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Five years into a successful career as a marketing manager for Chase Manhattan Bank, Todd Anckaitis ’95 realized he’d make a very good soccer coach. His enthusiasm for banking had already begun to wane when he was sent to Honduras by the National Guard on a two-week humanitarian mission to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch.
“That experience became the catalyst for change,” says Anckaitis, now assistant women’s soccer coach at Amherst College. “I was training soldiers who were college-age. At Chase, I had managed an operations group of college-age young people. At Lafayette, I’d been head of Lafayette Activities Forum, a resident adviser, and in ROTC. I thought about the people and activities that had helped me develop as a person, and I realized that’s what I wanted to do–to help develop young people, just when they’re going out on their own.”
Anckaitis, who received an interdisciplinary degree in management and society, is completing his master’s in exercise and sports studies at Smith College. Based on graduate research, he is developing video-based software to help train goalkeepers to better defend against the penalty kick. He expects to complete it by next May and market it to coaches and players at PKTrainer.com.