For Erin Kennedy the connection from her past to her present life makes for good storytelling.

She grew up in Jim Thorpe, the town named for the world-famous Olympic gold medal winner. She graduated from Jim Thorpe Area High School, where she was a three-sports star for the Olympians.Recently, Kennedy was appointed to the position of project coordinator for the 2016 Youth Winter Olympic Games to be held in Lillehammer, Norway.Another interesting connection revolves around the fact that the town of Jim Thorpe has been referred to as the "Little Switzerland of the United States" because of its similar mountain scenery and architecture.The headquarters for the International Olympic Committee, where Kennedy will begin her new job in just a few weeks, is in Lausanne, Switzerland.BeginningsErin Kennedy still calls Jim Thorpe her home. Her parents, Diane and Tim, have lived there since 1979.As a child, and all through high school, they have watched every one of her athletic events from T-ball through cross country, basketball and softball in high school."I can't give enough credit to my parents and to my older brother, Ian, who supported everything I did throughout my schooling," says Kennedy.She displayed early signs of leadership and self-motivation.For the Olympians, she was chosen to be captain of all three teams for her senior year and was selected as Most Valuable Player for each sport as well.In the classroom, she excelled, too. A member of the National Honor Society, Kennedy also graduated with a class rank of three out of 115.Four years later, she graduated magna cum laude from Marywood University in Scranton, with a double major in clinical psychology and Spanish.Rockymountainsand rugbyKennedy then achieved a master's degree in sports psychology at the University of Denver in 2009. She completed an internship at the United States Olympic Committee Center in the same city.During her five months at the USOC, she developed a website to help educate coaches in athlete management. "I feel that coaches need information on how to motivate and get their athletes to perform at their optimum levels," Kennedy said.Kennedy then took a position in Boulder as a youth development manager for USA Rugby.The game is played on a soccer-type field with a white, oval-shaped ball. Points are scored when a player runs the ball past an end line and touches it on the ground for a "try." The ball can also be kicked through goal posts, either after a try or during regular game action by an offensive player."Rugby is the second fastest growing sport in America," Kennedy says. "It's most popular in the Midwest and in the West where colleges play it at the club level. Nearby, Penn State women have won several club-level national championships."Kennedy said soon schools with rugby programs will seek a sanction from the NCAA so the game can become an official varsity sport."It's also becoming popular at the high school level, locally near Philadelphia and Pittsburgh," Kennedy said.Rugby has been credited for being the origin of American football. The sport got its start when a soccer player in 19th-century England was tackled by an overly zealous opponent.The sport was last featured as an Olympic sport in 1924. The United States holds the gold medal from those games.With this sport, Kennedy has directed her attention toward the 5- to 15-age group. She has also supported Rugby Pennsylvania, established in 2012, in its efforts to promote and sustain the game. Currently 43 states sanction rugby programs."Interest in playing rugby often comes from kids who are not your top athletes and can't find a fit for themselves in more traditional sports," Kennedy says. "It's a great opportunity to welcome more kids to competitive sports participation."Despite the fact that rugby players wear no equipment and tackle each other to prevent scoring, Kennedy claims the number of injuries that result from playing the sport is about equal to those that occur in soccer."In football, which I call a collision sport, tackling can be performed in several ways while in rugby, a contact sport, only one tackling method is allowed by rule, with penalties assessed if done improperly."Kennedy initiated a program titled "Try on Rugby" in 2013 to generate more of an interest in the sport for girls and women. One year later, more than 13,000 girls registered for the program.Try On Rugby focuses on more than just playing the game."For these girls, body image, leadership, identity and bullying are important topics that are the foundation of the program."From Singapore to SwitzerlandIn 2010, Kennedy accepted a position of Youth Ambassador for Team USA at the Youth (ages 14-18) Olympic Games in Singapore. Her responsibilities were to provide cultural education for the 100 American athletes who attended the games."Unlike the major Olympics, for the Youth Games, education is emphasized over winning medals. We prompt our kids to learn about the cultures of not only the host country, but also those of their opponents' countries," she says.Kennedy also continued to promote rugby for the next four years from her new position at the North American-Caribbean Rugby Association.Last month, she opened a whole new chapter of her life when she was appointed project coordinator for the Youth Olympic Winter Games. She will coordinate the Young Ambassador Athlete Role Model Program that again will feature culture and education in Norway, the host country."I will be living in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, and I am fluent in Spanish," she says with a laugh. "I will have to learn French, but at least the people who work for the IOC speak English.""My daughter has always been extremely ambitious and independent," Diane Kennedy says. " I was nervous after dropping her off to live in Denver by herself years ago, but now I've grown accustomed to her lifestyle.""We are so proud of Erin," says her father, Tim.When asked if Erin checks in at home frequently, Tim answers with a smile, "Mostly when she has questions about a problem with a car she's driving."A global visionKennedy's five-year vision for what she would like to accomplish has a two-fold focus."First I would like to see rugby become a gym class activity in our schools and become an Olympic sport as well. In addition, I want to help more women get involved in athletics, in administration, in coaching, and in officiating on a global scale."Kennedy never forgets where it all began.She has a picture that was taken of her standing next to a bust of the two-time gold medal champion in the U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters in Denver.