The last few weeks have been painful ones for the Haddam-Killingworth athletic community. The Cougars not only lost one of their best coaches, but also the matriarch of the entire H-K athletics program, and someone who molded superb athletes and fine young adults.

Prior to the start of the 2016 season, H-K field hockey Head Coach Patsy Kamercia was diagnosed with a form of cancer called myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm unclassifiable disorder—a group of diseases in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells. The 2016 season turned out to be Kamercia’s final campaign as head coach of the Cougars and also one in which they earned a share of the Class S state championship.

On the morning of Nov. 3, Kamercia passed away at age 69. In her 42-year tenure as H-K’s head coach, she amassed 461 victories with 16 Shoreline Conference titles and four Class S state crowns.

Kamercia, a Southern Connecticut State University graduate who lived in Clinton, taught at Haddam Junior High School from 1971 until 1975. She went on to become the first athletic director at Haddam-Killingworth, as well as the first female in the state to hold that role at a public school, and then began her tenure as head coach of Cougars’ field hockey in the program’s debut campaign of 1975. Kamercia was inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame, the Connecticut State Coaches’ Hall of Fame, the Haddam-Killingworth Hall of Fame, and the Connecticut Athletic Directors’ Hall of Fame.

“Patsy was beloved by her players, colleagues, coaching staff, friends, and family. She was a friend and mentor to me, and I cannot imagine our community without her,” Haddam-Killingworth Athletic Director Lynne Flint said. “She was one of the toughest individuals I know. I am a better [athletic director] and person, because I had the privilege of working with her. I am devastated by the loss. It is very important to me to carry out her legacy and keep the traditions she worked so hard to create. She will never be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers are with her husband Michael and son Tripp.”

Guilford field hockey Head Coach Kitty Palmer and Kamercia got to know each other well as the years went on. Palmer said that Kamercia’s teams always echoed her passion for field hockey, along with a competitive fire to win.

“Patsy Kamercia was a rival of Guilford ever since I started coaching in the 1980s. She was the one who taught me how to register for the State Tournament the first year I ever coached,” said Palmer. “Through the years, Guilford has had a lot of very competitive games with H-K. We played them twice when we were in the same Shoreline league. When Guilford joined the [Southern Connecticut Conference], we maintained our out of league rivalry with H-K once a season. As opponents, we respected each other and the grit, effort, and enthusiasm each H-K team put forth. Patsy was a class individual, and all her players mirrored her love for the game and the H-K team. Field hockey has suffered a great loss.”

Westbrook Athletic Director Teg Cosgriff, who is also the field hockey chairman for the Shoreline Conference, was one many people who felt the void left behind without Kamercia on the field this fall. However, even though Kamercia wasn’t there, Cosgriff said the impression that she made on so many young women in the local field hockey community was still abundant.

“This season without Patsy on the sidelines was different for all of us. Her presence in our coaches’ meetings was also sorely missed. She has been a mentor to so many young ladies in her program over the last 42 years. She is not just a Hall of Fame coach, but a Hall of Fame person,” said Cosgriff. “To readily see the impact she has on the lives of the girls in her program now, but to see and meet the women who have played for her and know the esteem they hold for her speaks volumes of her influence on their lives. Her impact on so many peoples’ lives, both in and out of sport, is so significant it is hard to imagine. We all are blessed for knowing her, working with her, and competing with her. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Mike, family, and her H-K family.”

Janet Dickey was the opposing head coach for Kamercia’s last game when H-K and Westbrook played to a 1-1 tie in the 2016 Class S State Tournament final. Dickey said that Kamercia was fully immersed in her sport, her school, and the lives of the people she worked with.

“When I was thinking of what to say about Patsy, these words kept coming into my mind: passionate about the sport of field hockey, dedicated to H-K in every way—not just field hockey—and a great role model for the sport in our state,” Dickey said. “One of my players, when hearing about her passing told me, ‘She was surely a force you wanted to impress and coveted compliments from.’ I would totally agree with that. She was a great role model for me as a young coach and a true competitor that you wanted to have tell you what a great job your team did in the game as you were going through the line shaking hands.”

Dickey added that Kamercia was always looking out for her players—both past and present—as well as the athletes and coaches on opposing squads.

“She always made a point of chatting with my daughter Lili privately, both when she was in high school and on into college,” said Dickey. “She cared about her alumni just as much as she did when they were her players. I am so happy that I will have the memory of my first state title shared with her in what would be the last game and title for her. I know I will always hear her voice when I am on the sidelines at H-K, as her spirit will be there coaching those girls to victory. Our sport and our league has lost an amazing person, and I only hope we can all live up to her legacy.”

Kamercia has influenced families throughout multiple generations at Haddam- Killingworth, one of which is the Anderson family. Ann Anderson, the mother of four girls who played for Kamercia, also served as a scorekeeper with the Cougars’ field hockey squad.

“‘Tradition never graduates.’ That was the cornerstone of H-K field hockey and summarizes the core of the program that Patsy built over four decades. Every tradition is a time-honored treasure. I had the honor of having all four of my daughters be a part of the [H-K field hockey] family. That is truly what [H-K field hockey] is: a family,” Anderson said. “When I first met Patsy, it was 2007, and my oldest daughter Emily was a freshman on the team. Once she heard that I had played field hockey at Hand, she couldn’t wait to get out the scorebooks from those years to see how our teams fared against one another and how I performed in those competitions. We became fast friends, and it wasn’t long before I found myself as the volunteer scorekeeper for the team. This was a role I was honored to hold right through the 2016 state championship game.”

Emily Anderson, who played for H-K before graduating in 2011, said that Kamercia not only served as a great example of dedicating oneself to a team for long period of time, she also displayed the vigor that’s needed to get the most out of life. Anderson takes a page from Kamercia’s book when it comes to her own style as head coach of the Hamden Hall field hockey team.

“Every memory I have with Patsy, there was always one constant: her passion for life. She approached every practice and every game she ever coached with the same passion. It was contagious,” said Anderson. “I feel so incredibly fortunate that I can keep her legacy alive the best way I know how—through field hockey. I am a head high school field hockey coach, and I have her running through my veins in everything I do. That was just her nature and the way she did things. They stick with you forever. Coach Kamercia is not gone, not in the slightest. She is very much alive in her players, students, and people whose lives she touched.”

Anderson’s sister, Kiley Anderson, said that even though she didn’t travel down the field hockey path in college, Kamercia’s influence has stayed with her and motivates her to put everything she has into her craft each and every day.

“I’ve tried to write down my thoughts, but how does one do justice to one of the most influential women in their lives? I think what made coach so incredible was her ability to make a team into a family,” said Anderson, a member of H-K’s Class of 2014. “Every single day she brought the utmost dedication and passion to the sport. She had a way of believing in you before you even had a chance to believe in yourself. I want to thank her for always pushing me to be the best version of myself and playing the utmost instrumental role in helping make my three sisters and I into the athletes and people we are today. Even though I chose to play lacrosse and not field hockey at the collegiate level, I still carry everything that she has taught me with me when I step out onto the field. She was and is simply the best.”

Another of the Anderson siblings, Brinley Anderson, was a senior on the last H-K team that Kamercia coached in 2016. While claiming a state title that season, the Cougars also gained a ton of respect for their leader and the selfless way she lived her life. It means everything to Anderson that she helped Kamercia win a championship to cap off a coaching career that was filled with numerous victories both on and off the field.

“It feels special that the 2016 team was able to give Coach Kamercia her fourth state championship, especially after we found out what she was going through during the entire season. She didn’t tell any of us, because she wanted the season to revolve around us and not her illness, which in my mind speaks volumes to what a humble person she was,” Anderson said. “Coach Kamercia has made a lasting impact on me, not only has an athlete, but also as a person. She taught me so many life lessons that I will keep with me forever. She taught you to never give up on yourself and, even when you might have lost confidence in yourself, she never did. She also taught you to face every challenge head on, no matter the circumstances. I think she provided a perfect example of this by the way she faced her illness.”