Coach Courtney Turner is ready to get the season going this week.
November 30, 2002 - Story by Mark Blaudschun, photos by Joshua Ross
The announcement was made with a touch of fanfare.
This was a hiring which might move the interest needle among the players as well as from a fan base which had been loyal, but waiting and wanting more.
Her name is Courtney Turner and she is the new Girls' Varsity ice hockey coach at HIngham School.
She is also 28 years old.and she is a rock star. But that's just part of the resume. Turner came out of Dexter Southfield School in Brookline as a hockey and lacrosse player who went on to become a star at Union College.
After college she was the first overall pick in the 2017 Canadian Women's Hockey League by the Bostono Blades, for which she played 3 seasons.
She played three more seasons with Team Bauer of the Professional Women's Hockey Association.
But there was more because Turner wanted more.
She picked up a Masters Degree in Special Education at Boston College, which morphed into a teaching-coaching position at Lovell Academy in Rockland, which now has turned into a job on the staff at Hingham High school as a special education teacher.
And...her next dream job, coaching her own team.
When Hingham girls' hockey coach Tom Findlay stepped down after last season's 11-11-1 season, Hingham athletic director Jim Quatromoni began a search for a change in direction.
He quickly focused on Turner, who was in her own transition period from full time player to full time coach.
"Really excited for her and her girls," said Quatromoni. "We are looking forward to seeing her embrace her new role without our program."
The excitement and the enthusiasm is more than returned by Turner, who conceded the crossover from playing was a challenge.
"I needed to make a professional decision," she said.
Her connection with Hingham was unexpected in a sense.
"I was browsing for a new job,'' she said. "And I saw the opening. Hingham hockey has always been a prestigious program and to get involved with that was exciting."
She concedes coming in as a newcomer in an established hockey community is a challenge.
"Coming in as a new face was awesome," she said, looking forward to tryouts which began this week. "I see a great group of leaders who have been totally supportive. I look forward to it and I want to make it clear, I will be available to the kids whenever they need me. I will always be watching out for them."
That commitment, combined with the narrow gap in ages has created a new level of excitement in Hingham girls hockey which Turner wants to spread throughout the hockey programs in town at all levels.
"We're going to shake things up with a new style of play," she says with the enthusiasm of someone who has an idea of the outcome."