By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/22/09
After a coaching career full of highlights at all levels of play, MaryAnn Foley Schiller is returning home to where it all began.
Foley Schiller, a 1986 Marple Newtown grad and Hall of Famer who has coached at Division I Boston College and Division III Haverford College, has been named head coach of the Tigers’ lacrosse team.
Foley Schiller was a three-sport standout at Marple Newtown who starred in lacrosse at Penn State and was a member of the Nittany Lions’ National championship teams in 1987 and 1989.
Early in her coaching career, Foley Schiller was an assistant at Swarthmore College (1992), the College of New Jersey (1993) and at Penn State (1994-95) before serving as head coach at BC from 1996-2000. She coached at Haverford College from 2002-08, and she was an assistant at Penn Charter in 2009.
Foley Schiller replaces good friend and former Penn State teammate Cheri McMonagle, who resigned after 13 years as coach to spend more time with her family.
Foley Schiller already got the chance to come home in 2001 when she coached the Marple Newtown field hockey team for one season, leading the club to the Central League championship with an undefeated mark.
“I have been fortunate to get a couple opportunities to go back (home) to coach,” she said. “When I went back to Penn State it was the easiest job in respect to recruiting because I was constantly speaking from my heart.
“Then when I went back to Marple to coach field hockey, it was so easy to show how much pride I had. It worked; those kids were awesome and we had the right combination.
“I am approaching this with the same excitement. I have a lot of pride. Cheri’s worked hard, and hopefully I can pick it up and bring it to the next level.”
The Tigers went 8-10 last year, but Foley Schiller is optimistic.
“I want to show how great Marple lacrosse is,” she said. “My philosophy has always been on winning, but I focus on all the little steps. I feel that a successful practice occurs when everyone is working hard.
“I also strive to be a great communicator.”
Foley Schiller played field hockey, basketball and lacrosse for four years at Marple Newtown and was named team MVP in each sport. She helped both the lacrosse and field hockey teams win the Central League title. She was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
She played varsity field hockey for three years and varsity lacrosse for four years at Penn State and helped the Lions to the NCAA Division I field hockey tournament semifinal round as a freshman.
In lacrosse Foley Schiller helped Penn State reach the semifinals all four years. She was a regional All-America selection twice and is among the Lions’ top 10 career goal scorers.
Schiller also served as head field hockey coach at Haverford College for five years.
