ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 18, 2023) — Orlando Pride has announced Kat Conner as the Club’s new Director of Scouting & Analytics. Conner joins the Pride after previously serving as Texas State University’s women’s soccer head coach for 23 seasons and as a U.S. Soccer Talent Identification Scout for the past five years.
"Adding Kat to our club further solidifies our commitment to building the Pride organization into a world-class operation, adding her skillset in scouting and analytics to complement our talented coaching staff. Her expertise, passion, and dedication are second-to-none and she will be a valuable addition as we continue building our Club’s culture and high-performance environment,” VP of Soccer Operations and General Manager Haley Carter said. “We are excited to have Kat on board and we are confident her contributions will drive us toward even greater success in the future."
"I'm genuinely thrilled to join the Orlando Pride organization and collaborate with this accomplished and passionate staff,” Conner said. “We share a profound respect for women's soccer, and I look forward to helping identify impact players who will further Pride's mission of excellence in the NWSL.”
In 1999, Conner started building the soccer program at Texas State University and along with that, an impressive legacy for herself. Conner was at the helm at Texas State for 23 seasons, winning five regular-season conference championships, five conference tournaments and led the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament five times. Conner was named Coach of the Year for the Southland Conference in 2008 and 2009, and of the Sunbelt Conference in 2017 and 2018.
During her tenure as head coach, she also remained committed to student-athlete performance in the classroom. The soccer team earned three Emmett Sheldon Awards, in 2005, 2015, and 2018, an honor accorded to Texas State’s highest female team GPA. The team also earned numerous United Soccer Coaches’ Team Academic Awards during Conner’s tenure.
In addition to coaching at Texas State, Conner has been involved in developing Texas youth soccer, serving on the coaching staff for the Region III Olympic Development Program and the head coach for the South Texas U17 team. She was later added to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy staff in 2018 and served as a member of the 2011 NCAA Central Ranking Committee.
Before starting the Texas State program from the ground up, Conner served as an assistant at Texas A&M. She was with the Aggies for five seasons, where they made four NCAA tournament appearances, winning one Big 12 Championship and one Big 12 Tournament championship. Her duties included recruiting and managing schedules, travel, budget, summer camps as well as monitoring student-athlete academics for the team.
The Irving, Texas native began her coaching career at Pacific Lutheran University where she also played collegiately. She began coaching in 1990 after earning her B.A. in physical education. While on the staff for the Lutes, she handled recruiting and travel for the team.
Conner holds the highly regarded U.S. Soccer “A” License as well as the U.S. Soccer Goalkeeping License, United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, and the UEFA “C” License from the Scottish FA.
