It is not uncommon for the impact of faculty in independent schools to be felt by the communities they serve. It is, however, a rare thing for one’s legacy to be as plainly obvious as that of former Pingree School Athletic Director, Alan McCoy.

When McCoy first arrived at Pingree in the Fall of 1978 as a two-season coach the small school in picturesque Hamilton, Massachusetts had just over a dozen teams plying their trade on the rolling fields of its campus. Over the years, McCoy took on further responsibilities that included student activities, a third sport, and ultimately the role of Director of Athletics.

In his more than two decades at the helm of the athletic program, Pingree’s athletic offerings more than tripled as the school continued to grow and thrive. While the Highlanders’ place in the landscape of NEPSAC was improving, so, too, was the physical landscape of the playing fields.

“One thing I am particularly proud of was the community project of building the athletic fields,” McCoy recalls. “All of that labor was done by faculty, staff, fields of the school, students. It was such an amazing project and to see those fields – which are so beautiful – come to life and provide that setting for the program is what I am most proud of.”

And the fields were just the beginning. Under McCoy’s watch Pingree added eight new tennis courts, an on-campus ice rink, upgraded fitness center and finally an expansive Athletic Center that served as a fitting capstone to the transformation of Pingree’s campus.

In the broader context of New England McCoy’s penchant for building spread to the formation of the Eastern Independent League, of which Pingree was a founding member alongside a number of all-girls and former all-girls schools and provided a platform from which these schools could organize, compete, and promote the common values they all shared.

For current Pingree Athletic Director Betsy Kennedy, the value she will always associate with McCoy is integrity.

“He operated with such a high level of integrity and has always kept the kids at the center of his focus,” said Kennedy, who succeeded McCoy in 2017. “In my own work I am constantly coming back to the example he set in terms of ensuring everything we do centers on the educational purpose of the program.

“He so deeply believed in the value of athletics as a tool for students to develop important skills in their lives. We always say here that ‘we stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us’ and when it comes to Alan that couldn’t be more true.”

Away from the athletic director’s office McCoy was a transformational coach of multiple sports but none more so than his medicine game, lacrosse. For 32 years McCoy led the Highlanders lacrosse program, claiming New England  titles on 12 occasions and a pair of US Lacrosse Eastern New England Coach of the Year honors.

He brought the game with him as part of an annual service learning trip to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Todd County, South Dakota where he helped launch their tribal lacrosse program among myriad social and civic initiatives that engaged students in true service learning. Back home, in partnership with Concord Academy, he helped launch the Chandler Bowl for Change which aligns competition with awareness for a charitable cause.

“His commitment to the value of civic engagement and service and the way that commitment has carried forward is such an incredible legacy,” said Kennedy.

For McCoy, he always valued the opportunities athletics offered to students at Pingree.

“Pingree has always been committed to offering opportunities to athletes of all abilities and interests,” McCoy said. “Lots of sports and lots of levels, which is something we have hung onto over the years and has made our program stronger.”

While firmly in retirement now, McCoy looks back at the decades spent within NEPSAC and remembers, first and foremost, the people.

“I was fortunate to work alongside so many incredible people, some who are likely more deserving of this type of honor than I am! Whether it was NEPSAC or within the EIL we always worked to find common ground and each time we were able to move things in a positive direction for the athletes, it was so rewarding. That’s really what it’s all about.”

 

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