Dear Penn State Athletics,

Char Morett-Curtiss is calling it a career after 36 years as the head coach of Penn State’s field hockey team. Morett-Curtiss, the winningest coach in the history of Penn State field hockey, will remain with the school in an advisory role. Longtime associate head coach Lisa Bervinchak-Love will be Morett-Curtiss’ successor and the sixth head coach in program history.

Simply put, Morett-Curtiss is a Penn State Athletics legend. As such, it’s only fair to do the right thing and name the Field Hockey Complex after her.

The Penn State Field Hockey Complex, which originally opened in 2005, is currently going through a $12.8-million renovation project. There’s no better time to add the legendary coach’s name to the complex than now.

Morett-Curtiss’ 575 career wins rank fifth all-time among Division I field hockey coaches, with 541 of them coming at Penn State. On top of that, she has won eight Big Ten and two Atlantic 10 regular-season titles, while also capturing six Big Ten and two Atlantic 10 tournament championships. She’s an eight-time NFHCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year and seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Morett-Curtiss is also one of the greatest Penn State field hockey players of all time. She scored 50 goals during her four seasons in Happy Valley, a program record that stood for 21 years, and was a two-time first-team NFHCA All-American. Morett-Curtiss is one of three Penn State field hockey players to play in the Olympics and earned a bronze medal in the 1984 games.

“She has been a mentor for so many young women, not only making them better field hockey players but preparing them for life after field hockey,” Pat Kraft, the vice president for intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement. “Her passion for Penn State, Happy Valley, women’s athletics, and field hockey, in particular, has shown through in everything she does.”

Morett-Curtiss’ name will always be tied to Penn State field hockey. During her time at Penn State, she has not only turned the field hockey program into one of the best in the country but has also become a cornerstone in women’s athletics.

Morett-Curtiss deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Joe Paterno and Cael Sanderson when it comes to Penn State coaching greats. She should be remembered at Penn State for as long as it exists, and naming the field after her would be a great start.

Sincerely,

Matt Brown