By Steve Sears

Legendary Pompton Lakes High School field hockey head coach, Eileen Allan, woke up one cold, March morning in 2022 and knew it was time.

She recalls, “We were driving down the shore, and I said to my husband, ‘I think it’s time. I want to leave knowing what I’ve accomplished this year in teaching and coaching. I want to remember Pompton Lakes and how it was when I went there, and when my children went there.”

Decision then made, Allan bid farewell to a 40-year teaching career and 37 years of coaching Cardinal field hockey, where she won 11 sectional titles, a Group II state crown in 1999, and 15 Passaic County Tournament championships. Allan also coached softball at Pompton Lakes.

“We still have a nice bunch of true Cardinals that still get together,” Allan, 61, says of former colleagues and friends that she often meets with. “That’s what makes it nice. You get to hear stories and reminisce, and Pompton Lakes will always hold a special place in my heart. I actually went through the school system, so it was very emotional. 49 years of my life was spent at Pompton Lakes. That was my home away from home, so leaving there was hard.”

After playing field hockey for three seasons and graduating Pompton Lakes High School in the late 1970’s, Allan attended East Stroudsburg University, and then returned to her alma mater to coach in 1984. That first season, the team struggled and won just one game, but Allan and her players stuck with it, through the years building the program and improving. Her 1999 17-1-2 club, which snared the Group II title against Collingswood High School, 3 – 0, may have been her best. The prior year, the Cardinals were runners-up in the state tournament, but learned a key lesson, “The first time we played West Essex in the states, I think we lost 8 – 0,” Allan recalls. “Fast forward to the following year, I think after seeing a team of that caliber, our team knew we didn’t have the skill that they had, but we had heart. I remember one official said it was like a mound of ants swarming into the goal because they were just so hungry to beat that team. And we ended up beating West Essex, and we beat Madison. Sometimes it comes down to heart, and I always told my teams that.”

Along with heart, Allan also credits a few other things with the success of her program. “My success came with the support of my administration. They let me be who I am, and my kids believed in me. They would do the extras. For example, we just didn’t play during the season; we got involved in many clinics that were out there. Then, once we were allowed to have access to our kids, we did the weight room every day for the month of July, so I was there with the girls. And then there was always going to the field. There were days that I would like to take the day off, but they wanted to go there. I think that built the chemistry of my program. I attribute it to the work ethic of my athletes, the time commitment.”

Allan was also fortunate enough to coach her own family members. Her three nieces, Megan Moyle, Allison Moyle Jones, and Melissa Moyle Laccitiello, two daughters, Danielle and Lauren, and her great nieces, Kaitlyn Laccitiello and Erin Moyle, all played field hockey for her during her coaching career.

When asked if she could name her All-Cardinal field hockey team, Allan doesn’t hesitate. “Every athlete I coached. Everyone brought something to the field. Everyone that I coached would bring me chills, because there was something special about each and every one of them.”

Allan often told her players that it really wasn’t about the wins and losses, but something much more important. “When they get together 10 or 15 years from now,” Allan says, “I always tell the kids you’re not going to be talking about your college years. Most of you will go back to your high school years. It’s about building lifetime memories with the friends that you played with.”