Angie Abraham says there hasn’t been a day since starting the job as Tri-County Technical College’s new athletic director that she hasn’t awakened excited and smiling.

“Even when I think about all of my notes and plans and lists, I’m not overwhelmed.

It’s so exciting to be a part of building an athletic program with such a great group of professional coaches,” she said.

Tri-County has had men’s golf and soccer teams for five years, but this year added women’s soccer and basketball.

In addition to Abraham, there are two new coaches on board — Alesia Smith as women’s basketball coach and Ed Heberling as men’s and women’s soccer coach.

Abraham has 10 years of experience as a collegiate basketball coach and four as an athletics administrator.

After earning an associate of arts degree at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., she played basketball as a student at Buffalo State College, where she majored in broadcasting and later earned a master’s in Student Personnel Administration.

“My intent was to pursue sports broadcasting as a career, but I got sidetracked with a coaching offer. I was offered a coaching job at the end of the last season of my senior year at Buffalo, served as a student assistant in the athletics department, and became part of the staff after graduation.

“That piqued my interest,” she said.

After two years as assistant women’s basketball at coach and assistant ice arena manager at Buffalo State and one year at Genesee Community College as assistant women’s basketball coach and sports information director, she accepted her first head coaching job at Erie Community College in 2000.

Angie also has worked as head basketball coach and recreation coordinator for Bennett College for Women and assistant athletic director for Defiance College.

She stopped coaching in 2008 and was moved into the position of Women’s Basketball Director of Operations for Winston-Salem State University.

She says she is lucky to have such seasoned coaches at Tri-County.

“They have a passion for what they are doing. They are doing it because they love what they do.”