Glenbard West field hockey coach Karen Judge walks through a hockey stick tunnel Sept. 19 at Memorial Field in Glen Ellyn.
Courtesy of Jed Shasteen
Always the competitor, Glenbard West High School field hockey coach Karen Judge’s focus on the field didn’t allow her to notice all the people in the stands wearing white T-shirts bearing the same message.
“In Judge We Trust.”
They’ve trusted her with the Hilltoppers’ field hockey program for its entire existence.
After Glenbard West beat Naperville North 7-0 at Memorial Field in Glen Ellyn, Judge shook hands with Huskies coach Matt Van. Hilltoppers assistant Shona Hay then led her to midfield where Glenbard West players formed a tunnel with their raised sticks.
“I thought, ‘What is this all about?’” she told the Daily Herald.
Judge soon realized she was the subject of a tribute for her 20 years and 250 victories. Sarah Tuscher, whose daughter, Marin, is a Hilltoppers cocaptain, organized the event.
On the far end of the stick tunnel were Judge’s family members and field hockey players, parents, and school administrators spanning her career.
“I guess I was overwhelmed and speechless. It was a very humbling experience for me,” said Judge, at 253 wins entering Wednesday’s game against the Latin School.
“I’ve been coaching for a long time. I do this because I thoroughly enjoy working for Glenbard West and the community and the athletes that I’ve been with over the years. There’s nothing prideful in this, it’s all humble. I’m glad I have the opportunity to do things like this still.”
One of 22 head coaches this season for teams in the Illinois High School Field Hockey Association, Judge’s athletic career predated Title IX.
A three-sport athlete at West Leyden, Judge played field hockey, basketball and softball at Northern Illinois University from 1971-74.
Her first job in education came 50 years ago at Pekin High School before she arrived at Glenbard West in 1979. She retired as a physical education instructor in 2007.
A former varsity badminton coach, Judge coaches lower-level girls basketball and softball for the Hilltoppers in addition to field hockey.
On Sept. 19 at Memorial Field, USA Field Hockey’s Ginger Wheeler read a speech written by Sally Goggin, USA Field Hockey’s national development director.
It was Goggin, of Glen Ellyn, who approached Judge about starting a program at Glenbard West. Judge later coached Goggin’s daughter.
“She really should be the one who should be celebrated, not me,” Judge said of Sally Goggin.
“But it was definitely a surprise,” she said. “I had no idea that the community and the program and the administration put all this together without me knowing anything about it.”
Judge, who already has an engraved brick in her honor embedded at the entrance to Memorial Field, called the tribute “touching.” She has no concrete plans to stop coaching.
“Number one, I’m a competitor, I like the competition part of it,” she said.
“The community and the athletes that I’ve been coaching are so coachable, the administration has been so supportive and my coaching staff has been the best over the years. So put all that together, and it’s hard to say no.”
Glenbard West field hockey coach Karen Judge, who started the program in 2004, was honored Sept. 19 at Memorial Field. Joining the celebration were Glenbard West Principal Ben Peterselli, left, and athletic director Joe Kain.
Courtesy of Jed Shasteen
Speed racers
From Sleepy Hollow, Woodstock and Crystal Lake, respectively, Trevor Kreplin, Eleri Scott and Caleb Adams got back Sept. 22 from Italy after competing at the World Skating Championships for inline skating.
Members of the Xtreme Speed club that trains at Xtreme Wheels Roller Skating & Family Fun Center in Crystal Lake, they had qualified for the 24-member USA World Team.
From Sept. 13-21 skaters competed in a variety of events in Montesilvano and Sulmona, Italy, from 100-meter sprints to races on a parabolic track to a full marathon-distance race.
Scott, 19, was in her second world championships, but her first was kind of a wash since she got wiped out by skaters who fell in front of her.
Kreplin, 21, and Adams, 15, each skated in their first World Championships.
“For their first time they skated well,” said Jamie Adams, team manager for Xtreme Speed and an apprentice manager for the USA World Team. She’s also Caleb’s mother.
“No medals, but we don’t just skate for medals, we skate for position next year. They skated hard,” Jamie Adams said.
The 2025 World Skating Championships will be held in China, she said. The next event for her skaters comes in January, the Emerald Coast Challenge near Pensacola, Florida.
Congratulations
The Illinois Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will present its 2024 Lifetime Service Awards and recognize several others with prestigious awards on Oct. 6 in Alsip.
Fenton graduate and University of Minnesota wrestler Ed Giese, 32-year Hinsdale South coach Mike Matozzi, and Grant grad John Welter, who has coached at Grant, Lakes and Grayslake Central over 53 years, are among those receiving the Lifetime Service Award.
All are members of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame. Matozzi was the IWCOA “man of the year” in 2013.
In addition, SSgt. Adam Sikes, a Lake Zurich graduate and wrestling team captain, will receive the Illinois Chapter’s Medal of Courage.
A Silver Star recipient for his work during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the Marine later was recruited by the CIA as a paramilitary operations officer — and by Hollywood as a consultant.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com