Minicus close to 400 wins
Milestone culmination of 30 years coaching at Tufts, Bowdoin, Rye and Darien
When a person is fortunate enough to get their first head-coaching position, the coach is typically grateful for the opportunity, will focus on the task at hand and rarely thinks about doing the job 20 or 30 years down the road.
Darien field field hockey coach Maureen “Mo” Minicus is one of the exceptions.
She is in her 30th season as a field hockey coach with stops at Tufts University, Bowdoin College, Rye
Country Day in New York and Darien.
“When I first started coaching, I think I did envision coaching this long,” Minicus said. “I love sports, my family loves sports and I love coaching.”
One thing she didn’t envision is reaching a 400win milestone in her career.
When Minicus graduated from Williams College in 1990 as an all-American in field hockey and lacrosse, she went to Tufts University to get her Masters Degree in education and was a graduate assistant from 1990-92. After graduating from Tufts she was offered the head field hockey and lacrosse coaching position at Bowdoin that she held from 1992-96. She went on to coach at Rye Country
Day (1996-99) and Darien (2000-present).
Minicus entered her 22nd season at Darien in 2021with a combined win total of 394 victories, including 327 at Darien. The Blue Wave host FCIAC rival Ridgefield on Friday at 7 p.m. with a 2-0 record, leaving Minicus four wins shy of the 400-win milestone.
“When it comes to 400 wins in my career, that was something I never envisioned,” said Minicus, who was inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014. “To be able to be around this long and hit that milestone, it comes down to this. I have always loved coaching.
“When it comes to the success at Darien, I give credit to my players, coaching staff and the youth program in town. I am surrounded by great coaches, players and families who love the game of field hockey and that really helps.”
The Blue Wave have a long history of success in the regular season, the FCIAC tournament and CIAC state tournament. Under Minicus’ watch the Blue Wave have won 11 FCIAC championships. They also won eight state titles with four Class M titles (2007-2010) and four Class L titles (2012-2014, 2016). They were Class L co-champs in 2014 with Glastonbury and in 2016 with FCIAC rival Staples.
What is Minicus’ secret to success?
“There is no secret to the success we have at Darien,” Minicus said. “Success breeds success. When we turned the table with our first FCIAC championship in 2003 after a 25-year drought, the girls started to believe and respect the
sport.
“Then the run from 2007- 2011 (93-game win streak) really attracted and produced field hockey players in this town. The rest is history. The next team
always wants to do better than the previous ones because the players here in Darien are driven, dedicated, serious, hard-working athletes. I love coaching them.”
Minicus has no intentions of retiring any time soon.
“I hope when it’s time to retire, I know it before anyone else,” Minicus said. “Right now, I’m all in.”