This is the sixth of eight installments of the Valley News’ weekly profiles of local high school coaches this summer. It’s a chance to better know some of the people guiding the area’s student-athletes. Today we meet Newport High field hockey coach Steve Christensen, a Chelmsford, Mass., native who knew almost nothing of the sport before he began coaching it in 2005.
Family: Steve’s father, Francis, 88, was a certified public accountant; his late mother, Janice (Beach) Christensen, was a nurse who helped run the emergency room at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Steve, 66, has two brothers, 65-year-old Chris and 55-year-old Bruce. The former works in the semiconductor industry, and the latter is general manager of an automobile business. The trio see each other often for golf and socializing.
Classroom: Christensen teaches physics, chemistry and physical science at Newport, where he’s also the National Honor Society advisor and a coordinator for the NHIAA’s Life of an Athlete program at the school.
Free-Range Kids: “In the summers, my mom would pack my younger brother and I lunches and we’d bike (roughly 10 miles) to a little fishing hole in Concord (Mass.). We’d each get 25 cents to spend on penny candy, and the rule was you had to be home before dark. Can you imagine a kid being allowed to do that now?”
Career Beginnings: Christensen completed a semester at Bentley University in Massachusetts before receiving his military draft notice and choosing to enter the Air Force. He tested into its recreation administration program and was assigned to the base gym in Alexandria, La.
Birdie to Ball: Following 2½ years in the service and excelling at badminton, Christensen returned to college. “After going through basic training, school became a lot more important to me,” he said with a chuckle. He enrolled at the local Louisiana State campus and pursued tennis, using his badminton skills. Nearby Louisiana College, a small NAIA school in Alexandria, was restarting that sport and signed him to play.
Ugly Exposure: “I was in Louisiana for 14 years, and I remember the culture shock. It was my first experience with a black population and seeing how individuals would sometimes be treated. I hadn’t been raised that way, so I was always fighting it.”
Round Peg, Round Hole: “I went to teach at Holy Savior Menard Central High in Alexandria. They hired me to teach physical science for ninth-graders, but I think they wanted me to help build their tennis program, which had just built a new facility. Teaching’s always felt right during 21 years. If you can find a career that you’re so thrilled with that it doesn’t feel like a job, you’ve found the right match.”
Happy Host: Christensen moved north to be closer to his family and landed at Londonderry (N.H.) Junior High for a couple of years. His parents had bought Nashua’s American Inn and convinced him to become its general manager. “I was kind of spoiled, because I could eat for free and I had a company car,” Christensen said. He later worked for a building products company in Waltham, Mass., for nearly a decade.
He’s Back: “I went to watch my niece play ice hockey and, in the arena one night, it hit me like a ton of bricks: Education is where I belong, and I need to get back,” said Christensen, who had to prepare for and pass tests before he could again apply for a teaching credential. He came to Newport in 2003 and coached junior varsity baseball before offering to step into the field hockey coaching vacancy.
New Guy: “I told the administration that I’d go to coaching clinics and do whatever was needed to get up to speed. I was enthralled by the skill and endurance needed in field hockey, and the first year I did varsity and junior varsity by myself. I only wish I knew then what I knew today. We started 0-6, but we finished 6-8 that first season.”
Learning From the Best: Christensen moved to Newfound High from 2008-14, coaching there under veteran field hockey boss Karri Peterson. “She was an amazing mentor,” Christensen said. “I learned how to handle offense and defense, how to mange your timeouts and what to do at halftime. She was the nicest person, and she won a state title and had an undefeated season.”
Old School: A raise in Newport teacher salaries lured Christensen back, and he has again coached the Tigers the last two years, emphasizing to his players that they must have a passion for the sport. “I want people to be committed, not just interested,” said the coach, who dismissed five players from the program this spring after they failed classes. “But I’m finding that you have to make some concessions. The captains sometimes call me on the carpet and tell me I’ve gone too far.”
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.