Longtime Penn State Field Hockey Head Coach Char Morett-Curtiss Retires
Char Morett-Curtiss is calling it a career, folks.
In a letter written to the Penn State community, Penn State field hockey’s head coach announced her retirement Wednesday afternoon.
“My heart is filled with gratitude for Penn State. I came here as a student-athlete in July 1975 and have had countless opportunities to grow and make an impact because of the University and people like Ellen Perry, who hired me, and athletic directors like Tim Curley, Sandy Barbour and Pat Kraft, who have supported Penn State field hockey and me every step of the way,” she wrote.
As a coach, Morett-Curtiss established herself as one of field hockey’s best. She began her career with Old Dominion as an assistant in 1980 before moving to Boston College as a head coach in 1984. She returned to Penn State as the team’s fifth-ever head coach in 1987.
Morett-Curtiss holds a 575-239-16 record as a head coach. Those 575 wins, 541 of which came at Penn State, place her in the top five all-time among NCAA field hockey coaches.
In her long coaching career, Morett-Curtiss reached the NCAA Tournament 30 times, with six semifinal trips and two to the national championship. She also won eight Big Ten regular season and six Big Ten Tournament titles, as well as two Atlantic Ten regular season and tournament titles each.
Morett-Curtiss’ players were routinely among the best. As a head coach, she led 43 NFHCA All-Americans, 79 first-team all-Big Ten selections, six Big Ten Players of the Year, and 343 All-Big Ten academic honorees.
As a player, Morett-Curtiss’ time as a Nittany Lion was also impressive. She scored 50 goals across four years at Penn State and helped lead the team to four EAIAW regional appearances. She finished with 36 total wins, 13 of which came with the 1978 team that set the school’s wins record at the time. After Penn State, Morett-Curtiss won a bronze medal with the U.S. Olympic Team in 1984.
Despite coming off an impressive season in which she led Penn State to the NCAA semifinals, Morett-Curtiss feels that her departure is timely.
“It’s the right time. The program is in great shape, coming off the Final Four and a Big Ten Championship, with an experienced staff of Penn Staters, a new stadium on the horizon, and an athletic director in Pat Kraft who shares my vision for the program’s future,” she wrote.
While Morett-Curtiss will no longer serve as a coach at Penn State, she will remain with the school in an advisory role.
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