Northwood’s final Pathways presentation of the year will take place on May 3rd at 8:00 p.m. This session’s topic is life-long careers in sports after one’s playing days are over.
Luke Daniels '14 will once again moderate the panel discussion. Participants include Katie Gilligan ’09, Hannah Babcock ’05, Brett Kurtz ’88, and Jeff Byrne, who taught and coached at Northwood from 1977-1982.
Katie Gilligan, who skied at Plymouth State University, worked at Northwood as a coach from 2014-2021 before becoming Director of the Custom program at Sync Performance, a ski apparel company based in Vail, Colorado. The company focuses on creating modern performance ski wear. Katie works to improve operational efficiencies within the production of custom products as well as developing sales and marketing strategies.
Jeff Byrne played soccer at Saint Lawrence University. After his stints as a teacher/coach at Darrow and Northwood, he helped start Carrabassett Ski Academy in Maine, eventually moving on to direct winter sports, including the Alpine Ski competition, at the Special Olympics for ten years before becoming Senior Vice-President of the N.Y.S. Olympic Regional Development Authority, responsible for oversight of corporate development, marketing, communications, and venue managers.
Hannah Babcock graduated from Middlebury College in 2007 before working as a teacher, coach, and administrator for Rumsey Hall School in Washington, Connecticut, and National Sports Academy in Lake Placid. She currently serves as Manager of Girls’ Hockey Programs at Snider Youth Hockey and Education, a non-profit organization that uses hockey as a catalyst to create opportunities for under-resourced youth in the Philadelphia area.
Brett Kurtz played hockey at the University of Wisconsin, where he majored in journalism, and for various U.S. National teams as well as professional teams in Sweden and the U.S. He has worked for Fox Sports and ESPN as a color commentator for minor league hockey and roller hockey broadcasts. He earned a master’s degree from Loyola Marymount film school and is now Senior Manager for Fan Development Marketing for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the NHL.