May 12, 2010
Trish LeFever looks back
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
When you think about it, Trish LeFever might never have been Ocean City High School's
field hockey coach if it weren't for her mother's sandwiches.
"We had a place at 36th Street when I was a kid," LeFever said, "and we came down just
about every summer. There were seven of us in the family and we'd hang around the beach
bugging the lifeguards. My mother would bring them lunch to thank them for putting up
with us. And one of those guards was (eventual Ocean City school administrator) Lyle
Alverson. When I was being considered for the teaching job in Ocean City, he saw my name
and called me to see if I was part of that family that hung out on his beach. I think
that helped me get the job."
LeFever had played field hockey at St. Basil Academy and at Temple University. But coaching
the sport was not her highest priority.
"The reality of the situation was I was told by (athletics director) Dixie Howell that if
I got the teaching job in Ocean City I was going to have to coach field hockey," she said.
"I was hoping to coach basketball or maybe lacrosse. But coaching field hockey was a
requirement. And I wanted the job."
The rest, as they say, is history. In 28 seasons, LeFever's teams were 486-76-54, including
22-2 last season. She leaves having won 13 straight conference championships and having won
her seventh state championship last season. She has 18 overall conference championships and
nine South Jersey titles.
But it didn't start with championships.
"I talked to Tina Sloan Green, my field hockey coach at Temple," LeFever said, "and she helped
give me direction." Dr. Green was also a great lacrosse coach at Temple and held the distinction
of being the first black head lacrosse coach in the country and winner of three NCAA championships.
"We started playing just junior varsity in Ocean City," LeFever said. "We had a girl named
Cindy Marks, who had played field hockey in Pennsylvania, so she knew what she was doing. In fact,
she was a great athlete. If she had been in a successful program I think she'd have been a great
player. But we were just starting."
Marks was the leading scorer on LeFever's first team. Her second team had a losing record. After
that, she qualified for the tournament 26 straight years. But it took 15 years to win a South
Jersey title, with some tough losses along the way.
"There was a sense of accomplishment advancing in the tournament," she said, "but it was
frustrating not to win. That was when we made a concerted effort to beef up our schedule, so the
girls would see the high quality teams before the state tournament began."
And LeFever got her players involved in off-season work.
"When the Futures Program began I was a little bit skeptical. We wanted to see what happened,
how it worked. Once we saw the results, we got involved. Jen Blizzard was the first from our
program and she had great success. That's when we realized our kids needed to get involved. In
some ways it is a shame because some of them are only playing the one sport. I've always been a
big fan of playing two or even three sports."
Once the championships started they almost never stopped. In her final 13 seasons her teams won
or shared the American Conference title every year, won nine South Jersey crowns and seven state
championships. The first NJSIAA title was in 1997.
"Winning the first championship was overwhelming," she said. "There was a sense of relief after
having lost in the past. You began to wonder if you'd ever win. So that first one was probably the
most meaningful of our championships because it proved we could do it."
LeFever is happy that so many of her former players got into coaching field hockey.
"They've coached with us in Ocean City, they've coached against us, they've coached at the college
level. It shows they have a love for the game and that is what we try to create."
Don't expect LeFever to completely give up the sport she has come to love. She hopes her
stepdaughter, Tracey, or former player Cory Picketts Terry get the chance to keep the program
going. And she is ready to help out.
"I will help in any way they want," she said, "but I want to be far enough out of the picture that
I'm not a distraction to the new coach. It's important that the players look to the head coach for
their information. I do expect to continue our field hockey camp and remain active within the sport."
There is no hesitation when you as her why her program has been so successful.
"We had great kids and willing parents," she said. "The coaching staffs we've had have been terrific.
The groundskeepers do a terrific job with that field next to the Intermediate School. Everybody
has been just great."
But the biggest impact on her life from field hockey has not been the championships. It
has been very personal.
"My relationship with Tracey is the greatest thing I got from field hockey," she says. "I never
would have been able to be as close with her as I have been without the field hockey connection.
It was definitely the draw that brought us together. She is my step-daughter but I look at her
like a daughter. That is because of field hockey."
Trish LeFever career record
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