Post-Game Reality: Former Siena College soccer star now kicks it in the classroom

Former Siena Saints halfback
Jen Kies now works with
children with special needs.
(Photo: Siena College
Athletics)

Soccer was the bedrock of Jen Kies' life. Too sick to go to school? Jen rested and made it to practice later that same day. Too sick to play? Ha! She led her high school select team, the VOB Ladybugs, to victory with a 101-degree fever in the pouring rain. This zeal and dedication propelled Kies to Siena College, where she became a three-time All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) halfback for the Saints. Athletics truly is life for many college athletes like it was for Kies, but what happens when their playing days end and real life beckons? This issue looms so ominously over collegiate sports that it is easy to focus on the cautionary tales; however, equally as instructive are the successes rendered by exemplary scholar-athletes who have gone on to non-athletic careers. Although Jen Kies hung up her cleats in 2004, she was just getting started kickin' - in the classroom.

 

Keis currently lives in the Long Island suburb of Huntington and works for Kidz Therapy Services, LLC, which provides development services for children with special needs from infancy to five-years old. As an aide in the Extended Day program, Kies works with children who either have autistism or Down syndrome, work which is very different from the hustle and bustle of the soccer field. "It's trying. It can be months before the tiniest improvement shows, but it's very rewarding, I love kids!" she beams. "The autistic community is very interesting. There is a lot trapped inside and you can facilitate certain skills they have." Ever up to a challenge, Kies is also completing her Masters degree in education with a dual certification in special education and general education at Touro College.

 

While she is on a clear path now, the future wasn't always so lucid. "I chose Siena because I wanted to play soccer there, not because I was initially concerned with school, but it did become important." In fact, unbeknown to Kies, Siena didn't offer the elementary education program she figured she would pursue. She adapted however, and became a history major with much success. In 2004, Kies was chosen for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) All-Academic team with a 3.35 GPA. With a knowing smirk, she concedes, "Looking back, I was lucky. I would have researched the academics more. You can't rely on luck!" 

 

Kies maintained an equilibrium between soccer and real-world preparation through proper influences and structure, which were provided by her parents and coaches and anchored by her personal commitment to her future. Her father Tom Kies played college baseball (incidentally at Rider, a MAAC foe of Siena) and was even invited to a minor league tryout. Now successful in finance, he was intimately familiar with the daunting odds of professional success in sports. Kies also ascribed her academic success to head coach Steve Karbowski and the rigid structure Siena offered its athletes. "He [Coach Karbowski] always stressed school. If your GPA wasn't good enough, you were suspended." Study halls were mandatory for players, who also had access to tutors, academic advisers, and life skills guidance. Of course, all of this is dependent upon whether or not the individual steps up and takes ownership over her future.

 

Asked what advice she would impart to aspiring professional athletes, Kies declared, "If that's your dream, 100% go for it, put in the tears and sweat. But, don't forget that a lot of other things are important. It's fair to say that you should be able to pull off both - I'm proof of that. Put in the time and effort into your education. What you want for yourself in the sports world you have to want for yourself academically."  
     

Of course, her soccer career will always be with Kies, as is evidenced by the once-vibrant Siena soccer t-shirt she still wears. What's next? "I'd like to open my own preschool or at least be a preschool teacher." With the skills and maturity Jen Kies developed as a genuine scholar-athlete, she's well on her way.