Olympics, I said, you know what, Jason, this is just too much. It's too much. He said, no, no, no, your daughters need this. Do this for your daughters. And talk about a supportive spouse, but also because he knew that this community would step up. He knew that our village would step up and help him when I was on the road for 41 days. But that was, it's an experience of a lifetime, right? To compete and work with the best players in the world.
Brad Groznik (16:46)
Who is that village that stepped up and how did you cultivate that here? think one of the things that a lot of new residents to say college, moving to any new town is building that community around you. You how did you start to build that community?
Erica Dambach (16:59)
First place, obviously for anybody is the workplace, right? And are these like-minded people. And for us, we became very close with the McMillans with men's volleyball and my two assistant and associate head coaches, Ann Cook and Kara Cook. And then we started to work out at Shavers Creek with Rod Lee in some team building. And then Rod and Beth became good friends of ours. And Beth Lee works with Center Parks and Rec and she's got her whole community. And obviously that starts to grow and branch out.
And now, you know, the Bull City Brewery is the hangout for everybody now, right? Great, place that opened right after COVID and we're over up in Bullsburg. That's a wonderful spot. I do find it to be because I love the outdoors and I do find it to be such a lively community and such an outdoor community that it's easy to find something in common with so many people here.
Brad Groznik (17:46)
curious, what are your favorite state college spots? Well, in Chimble City.
Erica Dambach (17:49)
Bull
city for sure. Kelly's, Jason and go to a lot. I love the tavern, especially the upgrades and the upstairs and the outdoors. Voodoo, again, there's a common thread in all these outdoor space. And then Gigi's obviously really good food and we don't go downtown as much because there are a ton with recruits. So we tend to go more in the Bullsburg area and then Duffy's and those kinds of places.
Brad Groznik (18:12)
And you mentioned a local gym that you really like. Can you talk more about that?
Erica Dambach (18:15)
Yeah,
since I arrived, actually since 2012, I've been with East Coast Health and Fitness and Scottie Mullen down there is just a beast. She runs that place. Just again, that's a wonderful community. I walk in and you kind of know everybody and just good people. And you're on the treadmill next to somebody and you get chatting and you realize that they're a professor in neurobiology. And you're like, wow, this is actually really cool. Those are the people that you're around every day.
Brad Groznik (18:39)
What would you like to state college look like in the next five to 10 years? How would you like to see the area?
Erica Dambach (18:44)
where you
grow. You know, I've spent a lot of time with the national team traveling and one of the things that you feel in other parts of the world is just that whether it's the bike path that connect your home to the university or the shopping areas or whatever it is. And I think State College has really done a good job of opening up more paths and more walkways and more just getting people active. It's one of the things I love about this town. It's also one of the things I want to see it continue to do. It's just.
build those connecting pathways. so that everybody's biking to work, that national bike to work day is just another day, right? Bike to school day is just another day. And so I would love to see us continue to grow that community, just get everybody active and healthy.
Brad Groznik (19:26)
And then,
know, big picture, big vision in 20 years. Like where is State College, Penn State, athletics? Where are we in 20, 25 years?
Erica Dambach (19:33)
That's a big question because college athletics is changing so quickly. Certainly, I want to be the leader and I want the department to be the leader in this space and providing student athletes world-class experience, bringing the best and brightest into this town to expose them to our community, to get our community that eight-year-old that dreams of being a world-class wrestler that they can go into rec hall and they can see Roman Bravo Young and see him compete for world championships. So to attract the best and brightest in terms of
the professors and the professionals and this is a destination. This is, think for all of us, maybe when you are in your 20s and you're thinking about your next step, it's for some, it's a stopover point. But I think once you get here, you realize it's actually a destination and it's the place where you love be a part of the community and the community is growing and thriving. And it's just a really, really wonderful place to live.
Brad Groznik (20:24)
surprised how it kind of morphs with where you are in light.
Erica Dambach (20:27)
For sure. One of the other really neat things about raising your family here are just the community pools and parks. We have a ⁓ wonderful pool and park system. know, Welsh pool and park forest, it's social. And then you go over there, you see the same families and you get to know those people. And again, they're from all walks of life. So I think our park system, we, my daughters and I really explored during COVID. We got out to every park. I think that was a checklist that we had and we just have beautiful parks in this town.
Brad Groznik (20:54)
Thanks so much for your time, Erica. And to our listeners, be sure to come out and support women's soccer.
Erica Dambach (20:59)
Yeah, no, it's ⁓ on this field not too long ago with Sam Coffey, who just won an Olympic gold medal. And you realize that today's Penn State women soccer players are tomorrow's pros and Olympians. And you see them here first and you see them here for free. So come on out.
Brad Groznik (21:20)
Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Rediscover State College Podcast. Be sure to follow the Rediscover State College Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts to hear more incredible local stories. We'd also love to hear about your state college experience. What aspect of the area or person in town has really made a difference in your Happy Valley experience? Share your thoughts by sending us an email at hello at rediscoverstatecollege.com.