Sheila A. Burleigh, Vermont – 2003
Sheila is currently teaching and coaching at South Burlington High School, Burlington, Vermont. Her coaching career has included coaching softball in 1973 and 1974, field hockey from 1973-1988 (in a program which she started), and basketball from 1973 to the present.
Her field hockey teams are affiliated with the Division I and Metro Conference, Northern Vermont Athletic Conference, and her basketball teams with Division I Metro and Lake Conference, the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference. The field hockey teams have a win-loss record of 160-49-36 and basketball teams have a win-loss record of 441-193.
Jean has led her field hockey teams to nine Final Four appearances, 1974-1977, 1978, 1980, 1983-1985, and 1988. They won the Metro Conference Championships in 1978-1980, 1986, and 1987, State Championships in 1984-1985, and were runners-up in 1980 and 1981. Her basketball teams have made nineteen Final Four appearances, ten Metro Championships, two Lake Championships, five State Championships, and state runner-ups, twice. She was head coach of the ALHAMBRA Basketball Classic in 1981, 1991, and head coach for the Vermont Twin State Field Hockey Team.
In recognition of her expertise and many successes in coaching, Jean was named the Vermont Division I Coach of the Year in 1981, 1984, 1985, and 1988. The Vermont Field Hockey Coaches Association named her the Coach of the Year in 1988, and she received the Field Hockey Distinguished Service Award in 1990. Her basketball coaching career has been equally successful. She was named the Coach of the Year by the Vermont Metro League in 1976, 1978, 1981-1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, and 1997, and the Division I Coach of the Year in 1978. The Northern Vermont Athletic Interscholastic Coaches Association presented her with the Outstanding Coach Award in 1991. She is a member of the Lyndon State College Hall of Fame. Sheila has been extensively involved in leadership roles with women’s sports organizations, president of the Vermont Field Hockey Coaches Association (1986-1989), Associate President of the Vermont High School Coaches Association (1987, 1980), Vermont Basketball Coaches Association (1991 and 1992), Basketball Executive Committee (1993-1998), Vermont Principal Association Basketball Committee (2 years), and Study Committee (1 year).