“I’m just super grateful to be a part of this program,” Packard said of her new position with the Mustangs. “I think they have such quality players and people and such a successful team and culture, so it’s just great to get the chance to be a part of it.”

Packard played 85 games during her Pacific career, scoring seven goals and 11 assists. In her final season as a Tiger in 2022, Packard led the team in goals (four) and assists (six) and was named to the All-West Coast Conference Second Team. In 2022, she also helped Tormenta FC in Statesboro, Georgia, win its first USL W League title.

After her time in Denmark, Packard moved to San Luis Obispo in February of this year, hoping to remain involved in soccer in some capacity. Luckily for Packard, during one of her training sessions with her club team, her path crossed with that of Cal Poly assistant coach Paige Johnson and she learned of several opportunities to get involved in soccer in the community and at Cal Poly.

“It was a great blessing that I met Paige by chance,” Packard said.

Packard graduated from Pacific University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Sports Management and knew she wanted to be a coach and give back to the sport that had given her so much. Now she has that chance and is enjoying every minute of it.

Packard, a two-time WCC All-Academic First Team member, said she is extremely grateful for the opportunity and looks forward to absorbing as much knowledge as possible from the rest of the coaching staff.

“The coaching staff and the team have already been so welcoming to me,” she said. “My goal at first was to share my college experience with the players… but I’ve just learned so much from them and I’m super excited to see how they develop this year.”