Former Pacific Star Jenae Packard Joins Women's Soccer Coaching Staff
8/14/2024 4:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer program recently announced the addition of Jenae Packard, a former standout midfielder at the University of the Pacific, to its 2024 coaching staff.
Packard will serve as the program’s Director of Operations. The Brentwood, Calif. native was a member of the Pacific Tigers women’s soccer team from 2018-22 and played professionally for Fortuna Hjørring in the Danish Women’s League, the top-flight division in Denmark, in 2023.
I’ve just been learning so much from them, and I’m super excited to see how they continue to grow this year.Jenae Packard, Cal Poly Women's Soccer Director of Operations
“I’m just super thankful to be a part of this program,” Packard said about her new position with the Mustangs. “I think they have such quality players and people, and such a successful team and culture, so it’s just really awesome to get the chance to be a part of that.”
Packard played in 85 games across her Pacific career, tallying seven goals and 11 assists. During her final season as a Tiger in 2022, Packard led the team in goals (four) and assists (six) and earned All-West Coast Conference Second Team honors. In 2022, she also helped Tormenta FC in Statesboro, Georgia, win its first-ever USL W League championship.
After her time in Denmark, Packard moved to San Luis Obispo this February with hopes of staying involved with the game in some form. Fortunately for Packard, she crossed paths with Cal Poly assistant coach Paige Johnson during her one of her training sessions with her club team and learned about several opportunities to get involved with soccer in the community and at Cal Poly.
“It was a big blessing that I happened to run into Paige,” Packard said.
Packard graduated from Pacific in 2022 with her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in sport management and knew she wanted to get into coaching and give back to a sport that had done so much for her. Now, she’s getting that chance and enjoying every minute of it.
Packard, a two-time WCC All-Academic First Team honoree, said she is extremely grateful for this opportunity and is looking forward to soaking up as much knowledge as she can from the rest of the coaching staff.
“The coaching staff and the team has been so welcoming already,” she said. “My goal initially was to share my college experience with the players … but I’ve just been learning so much from them, and I’m super excited to see how they continue to grow this year.”
