On the Move

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The last four years have been like a blur for Kaitlyn Parcell. She has committed her heart, body and soul to the women’s soccer program at Santa Clara University, but her journey won’t end there. The former Palisades High standout has announced she’ll finish her college career at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

“Yes, I’ve decided to grad transfer to Georgetown,” she shared. “I have one more year of eligibility since I redshirted my first year at Santa Clara. I completed my undergraduate degree and loved every second of it. I knew I wanted to continue playing soccer and since I’ve always enjoyed school I wanted to pursue a graduate degree. When it came time to decided where I wanted to play my final year of soccer and go to grad school I realized that I was ready for a new experience. I’ve lived in California almost my entire life and thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.”

Parcell grew up in the El Medio Bluffs, excelled in cross country and track at Corpus Christi and led Pali High in scoring every season, becoming the only player in school history to tally 50+ goals and 50+ assists in her varsity career—a testament to her unselfishness. She won the Post Cup Award in 2016 as the school’s outstanding senior athlete and founded “Big Sister Sports”­—a program to help middle school athletes improve skills and conditioning—and her 4.0+ GPA earned her a full-ride scholarship to a premiere Division I program.     

“I felt so at home when I visited Georgetown this past February,” said Parcell, who had a goal and three assists in 15 games as a junior in 2019, playing mostly in the midfield. “The campus, surrounding town, the team, coaching staff and masters program seemed like the perfect fit for me and made the decision of moving across the country seem easy. “I’m anticipating playing outside back, but regardless of my position is I’m excited I have the opportunity to continue playing. I’ll probably move out there in late July to give myself time to adjust before we start preseason in early August.”

Parcell will pursue her master’s in marketing communications.

“Throughout my four years at Santa Clara I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would’ve wanted in the Palisades, but I always enjoy the times that I do get to come home and I was there over Winter Break,” said Parcell, who scored three goals in Pali High’s annual alumni game Jan. 2 and watched from the Stadium by the Sea stands two days later as the Dolphins beat their longtime nemesis El Camino Real. “Unfortunately I’m no longer running “Big Sister Sports” as it was too difficult and time consuming while I was at school. In addition to soccer, I’ve been a sports broadcaster for KSCU (103.3 FM) for the past four years. I’m the sideline reporter and have called Santa Clara basketball games as well as high school football.”