Paula Hodgdon is a hall of famer three times over. For the many people whose lives she touched, each new accolade is a welcome chance to show her their gratitude.
Hodgdon coached generations of athletes across multiple sports at the University of Southern Maine. The Maine Field Hockey Association (MFHA) decided last year to honor her career by inducting her into its hall of fame.
The hall threw a party for new inductees at the Augusta Civic Center in December. But Hodgdon’s fellow Huskies wanted to do something special just for her. They planned a reception for Hodgdon on February 25 at the Costello Sports Complex on the Gorham campus.
“I always love to come back here, but I haven’t been for a long time. It’s nice to see people that I worked with,” Hodgdon said. “I really enjoy everything about the University of Southern Maine.”
The University was still known as Gorham State College when Hodgdon arrived in 1967 as an associate professor of Physical Education. Athletic opportunities for women were extremely limited. Almost immediately, Hodgdon began working with administration to create women’s varsity teams in basketball, field hockey, and volleyball. More sports would soon follow.
Hodgdon stepped in wherever she was needed. At various points in her career, she coached basketball, skiing, and lacrosse. The one constant was field hockey. She dedicated 31 years to the program until her retirement in 1997.
“I’ll call her a quiet, caring coach. She was very concerned for all of us and we felt that, almost like a mother figure to her players,” said Denise Morin. “She always included us in challenges that were faced by her. She was inclusive.”
Morin patrolled the right wing on the Huskies field hockey team from 1980 to 1982. She was a good passer and took pride in setting up other players to score. Morin transitioned into coaching and officiating at the end of her playing career. More than 40 years later, she’s still an active referee.
Morin was one of several past players who attended Hodgdon’s reception. Their voices filled the room with stories of their exploits on the field. The archival photos that were scattered on the walls and tabletops around them helped bring hazy memories into focus.
Hodgdon dipped in and out of conversations. Still looking fit at 95 years old, she bounced between clusters of guests, rarely pausing to sit down. When she didn’t have a comment to add, Hodgdon was just as happy to quietly watch as old teammate reconnected.
“It’s not just for me, it’s for them as well,” Hodgdon said. “I think it’s very important to have them come and let them know their former coach would like to talk with them and find out what’s going on.”
Much of the credit for organizing the reception goes to Bonny Brown-Denico. She succeeded Hodgdon as head coach of the field hockey team. They are the only two coaches in program history. But their names were first linked together years earlier.
Brown-Denico played for Hodgdon on the 1987 field hockey team that went to the final four of the NCAA Division III championship tournament. It was the first team from USM of any sport to reach that level. Brown-Denico admits to being spoiled by achieving so much success in her freshman year. Time gave her a fuller appreciation of Hodgdon’s leadership.
“Now I realize after all these years that it is so hard to get a team to have everything fall into place,” Brown-Denico said. “It’s really not about the huge championships. I mean, it’s awesome if it happens, but it’s about developing the students.”
The long view has paid off for Brown-Denico. Last fall, her team won the Little East Conference championship for the first time in 20 years. She wants to make sure her players don’t take their success for granted. Brown-Denico incorporates details of program history into pre-season team-building activities, so they know the doors that Hodgdon opened.
Those lessons made a lasting impression on Becky Manson-Rioux. She joined the field hockey team in Brown-Denico’s first year as head coach. Today, she coaches the Gorham High School team and also serves as vice president of the Maine Field Hockey Association.
Hodgdon’s nomination to the MFHA’s hall of fame first came up for consideration several years ago. Manson-Rioux is happy she was there to see the hall recognize Hodgdon for her transformative role at USM.
“How intelligent is she to have been able to do all that?” Manson-Rioux said. “I’m sure she came into roadblocks, and she just kept pushing forward and found support and made it into this.”
The USM community acknowledged her impact on campus by inducting Hodgdon into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1998, just one year after her retirement. The National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame followed suit by granting her membership in 2014. And more honors are on the horizon.
The Paula D. Hodgdon TrailblazHer Walk is a new event slated for April 20. Participants will walk a mile-and-a-half route through USM’s Gorham campus and surrounding neighborhoods. The money it raises will go to support the women’s side of Husky athletics.
A sign-up sheet for the walk made the rounds at Hodgdon’s reception. Jacob Kindestin was part of the marketing team behind the registration drive. He’s a junior majoring in Business and Marketing. As an ice hockey player, he shares the ice with the women’s team. Kindestin knows the women didn’t always have that chance and he’s glad for the change.
“There’s a lot of solidarity between both men’s and women’s programs at this school, and I think that’s something that’s going to continue to grow as time passes,” Kindestin said. “I think it’s something that only came to be thanks to Paula’s push to make field hockey as great a program as it was in her time coaching.”
Hodgdon also has an eye on the University’s future. She’s excited about the addition of a new golf team as the 12th varsity sport for women and the 23rd overall. Her former players remembered seeing that same enthusiasm on the sidelines. Her support meant a lot to them back then, and it still means a lot now.
“She had a huge work ethic with good values and morals,” Denise Morin said. “She’s a woman of integrity, and that’s what I think I have because of her.”