Charlotte Basili was named the new assistant field hockey coach in April. Credit: Provided by Penn Athletics 
It's been just a few weeks since Charlotte Baziri took over as Penn's assistant field hockey coach in early April, but she wasted no time preparing for next fall.
After losing to Harvard University in the semifinals of last season's Ivy League Tournament, the Quakers looked to bring in new people to their staff to help overcome the difficulties. As fate would have it, Vaziri was trying to break into the field of college coaching at the same time.
After a dominant four-year career at Northwestern University, where he played in all 82 games and started every game in the final three seasons of his career, Baziri chose the consulting career path that many Penn students dream of. did.
After earning a master's degree from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and entering the consulting world, Vasili tried to make field hockey a part of his life by coaching high school and club teams. However, her career has taken such a turn for the better that she is forced to make a choice.
“When that started happening, it really caused me to re-evaluate. And I realized that the thing I look forward to the most in the day is field hockey. And without it, I just felt in my heart that something was wrong,” Baziri said.
Basili, who had three brothers who attended the University of Pennsylvania as students, became familiar with the field hockey program and ultimately decided to join coach Colleen Fink's staff.
“I actually cold emailed Penn to see if he was interested in coaching before I even knew there was a job opening. So I said, 'I'm quitting my consulting job and going back to my first love. I was like, 'I'm going to do it,'” Vaziri said.
On the Penn side, Fink acknowledged that it wasn't just her high level of play at Northwestern that stood out for her, but her experience on the business side of things as well. Fink feels that her experience in the corporate field at Basili will make her more relatable to student-athletes who are also focused on academics and careers.
But on the other hand, the final element that attracted Fink to Baziri was her decision to drop everything for the fight.
“I really liked the brave part about her not liking what she was doing and wanting to explore other options,” Fink said. “She really wanted to be passionate about what she was doing, and she feels that for her it's coaching.”
Since being hired, Vaziri has been on campus with her team. After watching the spring tournament, meeting a new class of freshmen players, and getting familiar with the administrative side of coaching, Fink and assistant coach Sidney Rose-James are ready to help Basili lead the Red and Blue to their destination. I feel that I am.
“I think she's a great hire. She has a lot of passion and energy for learning and works really hard,” James said. “I think she's very quick to get on board with everything she does and she's really contributing.”
As summer rapidly approaches and players prepare to leave campus ahead of their return in the fall, Baziri works to make sure everyone is on the same page for the tough competition that begins in August. I tried my best.
Until then, the entire coaching staff will continue working with the goal of winning the flag in mind.
“So far, to be honest, I don't even feel like I'm starting a new job. I also think it's gone,” Vaziri said. “They want a championship culture, so I want to bring that to them.”
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