Longtime coach, athletic director and professor of many years at USM, Paula D Hodgdon was recently inducted into the Maine Field Hockey Hall of Fame. Becky Manson, GHS Varsity Coach and V.P. of Maine Field Hockey Association recently recapped her career at the Hall of Fame induction.

In 1967 Coach Hodgdon became an associate professor of physical education at Gorham State Teacher’s College. She was an integral part of not only developing the field hockey program but established and coached many of the Huskies’ women’s athletic programs including women’s basketball, skiing, and lacrosse. As the first field hockey head coach at USM for 31 years from 1967 to 1997 she amassed a record of 213-173-57 and had 12 NCAA or ECAC tournament appearances. In 1986 her team won the ECAC Division III New England Championship and in 1987 her team earned a berth to the NCAA Division III Final Four which was the first sports team at USM to do so.

Over her career Coach Hodgdon coached 12 regional all-Americans and 6 national all-Americans and 19 of her former USM field hockey players have been inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame.

In the early 1980’s she started Styx camp, an overnight camp at USM that drew in many Maine field hockey players who wanted to get better at their game and bond with teammates. This camp grew to over 300 campers within the 20 years of its existence.

After her retirement, the original grass field “Bailey Field” was renamed the Paula Hodgdon Field in 1998.

The Dr. Paula D. Hodgdon Leadership Award was created and honors one junior or senior female student-athlete from a women’s team at USM who is loyal, dedicated and has demonstrated leadership qualities in the classroom, on the field, and within the community.

She was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1998 and to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association HOF in 2014.

Former player of Hodgdon and veteran coach of USM field hockey, Bonny Brown-Denico cited, “Coach Hodgdon’s induction into the Maine Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame is well overdue. She was inducted into the National Field Hockey Coaches Association many years ago. She started the field hockey program at USM and coached it for thirty-one seasons. She coached other sports at USM as well as being the Athletic Director and Professor of Education.”

Brown-Denico added, “Paula was and is an amazing woman, wise and strong beyond her years. A great leader, role model and mentor. She was always confident and easy to talk with. Paula is very humble and was a workhorse, going above and beyond for everything. The TrailblazHer Walk that is being held in her honor is outstanding. Paula has done so much to bring athletic opportunities to women at USM. Doc Costello was also one of the great supporters of women’s athletics who supported Coach Hodgdon’s efforts, so we owe a great deal to him as well. I strongly believe that without Paula’s strong will in fighting for the rights of women in athletics, that the current opportunities for girls and women in Maine would look very different. She truly was a trailblazer.”

The first annual Paula D. Hodgdon Walk will be held on April 20. Participants will walk a mile-and-a-half route through USM’s Gorham and surrounding neighborhoods. The proceeds will go to support Husky women’s athletics.