Mrs. Catherine Catanzaro
From cracking a joke in her freshman Wellness for Life classroom to motivating her girls on the Varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams, Mrs. Catherine Catanzaro impacts LFHS in too many ways to count.
Juggling a busy schedule work schedule with two kids to take care of, she has a ‘get-it-done’ mentality that she uses to keep both herself and her teams going.
Senior Emma O’Connor, who has been on the Varsity Lacrosse team for four years, said “she’s always there for me with constructive criticism on how to make my game better.”
Specifically, her response to COVID-19 has been a real inspiration by keeping her lacrosse team motivated and continuing to hold them accountable through a shared workout log, an athlete handbook, and team Zooms two or three times a week.
“She has made quarantine a lot better with team Zoom meetings,” continued O’Connor.
Junior Sophie Gamit agreed and said that “she’s the best support system to have during this time.”
Not any student-athlete can push through a 12x 100 yd sprint in the freezing rain, but when you see Coach Cat motivating her teams by saying things like “Ladies, this is where you need to push,” you know she wants the best for everyone.
“I always want to do my best for Coach Cat,” Freshman Caroline Keil said.
Princeton field hockey commit Gracie McGowan said she trusts Catanzaro with everything and can go to her for anything she may need.
“I don’t think I’ve cried in front of anyone more,” she said.
Besides being a full-time mom, her state-winning field hockey team is one of her biggest commitments. Starting in the summer, they play through the fall and all the way into the state championship.
“She cares about each and every one of her student-athletes both in and out of school and sports,” said Gambit.
One of the bigger messages she pushes to her players is that nothing worth having comes easy. Junior Gianna Pasquesi loves this message of Catanzaro’s, and says that she is one of the most motivating and dedicated coaches she has ever had.
“She truly cares about each player and pushes them to become the best athletes they can be,” she said.
She treats her athletes like her kids with an equal balance of pushing them to limits they didn’t know they could pass and inspiring them.
“Coach Cat is one of the only coaches that I have had that has truly believed in me. She makes her players feel important when they succeed. She is truly the funniest and most devoted coach ever,” senior Eleni Ballis said.
Her tough love is a characteristic that pushes her athletes to do their best for the team, their teammates, and themselves in that order. Overall, she is a beloved coach by many athletes and has taught the value of hard work and commitment to hundreds of students through sports.