Abele Named Next Head Women's Soccer Coach

Oroville, Calif. - The Butte Athletics Department is pleased to announced the hiring of Claire Abele as the next Head Women's Soccer Coach, announced Monday. She will officially take over head coaching duties on December 19. 

Abele served as a volunteer assistant coach the past two seasons for the Roadrunners.

"I am incredibly excited to be named as the next head coach of Butte College Women's Soccer," Abele said. "Coaching has become a passion that I found when I began volunteering with this team two years ago. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this program and continue to help players grow both on and off the field."

As a student-athlete with the Wildcats, Abele won 11 games, including five shutouts, as goalkeeper as a freshman. She appeared in 19 matches, allowing only 20 goals, while tallying 52 saves. Her work in the goal helped lead the team to a NCAA Tournament berth. In the classroom, she was named CCAA All-Academic.

Prior to Chico State, was a three-year letterwinnner at Granada High School in Livermore, Calif. as a keeper, being named to the Olympic Development Program State Team and scoring the winning goal in the NorCal State Cup Final. With the Pleasanton Rage Girls Soccer Club, she played in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) for four years. She was also a three-time North Coast Section Scholar-Athlete.

She is in the process of finishing her M.A. in Kinesiology with anticipated completion in May 2022, and she currently serves as a Teaching Associate in the Department of Kinesiology at Chico State. She received her B.S. in Exercise Physiology also from Chico State.

"I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to get to know Claire the past two seasons," Director of Health, Kinesiology, and Athletics Director Melody Stockwell said. "She has built a great rapport with our student-athletes and between that and her knowledge of the game, I expect great things from the women's soccer program under her leadership moving forward."

The women's soccer team begins its offseason conditioning on January 23, 2023.