"I knew it was going to be a challenge when I got the job five years ago," says Sally Whittaker-Kahan.

But her battle with fibromyalgia became "too tough" and the 38-year-old Northampton High School softball coach tendered her resignation last week and it was accepted by the Northampton Area School Board.

"You never get a chance to chill out, and, although I was elated when our girls won the District 11 championship last year, I just couldn't celebrate as I should have. I was in too much pain," Whittaker-Kahan said. "I knew as a coach there would be stress - good and bad - but it got to be too much to handle. It just wouldn't be fair to the girls. I told them there's more to life than softball."

Whittaker-Kahan added, "I want to live a better life that includes more time with my husband (Barry) and family."

Whittaker-Kahan, who turned 38 this week, is a career exploration teacher at Northampton Middle School and wants to "be a better teacher and pursue a master's degree."

The Konkrete Kids won the District 11 title last spring and finished the season with a 22-3 record, going 13-1 in the Lehigh Valley Conference and rode an 18-0 record at one point.

Her record for five years is 80-38, averaging 16 wins a year and reaching the District 11 playoffs each of her five seasons.

The Parkland High and DeSales University hall-of-famer says having fibromyalgia "feels like having the flu without a fever" and she also is recovering from surgery on a herniated disk in her back.

As for Northampton's future in softball, "I recommended to Todd Bowser (NHS athletic director) that my staff (Bob Hock, Stef Kerbacher, Kevin Mann and Julie Maurek) return. I also know there will be plenty of other coaches seeking the job at an established program."

Whittaker-Kahan concluded: "I didn't leave because I lost a lot of talented girls … as a matter of fact, the talent coming up is mind-blowing. I'm not going to coach anywhere else and I wasn't forced out of my job. It's just time to leave coaching."