Blue Star Productions

Christi Abbate

Christi Abbate came on as a consultant with Blue Star in 2014. Christi put together a nearly 20 year college coaching career along side present Seton Hall head coach Anthony Bozzella. Christi finished out her career for 11 seasons at Iona College as the top assistant Since coming to Iona in April 2002, Abbate had an enormous impact on the women's basketball program.

As the associate head coach, Abbate served the Gaels in many capacities, including defensive coordinator and scouting coordinator. Abbate's numerous additional responsibilities include player development, practice and game preparation, coordinating preseason and postseason workouts, and handling all of the team's compliance paperwork.

On the recruiting end, Abbate helped Iona land many elite players, including Martina Weber (the 2007 MAAC Player of the Year and a 2007 WNBA draft pick), Toni Horvath (the 2004 MAAC Rookie of the Year), and Kristina Ford (the 2009 MAAC Rookie of the Year), as well as several other All-MAAC players and MAAC All-Academic honorees. A masterful tactician and an outstanding motivator, Abbate exceled at helping her players maximize their potential.

When Abbate arrived with Coach Bozzella in New Rochelle in 2002, they inherited a program that had struggled through 20 consecutive losing seasons. Over their eleven years, they engineered a dramatic turnaround, transforming the program from a cellar dweller into a championship contender. The Gaels emerged as one of the top teams in the MAAC and a formidable power across the mid-major level of women's college basketball.

Before coming to Iona, Abbate coached alongside Bozzella at Long Island University (2000-2002). At LIU, they won the 2001 Northeast Conference championship, thereby earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Abbate's first coaching job was at Southampton College, where she worked on Bozzella's staff from 1997-2000.

Abbate grew up in Dix Hills, NY, and she attended Half Hollow Hills High School East. She attended Binghamton University, where she graduated in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in environmental planning and was a four-year letter-winner for the basketball team.

Abbate lives in New York, with her husband John and their daughters Emma and Kate. She helps oversee Basketball Advantage - http://www.bballadvantage.com