Judy Lee, one of Pingry's longest-serving varsity coaches and a New Jersey Coaches Hall of Fame inductee, who has led the Varsity Field Hockey Team since 1985 (she was a Pingry math teacher for just as long), recently announced her retirement. Over the course of 30 years and over 420 wins, she produced teams that earned four Group I State Championships (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004), 12 County Championships, five Sectional Championships, and 11 Conference Championships. Her tenure as 29-year Head Coach of the Girls' Varsity Swim Team, a position from which she retired last spring, was equally celebrated.
Following in the footsteps of such a successful and respected coach is no easy task, but Mrs. Lee passes the reigns to an enthusiastic Julie Delinsky, former Division I player and winning coach in her own right.
From 2006-2013, Mrs. Delinsky, who has a master's in sports administration from St. Thomas University and a second master's degree in clinical counseling from Johns Hopkins, served as head coach of the girls' varsity field hockey team at The Bullis School, in Potomac, Maryland. She oversaw both the middle and high school programs, and led a varsity team that experienced eight consecutive winning seasons during her coaching tenure. In 2012, the team had an undefeated season, and, for the first time in the school's history, won the Independent School League (ISL) Championship.
In addition to coaching, she held several other roles while at The Bullis School, including Athletic Director (2008-2010); Grade 7 and 8 health teacher (2006-2008); Assistant Director of Financial Aid and Admissions Associate (2008-2010); and Lower and Middle School Counselor (2012-2014). In this last position, she developed and implemented social and emotional education curriculum for students in Grades 2 through 8, in addition to providing direct counseling. Her counseling experience, she says, in addition to her first graduate degree in sports administration, have both been integral to her development as a coach.
"The sports administration degree helps me understand schools and have an appreciation for how things have to be run. The counseling degree gives me a deeper understanding of my interaction with the girls, which is really what I love most about being a coach."
Prior to The Bullis School, she was head coach of the field hockey team at The Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland, leading the school to its first WCAC League Championship in 2003, with a repeat appearance a year later. For five years, she also served as coach of the Washington Wolves and the Jackals, both elite regional field hockey clubs that develop youth talent.
At the University of Miami in Ohio, where she earned a B.A. in speech communication, she was a four-year member of the school's Division I varsity field hockey team, serving as captain both her junior and senior years. As a senior, she was named MVP of the team. Joining a mid-pack college team after being part of a state championship team all four years at her high school (Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland), she learned valuable character lessons from each experience, and these lessons are what she appreciates most about the sport.
"Hard work, dedication, success, failure, teamwork—I just love being a part of and facilitating these skills. To see a team come together and work together, watching girls develop an appreciation for one another, even if they're not the closest of friends, is such a gratifying experience as a coach."
In 2014, Mrs. Delinsky's husband, Andrew, who was Assistant Head of School and Upper School Principal at The Bullis School, was offered the position of Headmaster at The Peck School, and their family (they have three children) relocated to New Jersey. In the fall of 2014 and 2015, she served as an assistant varsity coach for Oak Knoll's field hockey team, as well the head coach of their JV team in 2015.
Pingry's Director of Athletics, Carter Abbott, is very pleased to welcome her to campus. "In the more than three decades that Coach Lee led the team, Pingry's Varsity Field Hockey Team benefitted tremendously. She left quite a legacy. We are excited for Julie to build on this legacy and forge her own as she takes the program's helm. She has a proven record as a head coach and we can't wait for her to bring her expertise to Pingry."
After all her coaching experience, what excites Mrs. Delinsky most about coming to Pingry? "Meeting the girls and getting to know them and their families," she answers. "I'd like to be a part of their high school experience and hopefully add to that experience. I'd like to bring the program to new places, continuing Coach Lee's legacy. Clearly, she has a strong program in place and very dedicated athletes, so I feel lucky to be joining such a team."
Contact: Andrea Dawson, Senior Writer, adawson@pingry.org