This is the second of a series of stories about former Prof athletes and coaches and where they are now.
GLASSBORO, NJ – Mary Marino had a successful career at Rowan University coaching the field hockey and lacrosse teams.
Marino came to Rowan in the fall of 1987, after spending time as a coach at Eastern Regional High School. Along with coaching the Profs, she also taught classes in the health and physical education department. In 11 seasons (1987-1997) as head field hockey coach, Marino compiled a 101-82-11 record and her teams advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament three times. She had a won-lost record of 170-115 in 19 years (1988-1997, 1999-2007) as head lacrosse coach. The Profs made their first ever national tournament appearance in 1993 and had a total of five under Marino.
She coached at the University until her retirement in June 2007. Some of the highlights of her coaching career include serving as the assistant field hockey coach of Rowan’s 2002 NCAA Division III National Championship Team. She also found great joy in beating The College of New Jersey for the first time – in overtime on a penalty stroke.
Her lacrosse accolades are no less. “In lacrosse it was being chosen to participate in the NCAA Tournament for the first time,” she shared. “At that time only eight teams were picked nationally and half of my team had never played lacrosse before college. I was very proud of what they accomplished.”
Upon retiring, Marino began to avidly pursue writing and authorship. However, this was not a new found hobby. In 1993, she wrote and published a non-fiction book about lacrosse, titled “On Attack.”
“Essentially it broke down parts of the attacking game and analyzed them – the creative process, use of space, breaking down the defense, shooting, etc. At the time there was very little written about the sport and it was growing so fast that I wanted to share what I had learned about the game with people coming into the sport for the first time.”
Her second book, “Freshman Season: How I Dodged and Tackled High School” is a fiction piece for young adults. The story follows a 14 year-old girl who loves field hockey. Desperate to play as much as she can, she inevitably has to face various challenges. Marino says that the character “Learns that in order to succeed - hearts must take risks, eighth grade rivalries need to be overcome and change must be faced by everyone if they are to survive their freshman season.”
Marino signed a publishing deal for “Freshman Season” and therefore was required to finish by a specific date. This was no easy task; however, she was determined to successfully complete the book in the allotted time. “There were many times when I wanted to give up, but one thing I learned in sports was the value of persistence and I was determined not to let my characters and their story die,” Marino stated. She is currently in the process of writing a sequel.
Along with the art of writing, Marino also spends her free time painting. She has taken art classes at Tyler School of Art and has also received private instruction. “I recently received a second place [award] in a state-wide New Jersey senior citizens competition. Sometimes the writing and painting fight for my time and focus and then I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day. Not a bad thing for a retired person to wish for I think.”
Copies of “Freshman Season” are available for order on Amazon.com. Be sure to keep an eye out for the sequel.
