Nancy Cox - Legacy 2006

Nancy’s first words, when informed of her induction into this Hall of Fame, were words of gratitude:  “I had the good fortune of finding three mentors in the Ann Arbor Public School System-Art Armstrong, Helen Connolly and Steve Rodriguez.  Those three provided tremendous guidance to this novice coach and to them I will always be indebted.”

 

Coach Cox, an Ypsilanti Lincoln High School alumna, graduated from Western Michigan University in 1981 and took over the field hockey at Pioneer immediately thereafter.  In typical Nancy style, she attributes the phenomenal success enjoyed by her teams over 19 seasons to Larry Dishman of the AA Recreation Department for his support of rec. field hockey; to Roxy Block, Jocelyn Gerich and Lesley Frey for their contributions to the inception of youth hockey in the community and to the wonderful student-athletes who participated in the program over the years.

 

During her high school coaching run, Cox’s teams won 12 league titles, 12 state championships and were state runners-up twice.  Her 1993 squad was not scored upon by any Michigan team and the seniors on that team never lost a game in four years to any Michigan school.  Many of her athletes went on to play college hockey, with the highest accolade going to Sherene Smith, who achieved All-American status at the national level.

 

Nancy has been the highly successful field hockey coach of the Michigan Wolverines since leaving her high school position following the 1998 season.