When it comes to Michelle Roach’s favorite day of the year, it’s an easy answer: Christmas Eve.
Gifts and holiday tunes are jolly, but for the two-sport coach in girls hockey and girls lacrosse, it’s more than that. It’s the alumnae skate for her Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading girls hockey program.
“It’s really important, and I don’t think the significance of it sets in for a lot of them that this is where we came from and what we’ve built,” said Roach, who grew up in Lynn, captained the hockey team at St. Mary’s, and now lives in Peabody. “It’s such a special thing.”
Speaking of being special, she might not admit it, but you could say her resume certainly qualifies. In 10 years of coaching girls hockey and four years helming Peabody High’s girls lacrosse program, Roach has been named Coach of the Year in both sports. She also captured conference titles in both this year, to boot.
“Each of these teams have their own identities,” said Roach, who works in human resources and volunteers with the Agganis Foundation. “They’re both awesome programs that I’m really proud of.”
The icewomen went 13-1 in the Northeastern Hockey League this past winter.
“Hockey, we’ve been building a little bit longer,” Roach said. “We’ve taken a program that won three or four games a season, and we have now been to the Elite 8 three times. … This has been, I think, our fourth league championship. This is not something the program could do before, and something I’m really proud of right now.”
A few months later, Roach hung up her winter coat and shifted gears to the lacrosse turf, but the success remained.
“We beat Burlington, Acton-Boxborough, and then Belmont,” Roach said of some upset wins. “We went undefeated in the league. That league championship was the first one in the NEC (Northeastern Conference) that Peabody has won. Things really came together this year.”
Goals and games are great, but Roach didn’t hesitate when asked what’s most important to her.
“The biggest part of coaching, I think, are the relationships that you build,” she said. “There are big themes that come out of athletics.”
One of those themes goes hand-in-hand with her go-to saying: “We can do tough things – even when we don’t want to.”
Truth be told, that’s just one – of many – things you’ll take away from playing with either program, according to Roach.
“You’re going to build relationships, build friendships,” she said. “You’re going to do awesome and you’re going to come back and visit.”
Come back, just like Roach did with coaching. She was “always around it” when her father, Bob, was coaching girls hockey. He was behind the bench with the original Lynn-Winthrop team, as well as Shawsheen Tech.
“Coaching was something that I was always around, and I saw it as an opportunity to get involved,” Roach said. “There aren’t many female coaches out there, especially in hockey. If you look at Division 1, of those top 20 programs, only three of them are coached by females.”
She also credits her brother, Stephen, for being by her side throughout the years.
“Another significant and meaningful aspect is having my brother on my coaching staff,” she said. “It’s incredibly rewarding and valuable to build our program together, and share this unique experience with him.”
Blink, and you just might be getting ready for another girls hockey season in a few months. And if there’s one thing that’s for sure, Roach will be ready.
“I feel grateful to do it each season,” she said. “I hope it’s something I can continue to do.”
