A standout on the basketball at Revere High, and then Tufts University, Kim Penney turned to coaching, and guided the Reading High girls’ basketball team to a 25-0 record and a Division 2 state championship in 2012. The following season, a 23-1 campaign ended in the EMass. final.
It was her 15th, and final season at Reading. She still is involved in coaching at the youth level, but most of her time is devoted to coaching up students on how to choose, and be accepted at, the college or university that is the best fit.
More than a decade ago, on the suggestion of a parent of one of her players, Penney started One-On-One College Consulting in Wakefield. She had been helping her players find colleges for years.
“She said I should think about doing it as a career, there was such a need,’’ Penney said. “It’s going well. It’s small, but it’s growing.’’
It fits her schedule well. She stepped away from high school coaching because her oldest son, Bryan, was starting his freshman year at St. John’s Prep in Danvers.
“He plays hockey and lacrosse and I didn’t want to miss his stuff,’’ Penney said. “I love the fact that tomorrow Bryan has a lacrosse game and I can block off my schedule and go. And I love to work with high school-age kids and help them realize their potential. It’s a lot like coaching.’’
At first, she mostly worked with athletes, but she has now branched out and her services are not limited to student-athletes. One-On-One is not an athletic recruiting service.
“We’re an educational company and we help kids help themselves,’’ Penney said. “We take the sport right out of it when we’re helping them match up with schools. Basically we say you can have a mix of schools. We tell them they shouldn’t pick a school for a sport.’’
Penney, now 46, coaches a seventh grade boys’ basketball travel team and works a summer camp in Reading started by her high school coach, Ed Leyden, alongside Jim DeBenedictis, her former assistant with the Rockets who succceeded her has head coach.
Last November, she was inducted into the athletic hall of fame at Reading High.
“I wouldn’t be the same person without sports,’’ Penney said. “It’s a big part of me. It’s a big part of my life and my husband’s (Matt) life and our kids (Bryan and Jack) are into sports, too. Sports shaped me and I learned life lessons like discipline and obviously teamwork through sports. With teamwork you’re able to achieve things together that maybe alone you couldn’t have.’’
Allen Lessels can be reached at lessfam321@gmail.com.
