Bio

Kim Buckley enters her fourth season as the head coach of the Franklin Pierce University bowling team in 2017-18. Buckley (then Kim Berit) was hired in summer 2013 (hiring release) and spent 2013-14 recruiting and assembling her team before the Ravens began play with their inaugural season in 2014-15.

Under Buckley, the Ravens turned some heads during their inaugural season in 2014-15. The Ravens earned a national ranking right off the bat by being ranked eighth in the inaugural edition of the National Tenpin Coaches Association's D2/D3 poll and moved up to seventh by the end of the season. The first-year squad put together a trio of top-five finishes along the way and capped its debut season with its first-ever tournament win at the Hawk Flight Invite, hosted by Monmouth.

In 2016-17 the women's program took a huge step forward. Jessica Davies earned the East Coast Conference (ECC) Preseason Bowler of the Year award while as a team, the Crimson and Grey were selected seventh in the DII/DIII Preseason Poll. After defeating Stephen F. Austin last season, the Ravens beat the reigning NCAA Champions and no. 2 nationally-ranked foe 1,015-900 at the second day of the Hawk Classic on November 18th. Following the program defining win, the Ravens promptly earned their highest national ranking in program history at the end of November when they were selected 17th in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) 2016 November National Poll. The Crimson and Grey's success carried into the spring season when the squad placed second at the Golden Bear Classic on February 12th. Buckley and the women's program hosted the ECC Championship in Keene at the end of the year and finished fourth place overall matching their finish from last season. Buckley also tied her personal-best single season win total with 52 while the teams 42 setbacks in 2016-17 were a program low. Colleen Kelly was named to the ECC All-Tournament Team while Jessica Davies earned All-Conference First Team honors. Freshman Krysta Peirce and teammate Jessica Marcure were selected to the All-Conference Second Team.  

2015-16 was the second straight season the Ravens were selected in the National Tenpin Coaches Association D2/D3 Preseason Poll, this time as the seventh best squad. During the months of November and December, the team was nationally ranked in the National NTCA Poll earning their highest ranking of 23rd in the country. The program was also named a honorable mention squad in the national NTCA Preseason Poll. In her second season at the helm, Buckley led the crimson and grey to a 42-57 mark, but had a huge win over eventual 2016 NCAA Champion Stephen F. Austin at the Music City Classic hosted by Vanderbilt. The Ravens also earned three more wins over nationally ranked teams. At the New Jersey Jamboree, FPU defeated Arkansas State who were the no. 1 ranked team in the country at the time of the Raven victory. In Nashville, they beat no. 8 North Carolina AT&T and no. 16 Sacred Heart University during day one of the Music City Classic. In the inaugural ECC Championship the Ravens earned fourth place and Jessica Davies was named to the All-Tournament Team. Davies was named to the All-ECC First Team while teammates Colleen Kelly and Nikki Vucak earned All-ECC Second Team Honors. 

Buckley bowled for Adelphi University during her collegiate career (2008-12), and was one of the top academic performers in the sport at the national level as she was a four-time NTCA Academic All-American. She was also presented with the Northeast Conference (NEC) Commissioners Award for Academic Excellence during each of her four years.

Various injuries impacted Buckley's playing career in college, but it did not thwart her attempt to help the program and head coach Robert Cincotta. Buckley worked as a student assistant coach, meeting with prospective recruits, and managing the program's multimedia initiatives (including social media sites, highlight videos & live streaming of tournaments online). Her efforts in helping the program were vital as the Panthers eventually claimed the 2012 ECAC Bowling Invitational.

Buckley graduated from Adelphi in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and a minor in communications. She is a USBC Silver Certified coach.

Women's Bowling Head Coach (2014-Present)