Lebanon
Deb Beach, the Raiders’ veteran coach who built the school’s field hockey program into an NHIAA Division II powerhouse, has stepped down after 40 seasons with the program, 35 as the team’s head coach. Beach, who led the Raiders to four state championships and six finals appearances since 2002, said the time was right to let someone else pick up where she’s left off.
“I just thought it was the right time,” she said in a phone interview on Monday. “I’m two years retired from teaching, and I no longer have that connection to the kids that I used to. I’m getting up in age; the kids deserve an energetic, up-to-date coach. It’s just time. The kids deserve more than I could give them.”
Lebanon athletic director Mike Stone confirmed that Beach had indeed handed in her resignation letter, though he wouldn’t say when that took place. He also said a search is currently underway to find Beach’s replacement and that student-athletes, teachers and school administrators will all be involved in the hiring process.
“She’s a hard person to replace after everything she’s done,” Stone said.
Beach played field hockey at Monadnock High for four years and one season at Keene State College before dropping the sport to take a job. She graduated in 1977 and was hired as a physical education teacher at Lebanon for the following school year. It was there that she met Lebanon field hockey coach Jim Garrity, who taught her everything she needed to know about being a varsity head coach.
“(He taught me) just how to treat kids,” Beach said. “I knew the sport itself. I had played and officiated in college. But I didn’t know how to teach the sport. I was 22, 23 years old. He got me started on how to teach the skills and what needed to be done.”
Beach spent five years as an assistant before taking over the varsity program in 1982. Since then, Beach has established herself as a model of consistency before bringing the Raiders their first field hockey title in 2006 in a 1-0 win over Souhegan. Lebanon has won three D-II state championships in the last five years and lost to Derryfield in the semifinals in November.
The secret, according to Beach’s longtime assistant coach and close friend Pat Faulkner, is a mix of no-nonsense coaching with a hint of parental love.
“I think a lot of it was she thought about the person, how sports could develop the student and not so much about winning or losing,” said Faulkner, who now lives in Charleston, S.C. “She understood what the kid was going through and what they were going to get out of the sport. … She sort of understood what it was going to do to them. There’s more to life than sports, more to life than just winning. She cared about the development of students rather than just athletes.
“We’re like sisters,” she added. “She’s the godmother to two of my children. (Working with Beach) was just like the perfect working relationship.”
Faulkner said Beach had considered stepping down after the Lebanon’s championship season in 2015. Beach had just retired from her teaching position at Lebanon, making the timing of her team’s title run ideal for her resignation. Faulkner thought so as well and bought a plane ticket to New Hampshire for the Raiders’ championship win against Portstmouth in the D-II finals which, she thought, would be Beach’s final game.
“I flew up to be with her,” Faulkner said.
But Beach told her that she’d give it another year. Faulkner, along with some other Lebanon alumni, made the trip anyway and stood with Beach on the sidelines as the Raiders defeated Portsmouth, 3-0, in what became a small reunion.
Faulkner wanted to be there for Beach’s final game last month but never got the chance. She was told only “a couple weeks ago,” after Lebanon had fallen to Derryfield in the 2016 semifinals, that Beach was stepping down.
“It’s really too bad,” Faulkner said. “That woman has just done so much for field hockey in New Hampshire; she sort of snuck out. But that’s how she is. She hates birthday surprises and that kind of stuff. She needs to be recognized.”
Beach takes pride in what she was able to accomplish over a varsity coaching career that spanned five presidents and nine presidental terms in office.
“I’m very proud of what the kids have been able to accomplish,” she said. “It isn’t me. It’s about the kids are willing to put into the program for 2½ months.”
Beach said she is willing to help Lebanon’s new field hockey coach when one is chosen.
“I think I need to stay away,” Beach said. “It’s typical for kids to look to the person they’re most familiar with. A new person doesn’t need me interfering; they’ll probably do things completely differently than the way I did them. If I’m there, the kids will look to me.
“If they want to call me for input, I’d be glad to give it. I’m sure whoever comes in will want to do their own thing.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.