KYW Newsradio's 1-On-1 with Matt Leon

Ashley Sessa is a member of the US Olympic field hockey team that will be competing later this month at the Paris Summer Olympic Games. She is a graduate of Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square and won a national championship as a freshman at the University of North Carolina. She will be transferring to Northwestern in the fall. In Episode #221 of "1-on-1 with Matt Leon," Matt catches up with Sessa...

Zoe Siswick is a counselor and athletic director at Science Leadership Academy in Center City.  She has spent the last several years coaching both softball and girls soccer, but will be stepping away from those roles to serve as the softball sports chair for the Philadelphia Public League on July 1st. In Episode #220 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Siswick in studio to talk about her car...

Tyler Drob is the head football coach at Cherry Hill High School East. He is preparing for his third year leading the program, having also served as an assistant for the Cougars from 2019 to 2022. Drob was a standout offensive lineman at East and went on to dominate in college, playing at Division II West Chester University. In Episode #219 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Drob in studio...

Dr. Karen Weaver is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. She is one of the country's foremost experts on the world of college athletics and women's sports, in large part because of a career that that has seen her star as a college field hockey player at Temple and Lock Haven, win a national championship as a head field hockey coach at Sal...

Mike Reichenbach spent eight seasons in the NFL, six of them as a linebacker for the Eagles, who signed him as a rookie free agent out of Division II East Stroudsburg University in 1984. In Episode #217 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt catches up with Reichenbach to look back on his career.  They talk about how he broke into the NFL out of a DII school, they reflect on some of his favorite memorie...

Bob Lynch just retired after 35 years as the head coach of the men’s golf team at Saint Joseph’s University.  He is one of the most respected members of the Philadelphia golf scene and was the 2003 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. In Episode #216 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Lynch in studio to look back at his career. They talk about how he came to land the job on Hawk Hill, how his fat...

Joe Trainer is the head coach of the new women's flag football program at Division III Immaculata University. Trainer has a long history in coaching. He had two stints as the defensive coordinator at Villanova University and served as head coach at Millersville and Rhode Island. In Episode #215 of "1-on-1 with Matt Leon," Matt talks with Trainer about this new challenge. They dig into the nuts and...

Jesse Balcer has been the Director of Athletics at Division II Chestnut Hill College since 2018. He’s been at the school since 2003 when he started the men’s basketball program and he served as head coach until 2020. In Episode #214 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Balcer in studio to talk about his career. They talk about taking over as AD, look back at his coaching days, discuss his col...

Dan Pruessner has been the head men's basketball coach at Division III Eastern University in St. David's, Pennsylvania on the Main Line since 2019. In 2022, he led the Eagles to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and in 2024 Eastern won its first-ever MAC Commonwealth Championship and earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament win. In Episode #213 of "1-on-1 with Matt Leon," Matt talks with Pr...

Jada Pierce has been the head women’s basketball coach at Niagara University since 2015. The Philadelphia native has raised the program to a new level, leading the Purple Eagles to their first two Division I postseason appearances and first ever D1 postseason win in the first round of the 2024 WNIT. Pierce’s coaching resume also includes time as the head coach at Cheyney University and stints as a...

The first coach in the history of the University of Delaware's women's ice hockey program is Allison Coomey. She will build the program from the ground up as the Blue Hens prepare to begin play during the 2025-26 season. Coomey comes to Newark after several years in State College as an assistant and then associate head coach at Penn State. As a player, Coomey was a standout at Niagara, where she a...

Gilly Lane has been the head men’s squash coach at his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania since March of 2016. On his watch Penn has been one of the nation’s elite programs and this past March, he led the Quakers to their first-ever Potter Cup, the men’s squash national championship. In Episode #210 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Lane in studio to talk about his career. They talk...

Jim Clements has been the head football coach at Division II Kutztown University since 2014. In his 9th season in 2023, he led the Golden Bears to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship and an appearance in the National Semifinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Prior to taking over at Kutztown, Clements enjoyed a ton of success as the head coach at Delaware Valley University in D...

Mike Barainyak is the head football coach at Division III Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. The 2023 season was his fifth at the helm of the program and he led the Pride to a 7-4 campaign. His coaching career has also included stops at his alma mater Delaware Valley University, Villanova University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. In Episode #208 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Mat...

Heather Long is a volunteer assistant field hockey coach focusing on goalies at Division III Ursinus College in Collegeville. She also is still playing field hockey at an elite level, as she has earned a spot as a goaltender on the Over 35 United States Masters Field Hockey Team. Long has accomplished all this while also working a full-time job in law enforcement. In Episode #207 of “1-on-1 with M...

Emily Snowden is the founder and owner of The Goalie Trainer. She works with dozens of field hockey goaltenders from all over the country at different levels of development at her facility in Malvern, PA. In Episode #206 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Snowden in studio to talk about her life in field hockey. They discuss why she started The Goalie Trainer, what she loves about working w...

Don DiJulia spent 35 years as the athletic director at Saint Joseph’s University in two separate stints. The first was 1976 to 1981 and the second from 1988 to 2018. He is truly one of the most respected administrators in the history of Philadelphia collegiate athletics. He was also a two-sport student athlete at SJU (baseball and basketball). In time away from Hawk Hill, he served as an assistant...

Samantha Sayward is the founder and owner of Philly Dodgeball. In just a couple of years she has developed a thriving community in Philadelphia of people bound together by their love of playing dodgeball. In Episode #204 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Sayward in studio to talk about all things dodgeball. They discuss her introduction to the sport, why she decided to start Philly Dodgeba...

Devin Jefferson is the head women’s basketball coach at Division III Stockton University in Galloway, NJ. This is her first collegiate head coaching job.  She previously served as an assistant at Vermont and associate head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson. The 2023-24 season is proving to be Jefferson’s best at the helm of the Ospreys and it comes a year after her battle with breast cancer. In Episode...

Sam Tropiano is the winningest head coach in the history of South Jersey high school baseball with 748 career victories. He has led the program at Bishop Eustace Prep in Pennsauken, New Jersey since 1990 and earned 716 of those victories with the Crusaders, while also leading them to five New Jersey State Championships. In Episode #202 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt talks with Tropiano about his...

Cory Kieschnick is the Director of Equestrian Sports at Delaware Valley University and she is also a full professor and chair of the Department of Equine Science and Management. Her program at DelVal is one of the top equestrian programs in the region. In Episode #201 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt talks with Kieschnick about her career. They discuss what the different disciplines of equestrian...

Dan Burke has been the head men’s basketball coach at Division II Wilmington University in Delaware since 2014. His Wildcats are always in contention in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and his coaching career came after he played basketball at another local Division II school in Chestnut Hill College. He is married to Bethann Burke, who is the head women’s basketball coach at another CA...

Nat Graham is the Associate Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s been on staff with the Quakers since 2014 and serving in his current role since 2018. He has also worked on head coach Steve Donahue’s staff when the two were at Cornell and Boston College. In Episode #199 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt welcomes Graham in studio to talk about his life in coaching. The...

Joanie Milhous will be spending her 30th season as the head coach of Villanova University field hockey in 2024. The Wynnewood, Pennsylvania native has won more than 250 games at the helm of the program and in 2023 her Wildcats advanced to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. Prior to coming at Villanova, she served as the head coach at Cabrini University. In Episode #198 of “1-on-1 with Matt...

Ed Gruver is an author whose latest book focuses on the 1976 hockey game between the Flyers and the Soviet Red Army team,  The Game That Saved the NHL. In Episode #197 of “1-on-1 with Matt Leon,” Matt catches up with Gruver to talk about his book. They discuss the many different levels of importance of that 1976 clash, dig into the details of the 4-1 Flyers win and talk about the impact it had on...