According to a published report, Cocalico girls’ basketball coach Abbie Houck has resigned her post with the Eagles. The former Cocalico and Elizabethtown College star recently had her first child. Hopefully it won’t be very long before Abbie is back in the coaching ranks. This leaves two coaching openings in the L-L League girls’ ranks: Cocalico and Ephrata. Here is the story about Abbie’s resignation:
By TODD RUTH
Lancaster County Weeklies
truth.eph@lnpnews.com
As a player at Cocalico in the mid-90s, Abbie Houck led the Eagles’ basketball program to new heights, which included an L-L runner-up finish and a State playoff berth in 1997.
As head coach of the Eagles, Houck pretty much did the same thing in her six years at the helm. Taking over a struggling program, Houck quickly turned the Eagles back into an L-L powerhouse, and Cocalico maintained that status for much of the duration of her tenure.
With six seasons in the books, however, Houck has decided to put her coaching career on hold after the recent birth of her first child, son, Joseph.
Houck recently resigned from the post she held since taking over the helm in 2001 right out of college after a brilliant collegiate career at E-town.
Tuesday afternoon, she explained her reasons for stepping down at this time.
“Being a varsity coach is just such a commitment,” she said. “You are doing something all year round. Every night of the week during the season you are doing something whether it’s watching an elementary game or coaching your own game. It is just too much with starting our new family. And having a child definitely changes your priorities.”
Houck leaves her post just nine wins shy of 100 in her short career, going 91-65 over six seasons. Her teams advanced to States once (2002), made five District playoff appearances and captured one Section title in 2006, her best season in which the team finished 20-6.
This past season was the only non-playoff year, in which the Eagles struggled to a 5-18 mark.
“I definitely have memories from every team I coached,” she said when asked of her fondest memories in her six years. “Every year you have different players and different personalities and that’s what I’m going to miss the most. I’m really going to miss the relationships with the girls. That’s the hardest thing for me, missing that daily contact with the girls.”
Houck credited the players over the years for making the commitment to better the program.
“I think a lot of it was the players,” she said. “The effort was there from them to put forth the proper work ethic that was needed. The players definitely deserve the credit.”
“I’m definitely proud of what we accomplished all the way down to the elementary level,” she continued. “We developed a complete program which is something I’m very proud of. This year was a struggle but the girls worked hard. And I think whoever gets the job will be walking into a good situation from the elementary level on up.”
As for her future, Houck said she is looking forward to spending quality time with her family. She also didn’t rule out returning to the sidelines sometime in the future.
“I think (coaching) is something I’ll definitely get back into if it’s something I desire to do at that time,” she said. “I really haven’t had a year off from basketball since like sixth grade so I’m definitely going to enjoy the time off, especially with our new family.”
