Bartolotta Taking Over Spartans Women’s Soccer

A veteran soccer coach who spent years leading teams in the Auburn Enlarged City School District (AECSD) is now the head coach of the Cayuga Community College Women's Soccer team.

Kristen Bartolotta is taking over Spartans Women's Soccer after coaching AECSD soccer to sectionals, along with basketball and lacrosse teams at the district, for the better part of two decades. As a student at SUNY Potsdam, she played both basketball and lacrosse.

Bartolotta understands the challenges of completing academics at the college level while also competing in college-level athletics. She's excited to rebuild the Spartans' program and compete at Falcon Park.

"I like that we're going to be starting fresh and building. We'll be looking for hard workers who are dedicated and put forth the effort both to improve individually and help the team get better," she said.

Cayuga Athletic Director John Rizzo said he was looking forward to seeing how Bartolotta would revitalize the program.

"Kristen has years of experience building teams, guiding them to success and helping individual players improve. That commitment both to the team and the individual is one of many reasons she'll be successful here at Cayuga," said Rizzo. "We're ready to see her rebuild the Women's Soccer program and take the field this fall."

As a coach, Bartolotta said she prioritizes emphasizing technique and physical skill along with developing confidence and a tactical understanding of the game.

Though she's always focused on winning, she said there are times when it's just as important to focus on developing a certain aspect of a player's game or for the team as a whole.

"There's individual games or sometimes whole seasons where you might need to focus on one or two things specifically, like technical skills and the psychological approach to the game," she said. "There also might be moments where I as a coach need to reinforce with the team where we've improved as a unit. I incorporate all of that into my approach as a coach."

Bartolotta has spent the past months recruiting players and connecting with coaches in the area. She's looking forward to getting the roster together and focusing on their strength training and the confidence needed to be a successful team.

"The most important part is to be dedicated, to work hard and to communicate," she said. "We need to build and embrace a team bond that will help each student-athlete grow as a competitor and as a person."

To contact Bartolotta, email wsoccer@cayuga-cc.edu.