CANTON, CT — Nancy Grace, a Canton High School graduate who went on to lead her alma mater to eight state field hockey championships as head coach, died Wednesday. She was 65.
Grace, who played field hockey and softball for the Warriors before graduating in 1976, went on to play at Springfield College. She returned to her hometown as a teacher and coach, and experienced success virtually unmatched in Connecticut high school coaching history.
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She spent 20 years in charge of the field hockey program, securing the school’s first Class S title in 1985, a co-championship with North Central Connecticut Conference rival Granby Memorial. A year later, the Warriors won their first outright title with a 3-1 decision over Old Saybrook.
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The decade of the1990s was particularly fruitful for Canton field hockey, as the school snared six Class S crowns between 1991 and 1999, including three in a row beginning in 1997.
Grace stepped down from coaching following the2004 campaign, which concluded with a 3-1 loss to Granby in the title contest. Her teams had three state runner-up finishes in addition to their eight championships, and also earned 11 conference titles during that span. She retired from coaching with just under 300 victories.
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In 2002, she was one of the inaugural honorees of the Canton Wall of Fame. She was inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012, and was named High School Coach of the Year by the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance in 1993. In 2000, she was a finalist for the Coach of the Year award by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.
Her success was not limited to field hockey. She coached Canton softball for 10 seasons, winning seven conference championships and the Class S crown in 1991. She also coached golf, and was one of the few female athletic directors in the area for about a half-dozen years in the mid-2000s. In addition, she was the Canton School District Teacher of the Year for 2012-13.
Several contemporaries told Patch Grace was among the most fierce, competitive coaches with whom they had ever been associated, but unanimously said that she was as highly respected as a coach as anyone who ever patrolled the sidelines in the state.
“We had wicked battles on the field, like two monsters, but when the game was over, we’d be having a cup of coffee together,” longtime Avon coach Terri Ziemnicki said. “She expected you to be your best and helped you get there. She was someone you wanted to emulate.”
Ziemnicki recalled occasions where her team bus pulled into the Canton High School driveway and the word “Graceland” was spray-painted on the hill.
“That was intimidating for visiting teams,” she said. “She taught me a lot, and I’m going to miss my pal.”
Hall of Fame coach Dot Johnson of Granby played Canton twice a year in regular season NCCC competition, plus countless times in league and state tournament action.
“We had an intense rivalry on the field, but after many years, we got to know each other and got to be more friends than rival coaches,” Johnson said.
Legendary Enfield coach Cookie Bromage, who opposed Canton numerous times during her 52-year tenure at the helm of the Raiders, said, “My heart is heavy, I’m so sad. She was a phenomenal friend who was fierce, competitive and brilliant. We would talk strategies on the phone and I would wind up taking notes. She loved her kids and got the most out of each one. She was a great coach, a great teacher and a marvelous and loyal friend.”
“Our field hockey community has lost a legendary coach,” former Somers coach and longtime CIAC tournament director Dawn O’Neil said. “She was very competitive on the field, but a true friend off the field.”
Canton athletic director Kim Hirth said, “Nancy was Canton. She invested so much of herself into teaching and coaching the Canton community, and she touched so many lives during her time here. I only knew her for a short time, but I felt like I knew her for my entire life, and that’s a testament to the way she could connect with people. She will be missed greatly by our town and school, but she will never be forgotten.”
A Celebration of Life is being planned for late October, Ziemnicki said.
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