Emmaus field hockey coach Sue Butz-Stavin is now the all-time leader in wins by a high school field hockey coach after her team defeated Dieruff 15-0 last week. The win was the 840th in the 40-year career of Butz-Stavin, whose team has a current streak of 26 straight District 11 championships to its credit. The win pushed Butz-Stavin past former Shore Regional coach Nancy Williams, who finished her career after the 2013 season.

Ironically, Butz-Stavin almost never became the Emmaus coach. She had just returned from Australia, where she was involved in the sport, and was looking for a high school coaching job. She had concerns that taking over a successful program like the one at Emmaus might be a difficult task for a 22-year old first-time coach. Especially taking over for a well-respected coach like Ginny Huber.

“I turned down the offer quite a few times, because I didn’t know if I could fill Ginny Huber’s shoes,” said Butz-Stavin. “She had an amazing record from when she started and went to the first state championship game in ’74 and they lost in penetration time. She had a lot of wins in the different conferences when they started and she had a lot of success. When you come into a program like that, you’re never quite sure.”

Butz-Stavin was asked recently about all of the miles that she’s traveled as a soccer coach. She took the time to run some numbers and came up with a staggering answer.

“It came out to over 300,000 miles over all of the years,” she said. “I don’t think the stipend pays for all of the gasoline, but that’s neither here nor there; I love coaching. I love working with the girls and love sharing my passion for the game and helping to develop these young ladies.”

In addition to the miles she’s traveled, Butz-Stavin estimated that somewhere in the neighborhood of 135 players have gone on to play at the college level, receiving a combined amount of somewhere over a million dollars in scholarships.

After the win, athletic director Dennis Ramella presented Butz-Stavin with a plaque holding a ball from her 500th, 700th and 800th win. Aball from win number 840 will be added.

Now that the milestone has been reached, Butz-Stavin will be happy to be more in the shadows and let her players get the attention for their accomplishments. The win came early enough in the season that it didn’t cause a distraction for her players and she’s looking for a return to normalcy.

“In a way, yes,” said Butz-Stavin when asked if she’s glad the attention of the milestone will die down. “I want to be able to prep these kids for their next, hopefully, 20-some games this coming season. It’s early in the season and yeah, it’s back to business. I appreciate everyone coming out here, it’s a great honor and when you get to 40 years and you get wins, it adds up.”

In a nice plot twist, Emmaus junior Meredith Sholder used the occasion of her coach’s historic win to score five goals and add two assists. The five goals put Sholder at 100 for her career, making her the sixth Emmaus player to achieve that lofty goal.

Sholder trails Cindy Werley, Christie Berta, Christin McCann, Christina Bortz and all-time leader Allison Evans on the list of all-time scorers. Evans record 158 career goals could be broken by Sholder before she finishes her playing career. Sholder has given an early commitment to play field hockey at the University of North Carolina once her high school career is completed.

“How about that?” said Butz-Stavin of Sholder’s goal. “She’s number six and probably did it the earliest of any player, Allie Evans would have been the other one that got it in her junior year.”