July 1, 2009

BERKELEY - Jennifer Vinnitti has returned to California as an assistant coach for the 2009 season, as announced today by head coach Shellie Onstead. This will be the sixth season at Cal for Vinnitti, who left following the 2002 campaign.

"I couldn't be more excited to have Jennifer back," Onstead said. "There's going to be really no training curve needed, so we can really just hit the ground running."

Prior to returning to Cal, Vinnitti began her own Marketing & Graphic Design company, JLV Consulting, served as the director of marketing at New England Construction and was the head coach of the Wheeler School in Providence, R.I. A former standout player at Plymouth State, Vinnitti coached at Cal in 1997-98 and in 2000-02. After her first stop with the Golden Bears, she served as the assistant coach at Boston University in 1999.

At Plymouth State, Vinnitti was a starting defender for the Panthers, earning Division III All-American honors in 1995 and 1996. The captain of her '96 squad, Vinnitti was also selected to the Division III All-Star team. She led her team to the NCAA Tournament in 1993 and 1994.

Vinnitti has been involved as a coach with a number of camps during her career. In the three summers leading up to her start as a Cal assistant, she taught at the All-Star Field Hockey camp at Springfield College and earned head coach status in 1997. She was an instructor at the Big East Field Hockey Camps in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 1994, and coached at Miss Porters School in Connecticut from 1994-95. She is a veteran of the USFHA Super Camp, the Cherry Creek Field Hockey Camp, the Newton Goalkeeping Camp and the California Field Hockey Camp. In 1999, Vinnitti served as head coach for the USFHA Western Region Futures Program, an Olympic Development Program for juniors. She has most recently been a head coach at an elite club program in New England called Lead The Way.

Cal opens its 2009 campaign on Friday, Aug. 28, at Maxwell Family Field against Towson at 4 p.m.