Back in 1993 while working for the dailies, I had the privilege of having Levittown Pennsbury (Pa.) in my coverage area. It was a team with players who had plenty of history. Start with head coach Barbara Rensimer, a West Chester graduate who was a tremendous field hockey and lacrosse athlete. The team also had Tracey Larson, who would eventually become part of the U.S. women’s national team pool.
In 1994, this team was five seconds away from winning the Subirban One National League’s Patriot Division but for a miraculous free hit touched in by a rival forward from Newtown Council Rock (Pa.). But on these Pennsbury teams was a motor of a player named Becca Main.
Since her matriculation to Penn State, Main had served as coach at Quinnipiac University as it started up in the Division II ranks, and, for the next 28 years, fostered the team as it moved into Division I.
She retired last week after winning 214 games, and bringing the Cats to three NCAA Tournaments.
Quinnipiac, it must be said, wasn’t ever known for sports, but was more known for its national polling institute, its law school, and a collection of art commemorating the Great Irish Famine.
But during Main’s tenure at Quinnipiac, the school took sports much more seriously, and found success in both men’s and women’s ice hockey.
It was 2013 when Main’s Bobcats hit their apex, winning 14 games and making the NCAA Tournament, only to lose to American University 3-1 in the NCAA play-in between the Patriot and the Metro Atlantic tournament champions.
Main joins a number of experienced and successful head coaches who have decided to retire from coaching in the last four or five years, and it does call into question what kind of support coaches are not getting from their university or school administrations.
TopOfTheCircle.com 
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