By Steve Bigham

S

ince 1985 the Pomperaug High School field hockey program has captured 10 league titles, four state titles and the respect and admiration of the communities of both Southbury and Middlebury . . . not to mention others around the state.

Behind this machine is former Newtown resident and coach Linda Dirga, a woman who has devoted much of her life to showing young women the road to success. Along the way, Linda has been a leader in the effort to change the way society looks at female athletes, opening doors that had been locked shut during her playing days.

To date, the Pomperaug head coach has compiled a record of 236-25-21 and has been honored with just about every coaching award in the state. Earlier this year, she was named one of the top seven Connecticut high school coaches of the 20th century.

This week, we honor Linda Dirga’s accomplishments by inducting her into the Newtown Sports Hall of Fame.

A Dream Fulfilled

Linda arrived in Southbury back in the early 80’s after landing a job as a physical education teacher at Rochambeau Middle School. She would soon take over what had been an up and down field hockey program and in just a few years transform it into a state powerhouse.

Linda set out to instill in her players both pride and love for the game. Her no-nonsense approach and deep knowledge of the game quickly got everyone’s attention. And, having raised three children of her own, she also brought along a deep compassion for her players, whom she calls extensions of her own family. Her Future Stars Field Hockey Camp she runs each summer has also made a big impact on the program.

As a middle school physical education teacher, Linda managed to create interest in the sport of field hockey among girls in Southbury/Middlebury much earlier that in other towns. Girls started picking up the sport at age 10 rather than age 14 or 15. By the time they reached Linda at the high school, they had already learned the basics. This allowed their coach to focus more on the X’s and O’s.

Meanwhile, girls in other towns were just picking up their sticks for the first time.

The titles began to come quickly and with them came tradition – the kind of tradition that made young girls take notice. The trophies, the scholarships, and most importantly, the smiles have been great selling points for Linda’s program, which always manages to attract the school’s finest athletes.

Pomperaug has won three of the last four CIAC Class M state titles. But as Linda points out, it is not the individual teams that are successful. It is the overall program that is successful.

Linda spoke this week of her career, her family and the passion that burns deep inside her.

“I guess we all have to have purpose,” she said. “If you have a purpose then you will have a great life.”

Linda’s “purpose” has been teaching hundreds and hundreds of young women how to become the best at whatever they do.

“It’s all about teaching them to commit and to take themselves to the limit,” she said.

 The experience has been the ultimate fulfillment for Linda, an ex-athlete herself, who did not always have it so easy. The coach admits she still harbors some resentment over the fact that she was never allowed to reach her full potential as a female athlete growing up. The stigmas of days gone by labeled Linda and other like her “tomboys.”

“I do have strong feelings about gender equity. I resented that I could not compete as hard as I would have liked. That’s a lot of who I am today,” she said.

Of course, the days of women not being accepted as athletes are long gone thanks in part to Title IX, which helped change the face of women’s sports by guaranteeing equal opportunities for both men and women in the world of sports. Most importantly, however, it has been the work of people like Linda Linda who have allowed women to experience the joys of athletic competition and the friendships they create.

The records? Well those are great, especially when as a coach you have won better than 90 percent of your games. Linda will be the first to tell you that wins and losses are the bottom line, but most importantly, Linda says, it’s all about the people and Linda is indeed a people person.

In a career filled with memorable moments, Linda told us she could not think of one particular moment above all the rest.

“I guess every year at the banquet saying goodbye and knowing I’ve done my job is the most special moment. All I remember is that even when we lost, I felt like a winner,” she said.

And those losses have come few and far between. Pomperaug has only lost two games over the last four years. It won Western Connecticut Conference (WCC) titles in 1986, ‘87, ‘88, ‘92, ‘94 and ‘95 and South-West Conference (SWC) titles in 1996, ‘97, ‘98 and ‘99. State titles came in 1989, ‘96, ‘98 and ‘99.

The Early Years

Linda grew up in Dedham, Massachusetts where she excelled at both basketball and field hockey. She then took her game to Arnold College (at the University of Bridgeport) where she was captain and star player under the tutelage of Angela Poisson – the woman Linda credits with having the most influence on her career. Poisson was the captain of the national field hockey team and took Linda under her wing. Linda played on club teams that traveled the country competing against some of the nation’s top players and along the way she met Constance Applebee, founder of field hockey in the United States. In her 80s at the time, Applebee observed Linda’s game, telling her she was a very good player – if only she would run a little more.

Soon after college, Linda would marry her husband, Fred Dirga, and would start the field hockey program at Bethel High where she also taught. In the winter, she coached the Bethel girls’ basketball team where she lost just one game during her two-year stay.

By the late 60s, however, Linda and her husband started a family and her coaching career took a back seat. First came Stacey, then Jennifer and finally Rick. During her 12-year absence from high school coaching, Linda coached youth sports and taught tennis. She returned to the high school ranks in the late 1970’s when she was hired as a physical education teacher at Newtown High School. Working beside female coaches like Deanne LeBeau and Pam Northrop, Linda’s enthusiasm for high school coaching picked up where it had left off. In fact, Linda led the NHS girls’ track team to a league title during her only year as head coach.

Soon after, however, Linda lost her job due to budget cuts and Newtown said goodbye to a woman who would go on to become a coaching legend.

Not long after, Linda landed a teaching job at Rochambeau and was later handed the Pomperaug field hockey coaching position. The rest is history, although the future of the field hockey program continues to look bright. Linda, whose hobbies include kayaking, figures she will coach another four years and admits she has her eye on 300 wins.

“As long as I’m happy in doing something and feel good about it, and respected, I’m going to continue to do it,” she said.

Like anything else, Linda’s success has not come without hard work and she has an unwavering attention to detail. She describes herself as an aggressive coach who tells her players like it is. She’s also tough and there is never any doubt as to who is charge on the field.

“I treat them as women athletes,” she said, pointing to pictures of her former players on the wall in her office. “These two are playing at UConn, these two are playing at Providence, she’s playing at Colgate, she’s at Bowdoin, she’s at Virginia . . .”

Linda, who now lives in Middletown after 33 years in Newtown, knows most of the college field hockey coaches and they usually come a runnin’ when she comes a callin’. You see, Linda has seen enormous talent pass through her program over the years and she knows who is college material and who is not. But don’t think for a minute that the Pomperaug coach treats her MVP any different from her bench players. Everyone has a role on Linda’s team and her athletes understand that their individual contributions are key to the program’s success.

Another season draws near and while Linda has lost some of her top players to graduation, another winning season appears in the cards. Young athletes waiting in the wins are now ready to step up. Success breeds success.

Just ask Linda Dirga.