Katie Bell has left her mark on Chapman Athletics, not only as a student-athlete, but as an staff member as well. After competing as a varsity women’s soccer athlete for four years, receiving All-SCIAC Second Team and Academic Team honors, Bell became the Administrative Supervisor for the Chapman Athletics Department, where she served and supported all 21 sports teams and advised our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She was moved up in the ranks and across the country as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance and Student-Athlete Services, as well as the Senior Woman Administrator for St. Josephs University in Brooklyn, NY. Additionally, she stays involved with her love for soccer as the Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach for the 2022 season.

Bell made the move to New York after calling Orange County home for nine years. She states that “There was always something pulling me to a big city! I had visited New York before and fell in love with it, so I knew in the back of my mind that was somewhere I wanted to end up. This opportunity at St. Joseph’s allowed me to relocate to New York City while also advancing my career in college athletics. It was honestly just perfect timing and an incredible career opportunity.”

Her student-athlete experience helped launch her professional career in collegiate athletics, as being a Panther “…taught [her] about the importance of a team and how that carries over into the rest of your life.” Although her time as a student-athlete was halted due to an ACL injury, she states that “We all relied on each other through the good and the bad, and we continue to do that to this day.” These positive experiences were translated into her time as a graduate student and staff member, where she learned the importance of relationships. Bell states that “after the dust settles and all the craziness ends, you will always remember the people you met along the way.”

In the end, Katie describes that “Being a student-athlete is the best decision I have ever made! I wouldn’t trade my experience and the people I met during my time at Chapman for the world.”