Carol Cline closes out a successful season
If you search the words “dynasty,” a “legacy” or “unrivaled” online, you will find a slew of teams coining itself the best.
But what exactly does it take to build a legacy? Become a dynasty? Or to be truly “unrivaled’ in what you do?
In Fulton County, at least, it takes more than 30 years, 700 players coached, more than 600 games played and 441 wins to build a monumental field hockey legacy.
But some will argue Carol Cline left her mark on Forbes Road field hockey long before her 38th season at the helm.
In Cline’s tenure coaching the Cardinals' field hockey team, the school has claimed 18 District 6 Championships, and she has won the Public Opinion’s Field Hockey Coach of the Year seven times.
This year is No. 8.
Over nearly 40 years of coaching it is hard to find a girl in Fulton County that Cline has not coached in some way or another. Cline even said she is beginning to coach third-generation FR field hockey players during her summer camps.
“Every kid I have on our team, either their mom played for me, their older sister or their aunt, or I had their dad in school at some point,” Cline said. “I’ve been fortunate that year after year we’ve been recycling moms who have played for me, daughters who have played for me, or their older sisters. I’ve have been really lucky on who I have.”
Cline led the Cardinals to their 18th District 6 championship this season with a 17-4 record and an appearance in the PIAA Tournament, in which the team was eliminated in the quarterfinal round thanks to a 7-0 loss to eventual state champion Twin Valley.
Forbes Road was the only local field hockey team to make it to the postseason, and one of just two teams to complete the season with a winning record.
But that is nothing new for Cline.
In 38 seasons, the coach has compiled an impressive 441-179-52 overall record for a .695 winning percentage.
Cline has raised the Forbes Road field hockey team like one of her own, beginning the team in 1977 while working in the library at her high school alma mater.
Flash forward a few decades and Cline is the most tenured coach in Franklin and Fulton counties, now that Chambersburg baseball coach Bob Thomas has retired.
“I’ll definitely do it another year and I’ll assess it from there,” Cline said, admitting that she has been fortunate to be able to coach her older granddaughters, like current FR junior Kristina Parsons, but would like to be able to spend time with her younger grandchildren who do not live in the area.
“My little guys are further away from me, so one of my big things is that I have to look at is my time with them. If they moved into the district I would coach until I died,” Cline said.