Homegrown Lacrosse

Kelley or "Duffey" grew up in New Hope and started playing lacrosse her freshmen year in high school. She reflects, "I was on the girl's hockey team and most of my teammates encouraged me to "give lacrosse a try". Over time she developed into an incredible laxer and got recruited to play lacrosse in college at Queens University of Charlotte, NC.

From the start of her college career, Queen's Women's Lacrosse recognized Kelley as 2007's Rookie of the Year. In 2008, she was the National Collegiate Athletic Association's All-Conference Selection and in 2010 she was NCAA's player of the week. She became the NCAA National Leader for assists in 2010 and was a Captain for Queens her junior and senior year.

Kelley's team was the Intercollegiate Women' Lacrosse Coaches Association's All-Region 2nd team in 2008, 2009, and 2010 as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association's All-Conference first team in 2008 and 2010 and NCAA's All-Tournament Team in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Kelley is an attack player who isn’t scared to run it to the net but also has a keen sense for anticipating who will be open, creating space from her defender at just the right time, and asserts a powerful pass. To Duffey, lacrosse is her creative outlet and she says, "The game depends not on skill alone but largely on awareness of the field and knowing your teammates."

When asked why lacrosse is special to Kelley, she remarks, "Many of my best friends have been introduced to me through the game of lacrosse. I've found teammates who will remain friends for life".

Kelly expresses with a thankful tone, "Lacrosse has opened so many different windows in my life. I was recruited out of high school and it offered me the opportunity to live somewhere different and to see the game in a new light".

As a coach, Duffey's favorite drill is 4 on 3s. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience of the game. She states that "There is nothing better than seeing a player have that 'light bulb' moment and knowing that they have just changed their game for the better".

Her biggest influence in Lacrosse was her first collegiate coach, Kevin Cooke. He also gave her the best advice, "If you continue to cradle like that, you will never see one minute on this field." To be successful in life and lacrosse Kelley states you have to be a team player and "constantly be prepared to learn".

Kelley's favorite food is ice cream and she wishes to someday travel to Prague. One thing you might not know about Duffey is that for four years she sang with a choir that traveled around the world to perform in places like Italy, London, Wales, Ireland, and Canada. Her must have gadget is her iPhone.