Monday, October 26, 2009

This coach 'puts all of her heart and soul into it'

By CHRIS A. COUROGEN

Anna Baldini will lead her Camp Hill Lions onto the field Tuesday in a game that means a lot to her and her team.

Baldini, who announced before the season her plans to retire from coaching field hockey at the end of the season, will be going for career win 300 when the Lions host East Pennsboro. It's the first round of the District 3 Class AA playoffs. The winner moves on. The loser goes home.

That means Baldini, whose career record stands at 299-153-38, will not get a second shot if her team loses to its backyard rival.

There is a David and Goliath element to the story: East Pennsboro is almost three times the size of Camp Hill, one of the smallest schools in the playoff field. Only Greenwood, with 100 girls in grades 10 through 12, is smaller than Camp Hill, which checks in with about 140.

Adding to the underdog theme is the fact that East Pennsboro is one of two teams that beat Camp Hill (15-2-1) in the regular season. That defeat came in a matchup Sept. 28, and the Lions' only other loss was to perennial power Palmyra.

"It's a big deal. The seniors have talked about it. We really want to get it for her," said Megan Eppley, Camp Hill's senior goalie. "We know what it would mean to her."

Or at least the seniors think they know.

Baldini is quick to downplay the significance of the milestone. To her, what is important is that her players get a chance to make a trip to the PIAA state tournament, something just five other Camp Hill teams have done during her run.

"It's just a number. The 300 is not big to me," Baldini said. "What is big is getting these guys to win a first-round playoff game and giving them a chance to see how far they can go."

Even more important to Baldini is how the players perform off the field and beyond high school.

That is why she ended Thursday afternoon's practice, the team's last workout before three days off over the weekend, not with some pep talk about beating East Pennsboro, but with a reminder about safe driving.

"It's amazing. She is always involved, making sure they are doing the right thing," says Nanette Kehler, who played against Baldini in high school and college before becoming one of her assistant coaches six years ago.

"It's a great relationship. It's what inspires me to want to stay in this and work with these kids."

Baldini builds the same kind of relationships with the students in her classrooms. Despite being known for her no-nonsense approach in the classroom, Baldini is one of the most popular teachers on Camp Hill's faculty.

"Anna is probably one of the most charismatic educators ... I've ever worked with," said Julie Colestock, a Camp Hill teacher and Baldini's assistant coach for the last 22 years. "She just has an energy. Her energy comes from love and passion."

That charisma helps explain how a school as small as Camp Hill consistently fields such a strong team, despite having no elementary school feeder program. By the time girls pass through her health and physical education classes in middle school, she has them hooked.

"She is always really motivating," said Camp Hill senior Molly Gilroy, one of the team's top scorers. "She makes everyone, even when you are in middle school, want to be a part of the Camp Hill field hockey team."

"We respect her," Eppley added. "She gets down to our level. She talks to us, jokes around with us. Everyone feels really, really comfortable around her. ... She puts all of her heart and soul into it. You can tell she really cares."

That is why Baldini's team cares more about that number 300 than she does.

"If we can get her to 300, it will be another thing to add to this season to make it special for her," Eppley said. "It's really important to us to get it for her."

Baldini appreciates how important the milestone has become to others.

"People have gotten on this little 300 ride, and I think it is neat," she said. "If we have a chance to do it, great. But that is not why we are playing the game.

"It's way more than a number, believe me. The [important] numbers are the kids I have been around all these years, not how many wins Anna Baldini has."