Cat Rickenbacker joined the Bates women’s soccer coaching staff in the fall of 2026 as Assistant Coach for Player Development & Analysis after serving as a volunteer assistant with the program in the spring.
Rickenbacker brings extensive playing and coaching experience to Bates. She also coaches with Maine Lightning Soccer Club, where she works with the club’s U14 teams after previously guiding its U13 NECSL Flight 3 team to a 6-2-0 record and promotion to Flight 2. Her additional coaching experience includes stops with Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City, Soccer Olé in Memphis, Annunciation Orthodox School in Houston, Purple Rain Soccer Academy and Ziad Soccer Academy. She holds U.S. Soccer Grassroots coaching licenses as well as a Girls Academy Credential of Coaching Excellence from the TLC Institute.
A four-year member of the women’s soccer program at Rhodes College, Rickenbacker appeared in all 72 games during her collegiate career and made 52 starts. As a senior captain in 2011, she earned third-team All-Region and second-team All-SCAC honors. She also earned third-team All-SCAC recognition in 2009 and was part of the 2008 Rhodes team that won the SCAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Rickenbacker has remained connected to the Rhodes program as head of the Rhodes College Women’s Soccer Alumni Association.
Away from the field, Rickenbacker has held leadership roles in education and business, including serving as an assistant principal with Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City and working in healthcare and pharmaceutical strategy consulting. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in English from Rhodes and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
