Many coaches impact the lives of a group of student-athletes throughout
the year as mentors and advisors for one athletic team. Fran
Grembowicz does double duty.
Grembowicz,
who came to St. Lawrence as its women’s
basketball coach,
has a passion for several sports. When the Saint field hockey coaching
position became available through the retirement of former coach
Dotty Hall, Grembowicz, a member of the Castleton State College Hall
of Fame in that sport and Hall’s
assistant coach for several seasons, relinquished her basketball
duties and took over as head field hockey coach. When the athletic
program added softball in
a varsity sport in 2000, Grembowicz jumped at the opportunity to
coach that team as well, putting her in the unique position of being
head coach of two varsity sports.
Things can
get a little hectic during the “non-traditional” seasons
for whichever sport is in season at the time, but with the help of
good assistant coaches and the same kind of time management that
multi-sport athletes put to good use, Grembowicz works in fall ball
for softball and spring training for field hockey without missing
a beat.
Her field
hockey teams have been consistent post-season participants in each
of her seven previous seasons as head coach and the Saints are 61-28 with two
ECAC titles and an NCAA Regional Championship to their credit. Her teams in softball
have a conference championship, two state titles and four post-season appearances
in just six seasons as a varsity sport.
A proponent
of the combination of academic success and contribution to the university
community on the part of her athletes as well as field hockey and softball success,
Grembowicz has coached several New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic
Association Scholar-Athlete Award winners over the last several seasons.
