Marisa Didio (born 1956) is a former United States women's national field hockey coach, having coached teams for U.S. Olympic Festivals in 1989, 1990 and 1991, and at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. She represented the United States as a player at national level in field hockey (1978-1980) and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

(1978).

Career

Marisa played field hockey throughout college under the guidance of the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

's coach Jean Rillings. Jean then invited her to be her assistant field hockey coach after Marisa graduated in 1978. The following year she moved to the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

as assistant coach to Pam Hixon, Head Lacrosse Coach. Later in 1979 she moved to

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

where she was hired as Head Coach for lacrosse and field hockey at the age of 22. She stayed at Tuffts until 1983 when Jean Rillings resigned from the University of New Hampshire and Marisa returned to coach their field hockey and lacrosse teams until 1988. Under Didio's supervision the lacrosse and field hockey teams performed well in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

tournaments with many players representing both sports. In 1985 the UNH team won the National Lacrosse Championship and achieved second place in the NCAA field hockey championship in 1986 where they lost to the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

team under coach Judith Davidson. Marisa's first Olympic experience was in 1988 when she left UNH to assist Dutch coach Baldwin Castling with the U.S. Olympic team. She returned briefly to UNH to focus solely on field hockey as both athletes and coaches began to specialise in single sports. In 1990, Marisa moved West to

, Illinois, where she knew she would have the opportunity to compete in the NCAA's

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

and where she stayed for four years until 1994. During this time she was voted the Big Ten Coach of the Year. In 1996 she was again involved with the national Olympic team as well as coaching the U.S. Field Hockey Association development camps. She was hired as a consultant to review Yale University's programme, and in 1997 she was hired to implement the changes she recommended. This brought some success, with the team winning eight games in her first year and in 1998 the Yale women's field hockey team won the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...

Coaching philosophy

Athletic scholarships are not offered at Yale, and Marisa feels this allows athletes to play because they want to. She has described herself as a "70s kind of coach " and Marisa asks athletes to write and share a written statement about their ambition as a way to:

Personal life

Marisa spent her childhood in

Lynnfield, Massachusetts Lynnfield is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 13,000. Lynnfield initially consisted of two distinct villages with a single governing body. Lynnfield Center had a mostly agricultura ...

. Her father John Didio was President of Candy Co. and owner of the New England Oyster House, and her mother Jacqueline (née Williams) raised Marisa and her two older brothers Keneth Burnham and John Didio, Jr. As a child she swam for an

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

team and competed in field hockey and softball. She achieved a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from the

's College of Health Studies in 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Didio, Marisa 1956 births Living people New Hampshire Wildcats field hockey coaches New Hampshire Wildcats field hockey players UMass Minutewomen lacrosse coaches UMass Minutewomen field hockey coaches Tufts Jumbos coaches New Hampshire Wildcats women's lacrosse coaches Northwestern Wildcats field hockey coaches Yale Bulldogs coaches Lacrosse players from Massachusetts American female field hockey players Sportspeople from Lynn, Massachusetts 20th-century American sportswomen American women's lacrosse players