The Valley News will profile a local high school head coach weekly during the summer. It’s a chance to better know some of the people guiding the area’s student-athletes. Today, we meet first-year Hartford High girls lacrosse coach Heather Hartford, a onetime Springfield High sports standout who’s returned to work on behalf of her hometown.
Hartford, Meet Hartford: Hartford’s precise, aggressive guidance pushed the Hurricanes to their first state semifinal playoff berth last spring. Just 15-99 during the previous nine seasons, the team was sparked by several young players who had been previously taught by Heather Hartford at the club level. “I attribute so much to the girls, because change can be hard, and to handle it well is a life lesson they’ve learned through sports,” the coach said.
Old Home Days: Hartford is the youngest of three children of Jack and Diana Heke. Her father was a general building contractor who started All Seasons Construction Co., and her brothers are John and Peter. Her mother, Diana, oversaw the family home. Hartford recalls playing games like kick the can and flashlight tag and trying to keep up with her brothers during pickup basketball games in the driveway.
All-American City: “When I was young in Springfield, manufacturing jobs were plentiful and it was thriving. It was a great place to grow up, and the neighborhoods were safe. When I moved back here five years ago, it was to a totally different economic situation, and I was shocked by how many storefronts downtown were empty.”
Tri-Athlete: Hartford began competing on town recreation teams when she was in third grade and played field hockey, basketball and softball in high school. The 1982 graduate helped the Cosmos to the VPA Division I state field hockey title as a senior.
Hard Charger: New London’s Colby-Sawyer College recruited Hartford, who played volleyball, basketball and lacrosse at a school that admitted only women at the time. With no field hockey or softball teams to join, she picked up two new sports and earned all-conference honors in each season. The 1986 graduate was inducted into CSC’s athletic hall of fame in 2012.
Boundaries Be Darned: Hartford played lacrosse during an era when the college women’s game featured no sidelines or end lines. “You’d better be quick, because you were always chasing after the ball,” she said. “The ref would blow the whistle if you got too far off into the distance or if you were going to run into a tree.”
Links High Jinks: “I was thinking about starting a sporting goods store or something like that, but I got an internship my senior year, coordinating the LPGA’s Boston Five Classic golf tournament in northeast Massachusetts. I got a job there and helped coordinate 700 volunteers, from standard-bearers to caddies. It was a great first job out of college.”
Offspring: Hartford’s oldest child is Tim, a 29-year-old Air Force Academy graduate and pilot who lives in Rapid City, S.D., and is training to fly the B-1 bomber. Shannon, 27, is an X-ray technician at a Jupiter, Fla., orthopedics office who played lacrosse at South Carolina’s Presbyterian College. Matthew, 24, is a University of Tampa graduate and a sheriff’s deputy in that city.
Growth Industry: Hartford was involved in starting youth, varsity and junior varsity lacrosse programs in Georgetown, Mass., a town of about 8,000 north of Boston where she raised her children. She worked full time as the girls director with the New England Select Lacrosse League, hiring coaches and doing some coaching herself. Arranging fall leagues, winter clinics, college recruiting and booking facilities were all part of the job.
Let’s Talk: “Most sports parents are great, but sometimes you get unrealistic expectations from them. You have to understand they love their kid and want the best, but sometimes the reality piece isn’t there, and you have to break it to them gently. Communication is the key.”
Back to the Future: “When my mom mentioned she was ready to move and was thinking about selling the family home in Springfield, I looked at it as a good chance to move back to such a beautiful area and continue to enjoy all the seasons. I coached down in Greenfield, Mass., with Catamount Lacrosse, and a few of the kids I had were going to Hartford High. When the coaching job there opened up, the athletic director reached out. I feel very fortunate they thought of me.”
Revival: Hartford began working with the Springfield Regional Development as a project manager and now is the assistant director, working to support existing businesses and to attract new ones. The SRDC owns three former manufacturing buildings, one of which is occupied by businesses, and Hartford oversees tenant relations. “It’s extremely challenging, and things take longer than I would like,” she said. “The town is so ready for change and progress, and there’s a lot of good energy right now.”
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.