University Park, Pa.- Chelle Tambroni’s bags were packed and she was ready to go to her first preseason at Boston College until she received a phone call.
Her dad was calling with important news while she was at a field hockey all-star game in the New England area in July 1987.
“‘We’ve got a huge problem’,” Tambroni remembers her dad telling her. “‘Char got the head coaching job at Penn State’.”
Tambroni was headed to Boston College, where Char Morett-Curtiss was the head coach before becoming the coach at Penn State, to play for the former Olympian. But once she found out Morett-Curtiss was moving to State College, she had a decision to make.
Either go to Boston College and stay close to home or go to Penn State where she would be reunited with Morett-Curtiss, who coached her during the summer in high school in Woodstock, Vermont and coached her older sister at Boston College.
“I honestly would’ve followed her to any university regardless, but it just happened to be a perfect storm,” Tambroni said. “I came here and loved the school, which just matched exactly how I felt about Char.”
Morett-Curtiss has been at Penn State ever since. She is fifth all-time in Division I with 530 wins and has led the Nittany Lions to 28 NCAA Tournament appearances. She will be joining an accomplished class when she is inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 7.
However, Morett-Curtiss is still reinventing herself.
She’s reinvented herself by freeing her mind through running.
Whether it was training in high school to get in shape for sports or training to compete for the United States field hockey team at the Olympics, running has always been a part of Morett-Curtiss’ life.
“It always just gives me my time,” Morett-Curtiss said. “Time to myself to get my thoughts together, whether it’s going to help me plan practice or it’s going to help me relax.”
Once Morett-Curtiss finished her successful field hockey career as an All-American at Penn State and Olympian for the United States, she became a competitive runner. Transitioning from playing field hockey to running competitively helped fill a competitive void.
“I always just liked being challenged and trying to get a faster time and trying to go for the distance,” Morett-Curtiss said.
While Morett-Curtiss was coaching at Boston College in the early 1980s, she ran for the Boston Athletic Association and was involved in the Boston Marathon, helping as a volunteer. She was also invited to try out for the United States cross country team.
Running continues to be a part of Morett-Curtiss’ life as she now runs around her neighborhood in College Heights, where she can jog out to the nearby golf course or in the opposite direction towards the Toftrees Resort and State College Airport for longer runs. However, she alternates her workouts between running and biking on her Peloton to keep her body from breaking down.
While Morett-Curtiss is an avid runner, she’s also a lifelong learner.
When a student-athlete commits to Penn State, academics are one of the first things Morett-Curtiss talks with them about.
In 1990, three years into Morett-Curtiss’ tenure as head coach at Penn State, Sharon Herlocher ’95 was a freshman on the team. Herlocher and her teammates were sitting in Bi-Sci 4 class with 1,000 other students in Schwab Auditorium. Morett-Curtiss had told them that they had to sit in the first eight rows of the class but the freshman briefly had other plans.
“We’re freshman thinking, ‘Oh that balcony in Schwab Auditorium looks a lot more fun up there’,” Herlocher said.
Fortunately Herlocher and her teammates reconsidered and sat in the first row because Morett-Curtiss walked into class to check on them that day.
“Believe me she walked in on people who weren’t sitting where they should be but the fact that she cares enough to go, she’s just trying to keep you honest,” Herlocher said.
Morett-Curtiss’ focus on the importance of academics has worked, as Penn State has produced 248 Academic All-Big Ten selections since 1992.
The long-time coach has been a mentor to her players, relating to them on a personal level.
Kirstie Benedict ’95 spiraled down into a depression when she was a junior at Penn State. She didn’t go to class for what seemed like a month but really was a week. Benedict kept this from Morett-Curtiss, who eventually found out from other players that she had struggled with depression.
Once Morett-Curtiss found out, she went to Benedict and talked with her. She listened to her as she considered taking a semester off and not knowing if she would be eligible to play. But Morett-Curtiss encouraged her and Benedict got support from advisors.
She went back to class and as soon as field hockey started back up in February, playing helped her stay on track.
“Field hockey saved me. If I wasn’t playing a sport, I don’t know what I would’ve done,” Benedict said. “I wouldn’t have made it through college if it wasn’t for her.”
As an Olympian, Morett-Curtiss traveled around the world and she has taken her team to new places as well.
Every four years the team goes on an international trip as a group. Morett-Curtiss and the program fundraise for the trip and also invite family, friends and alumni to come along. In the past, the team has visited places like Spain, Italy and Australia.
Jen Long ‘98 was a part of the team that went to Australia. While in Australia, Long and her teammates visited three different cities, where they played multiple field hockey games, saw tourist attractions and immersed themselves in the culture.
“It’s a unique experience and each player can go back and say ‘Where’d you go? What did you do?’,” Long said.
The relationships Morett-Curtiss builds with her players do not end when they graduate. She’ll grab lunch with them if they’re ever back on campus or if she’s near an area where they live. Morett-Curtiss attends her former player’s weddings and invites them over to her house for alumni functions.
She’s also there at life’s toughest moments.
Jen Schroeder’s ‘08 dad passed away a couple of years ago and she didn’t know what to do. One of the first phone calls she received was from Morett-Curtiss, who somehow found out.
“She calls me and basically I think to this day about how she was able to support me and be there and be so uplifting even through such a hard time,” Schroeder said.
Morett-Curtiss has coached at Penn State for 33 seasons and over the years a lot has changed.
Field hockey rules have changed. Technology has advanced with players wearing Catapult Sports tracking devices at practice and video review being used in games. International recruiting has become essential. But as the game has changed, Morett-Curtiss has evolved with it.
“I think at the end of the day she just gets the sport,” Schroeder said. “With Char it’s just timeless.”
Next fall Maddie Tambroni, Chelle’s daughter, will enroll at Penn State and play for Morett-Curtiss like her mom did all those years ago.
“Hopefully she’ll be able to reap the benefits of playing for someone that’s intense but loves the game and loves her for her,” Tambroni said. “I’m just so excited for her to experience what I experienced because it changed my life forever in a great way.”
Credits:
Mark Selders, Craig Houtz