The United States Coach of the Year

For some people entrusted with such things, a Coach of the Year citation is often an honorarium given perfunctorily to a team with the best record within the voting body's purvey.

TopOfTheCircle.com, however, thinks a little differently. The award should be given to a coach who is able to make a marked difference in the way a team plays throughout a particular season. The coaching performance is not limited to progress made in the year which the award is given.

A coach who wins the award should bring a team to, and beyond, even its own expectations. But what is more important, we think, is the process to which the team finds its success, rather than the sheer matter of finding it. The following men and women have been not only coaches, but developers and refiners of talent within their programs:

Year	Coach	School	State	Notes
1993	Pat Toner	Newtown Council Rock	PA	Won first of three District titles and gained AAA final
1994	Mike Shern	Lacey	NJ	Beat "invincible" West Essex team to win Group III title
1995	Nancy Fowlkes	Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox	VA	Won seventh straight state title
1996	Tracey Paul	Escondido San Pasqual	CA	Transformed Cali hockey with sectional-winning effort
1997	Maryellen Clemencich	Allentown	NJ	Perennial also-rans won Shore Conference and Group II title
1998	Diane Chapman	Garden City	NY	Shut out all opposition in a perfect season
	Brenda Beckwith	Winslow	ME	Won all games by shutout
1999	Amy Wood	Bethesda-Chevy Chase	MD	Overcame distraction of losing home field and good senior class
2000	Eileen Allan	Pompton Lakes	NJ	Good little team won second straight title
2001	Amanda Janney	Ft. Worth Trinity Valley	TX	Showed value of Texas hockey through outside competition
2002	Slade Gormus	Midlothian James River	VA	Wrested state title away from Virginia Beach monopoly
2003	Kearney Francis	Silver Spring Springbrook	MD	In four years, took program from depths to first state title
2004	Monica Dennis	Grosse Pointe South	MI	Won state title in first year as a funded varsity program
2005	Robin Woodie	Stafford	VA	In 3 days, beat 3 teams with 14 of the last 16 VHSL crowns
2006	Barb Dwyer	Ladue Horton Watkins	MO	Won 19 games and had historic postseason run
2007	Wendy Reichenbach	Palmyra	PA	Team won seven straight postseason games after player's death
2008	Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell	Pewaukee Trinity Academy	WI	First-year varsity with 22 female students wins 3 OT games & state final