Maureen O’Shea was more than a lacrosse coach to hundreds of girls [Connecticut Post, Bridgeport]

Apr. 4--A wealth of collegiate athletes playing women's lacrosse at schools across the nation share a special connection -- they had the pleasure of being coached by Maureen O'Shea.

To the hundreds of young women that honed their skills under O'Shea's guidance, O'Shea was more than a lacrosse coach. She was a friend, a mentor, a mother figure. O'Shea was a person who had a knack for knowing which school was the best fit for a certain player. She knew how to make her players realize their potential, while instilling the confidence that helped them succeed in all aspects of life.

O'Shea, a Greenwich resident for more than 30 years, died March 13 at Greenwich Hospital after a battle with cancer. O'Shea, who was 56, is survived by her son Chris Moxhay, a former assistant women's lacrosse coach at Boston College, and her siblings, Brian O'Shea, Kevin O'Shea, Kathleen O'Shea, Stephen O'Shea, and Sean O'Shea.

She also has a special place in the hearts of the athletes she coached over the years at Convent of the Sacred Heart, Rye High School, Greenwich Youth Lacrosse and Connecticut Lacrosse Futures.

O'Shea enjoyed four memorable seasons (2002-05) as head varsity coach of the Convent of the Sacred Heart lacrosse team. The Tigers were contenders for the Fairchester Athletic Association title each year under O'Shea, and in 2003 they achieved their biggest win ever -- defeating rival Greenwich Academy for the FAA Tournament championship. The 16-13 victory marked the first time Sacred Heart ever beat GA.

"That was such a great game, that is one of the things I remember most about playing lacrosse at Sacred Heart," said Brennan Joyce, a 2003 Sacred Heart graduate, who played lacrosse at Boston College. "After years and years of trying to beat GA I don't think that it was a coincidence that she was the coach of the team that finally beat them."

Added Jennifer Pittman, also a 2003 CSH graduate, who starred at Dartmouth College: "Maureen was the best thing for the Sacred Heart lacrosse program. She brought so much intensity and organization to the team. We will always remember her for coaching the first team that beat GA."

Joyce, who was a senior captain for the Boston College, recalls the impact O'Shea had on her.

"Maureen taught me first and foremost that I was capable of doing anything," Joyce said. "She instilled so much confidence in me and taught me the importance of hard work. I wasn't always aggressive and passed the ball a lot. But my senior year she worked with me and gave me the confidence to take the shots when I had them."

Anne Mackel, who was O'Shea's assistant coach for three years at Sacred Heart, admired the positive influence O'Shea had on her players.

"I really respected how her involvement with the girls was not just about lacrosse," said Mackell, whose daughters Liz, Chloe and Isabelle each had O'Shea as a coach at different levels. "It was about life experiences and how they were going to take what they learned from lacrosse and incorporate it into whatever they did in life. Everything she taught them prepared them for life."

A graduate of Rye High School and Manhattanville College, O'Shea taught at New Lebanon Elementary School in Greenwich before becoming an insurance sales representative for Unum. Maureen started her own employee benefits consulting firm in Greenwich -- Focus Consulting -- in 1989 and soon became involved in youth lacrosse.

She helped expand the lacrosse program at the Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center and helped form the Fairchester Lacrosse Association, which focused on developing girls' lacrosse skills throughout lower Westchester and Fairfield Counties.

O'Shea also helped begin Greenwich Youth Lacrosse -- a lacrosse program for children from grades 1-8 that currently has an enrollment of approximately 1,000 participants. Always intent on promoting the sport she loved, O'Shea founded Connecticut Lacrosse Futures in 2001 -- a program for the premier high school girls lacrosse players from lower New England and Westchester County.

Through CTLF, O'Shea conduced clinics and camps and took teams to showcase tournaments all over the U.S. as well as several different countries.

"She would bring all these coaches from top Division I, II and III schools to come see us play," said Katie Linhares, a 2003 Greenwich High School graduate, who played lacrosse at Notre Dame. "She added this whole new program for us to get exposure for college."

Indeed, CTLF camps became a valuable source for college recruiters.

Hana Bowers, who graduated from GHS in 2008 and is currently playing at Dartmouth, enjoyed being a part of O'Shea's CTLF program.

"Our sophomore and junior year we went to Canada to play in a tournament," Bowers said. "It was so great. We got to know her on a personal level and we all had so much fun as a team. Maureen brought us all together and taught us so much."

The popular coach always took an interest in making sure her players were prepared for college and ultimately attended the school of their choice.

"She helped me get ready for the SATs. You needed to get 1,250 and above to get into the top tier schools," Linhares recalled. "Maureen went above and beyond what a lacrosse coach did. She helped everyone in different ways."

A memorial was held for O'Shea at Westchester County Club in Rye on March 20.

"So many girls told me stories at the memorial about how she helped them pick schools," Mackell said. "She always told the girls to pick the school that was the best school academically for them."

It was not uncommon to see former GYL and CTLF players come back to help O'Shea at clinics and camps.

"She pulled a lot of us back in to coach," said Linhares, who along with Pittman, aided O'Shea at a CTLF clinic this past December. "When we came home during summer and winter break we always looked forward to helping her out."

In a recent game between Dartmouth and Columbia, the players dedicated the contest to the memory of O'Shea. Players from both squads, nine in total, sported red arm bands (which was the color of the CTLF team) in her honor.

"What I learned from my experience with her is that school always comes first," said Cecilia Bowers, Hana's mother, who was O'Shea's good friend. "That is what made this club (CTLF) unique. She did a phenomenal job with all the girls. All of these young ladies, who have now graduated from college all say that she was their mentor. They all looked up to her."

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