JANET NELL: Janet Nell arrived at Plymouth State College in 1967 to begin a teaching and coaching career that would leave an indelible mark on the institution’s Departments of Athletics and Physical Education.
Besides carrying a standard teaching load, Nell coached basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and tennis at various times during her tenure at PSC. Indeed, when her memorable coaching career ended after and exciting 9-8 women’s lacrosse victory over Bridgewater State College on May 1, 1988, Nell could look back over two decades of wonderful coaching experiences. While her coaching career included many victories and several championships, Nell’s proudest legacy may well be the positive impact her approach has had on the scores of young women who played for her.
A native of Harrisburg, Penn., Nell graduated from West Chester State College in 1953. She then spent six years teaching and coaching on the junior and senior high school level in Chambersburg, Penn. Nell moved to New England in 1959 when she accepted a position at Bates College in Lewiston, ME. She remained at Bates until accepting a position at PSC in 1967.
Besides coaching and teaching, Nell has served PSC in other capacities as well, including a stint as an administrator for women’s athletics.
But while Nell’s coaching whistle has been put away for several years now, her role in helping to foster the growth of women’s athletics was a very significant one. She was indeed a pioneer of sorts. Nell’s role in helping to establish women’s lacrosse as a varsity sport was especially significant, and it is fitting that she should be inducted into PSC’s Hall Of Fame as an individual on the same evening that the undefeated 1979 women’s lacrosse Panthers are honored as a team.
