When Krista Chase stopped coaching field hockey in 2009, she said she hoped it was a hiatus, instead of a permanent decision.
Chase coached Cony from 2002 to 2009, compiling a record of 88-37-2. She’s back on the sidelines this fall, coaching a Mt. Ararat team that finished 7-7 last season under coach Kelly LaFountain.
“I wasn’t planning on getting back into it quite yet,” Chase said. “When Kelly LaFountain, who is a good buddy of mine, announced that 2013 would be her last season, we talked about it.”
The more Chase thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. She works at Mt. Ararat and lives about five minutes from the school. She stayed on the board of the Maine Field Hockey Association even after she resigned at Cony.
“It just made a lot of sense,” Chase said. “My passion for coaching has never gone away. I kind of thought it might. But between staying involved with the board, and staying in touch with field hockey friends, it just never really left.”
A number of rules have changed in the five years since Chase has stopped coaching, with the self-start being the most obvious. Chase said she’s doing everything she can to be sure she’s up to date.
“I’ve been annoying officials everywhere,” she joked. “I go running different scenarios by them.”
By happenstance, Mt. Ararat’s first regular-season game under Chase was against Cony on Wednesday. The Rams are coached by Holly Daigle, Chase’s assistant at Cony. The Rams defeated Mt. Ararat, 9-0.
“We’ve had a lot of fun with that,” Chase said earlier this week. “A lot of the (Cony) girls, I was a guidance counselor for, and I had them in field hockey since they were really little. And of course, Holly, I adore. It’s going to be pretty emotional for me.”
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Maine Central Institute has four sets of sisters in its program. Two of them are freshman Alison Hughes and her sister Katie, a senior. They’re the daughters of seventh-year MCI coach Nancy Hughes.
But that’s not all. One of the assistant coaches is Greg Hughes, Nancy’s husband. Nancy Hughes said Greg has done his main work with the goalies.
“He wanted to help out last year, but he couldn’t,” Nancy said. “He’s done a lot of studying on goalies, specifically. He’s committed the time to it, which is very helpful to me, because that’s not in my wheelhouse.”
• • •
When Lawrence defeated Mt. Blue 5-1 in Wednesday’s season opener, the Lawrence players each wore purple headbands. This was in support of Skowhegan junior Brooke Michonski, whose father, Brian, died recently of pancreatic cancer.
Lawrence coach Shawna Robinson said the idea came from senior Emily McLean’s mother, Tawnya. Previously, at the Central Maine Playday in Winslow, the Bulldogs wore green headbands to honor Winthrop’s Kelsey Stoneton, who died last month of a pulmonary embolism.
“The girls always try to wear different bandanas,” Robinson said. “They cut fabric before every game.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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