BULLETIN: Feb. 15, 2023 — With the retirement of Char Morett-Curtiss, one other titanic school subject hockey coach retires

As we speak’s announcement of the retirement of Char Morett-Curtiss as head subject hockey coach at Penn State is simply the newest retirement of long-serving servants of the sport the previous couple of years.

Add up simply 5 of the collegiate coaches who’ve retired not too long ago — Nancy Stevens of UConn, Enza Steele of Lynchburg, Karen Shelton of North Carolina, Lori Hussong of Rider, and Morett-Curtis, and that’s 2,959 wins.

It’s an enormous gap within the cloth of the collegiate sport, which constitutes the highest-level competitors within the U.S.

Morett-Curtiss has lived the expertise of taking part in in World Championship and Olympic competitors. She was one of many members of the nationwide workforce pool who gave the U.S. ladies medals within the 1979 world championship and 1984 Olympics. Her quickness made her an assault and transition engine for the United Eagles.

As head coach, she moved over from Boston Faculty in 1987 and she or he gave the Nittany Lions much more of a successful perspective than earlier than.

Mining the wealthy Pennsylvania subject hockey tradition, she was in a position to, 12 months over 12 months, recruit lots of the finest gamers within the nation. The Nittany Lions had outstanding and constant success over time, ending below .500 solely 3 times in 36 years and being within the postseason most yearly.

An all-time roster of Morett’s gamers reads like an all-time all-star workforce: Mackenzie Allessie, Sophia Gladieux, Moira Putsch, Tracey Larson, Christine McGinley, Traci Anselmo, Laura Gebhart, Kelsey Amy, Becca Fundamental, Jill Piersall, Heather Gorlaski, Sonje Volla, Neilye Stoner, Jen Lengthy, and Brittany Grzywacz are amongst her stellar alumnae.

However for all of that expertise and what they delivered to Joyful Valley, Morett by no means received a nationwide championship as head coach. The closest she got here have been on two events. In 2002, the Lions have been tripped up by Wake Forest, and 5 years later misplaced to an undefeated North Carolina facet.

Regardless of the entire modifications occurring in subject hockey the final 20 years, Morett coached the sport on her phrases. In an period when assistant coaches don’t keep very lengthy, she developed a long-time teaching relationship with Lisa Bervinchak-Love and the 2 labored collectively on the sidelines for 29 years.

And now, as of right now, Morett is leaving the teaching field on her phrases.