Karen Fitzpatrick – Girls Field Hockey and Basketball Coach

After graduating from West Chester University in 1973, Karen Fitzpatrick began her coaching career at East, After years of being the assistant coach, Fitzpatrick became the head field hockey coach, coaching her team to 4 South Jersey Conference State Championships. Her final year coaching, the team won the Group IV State Championship and finished the season out with a 18-0-1 record. In 1980, Fitzpatrick was selected as the field hockey coach for Ball State University.

“A coaches success is mostly measured in their win loss record and how many championships they have won…but the true joy in coaching comes from watching a player develop”

“The other thing that made coaching so fun is seeing individuals become a team”

“One special memory I want to share is a little scenario after the Group 4 South Jersey Championship, we just squeaked it out in the last 5 minutes of the game…on the bus everyone was laughing singing like we always did…3 forwards sitting behind me in deep conversation…Dj said, ‘we promise that we will never play like that again,’ even though they won they were not happy with how the game went, those forwards ended up scoring 5 or 7 goals in the next couple of games with no goals scored against us, undefeated top ranked team”

“Seeing the determination and the commitment made to each other and to the team was like no other”