[
HIS SPACE] editorial
Call to Hall I
come not to bury the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame selectors but to praise them. They have an almost impossible task and they do it rather well, year after year. But I do want to offer a suggestion that could add to the Hall’s sheen. It’s past the time for the sport’s greatest honor to be bestowed on Diane Geppi- Aikens.
Geppi-Aikens transcended lacrosse, deserves recognition
If you were to ask 10 knowledgeable lacrosse people today about the late Loyola women’s coach, I’d bet eight of them would say, “Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s in the Hall of Fame.” That’s what I’d expect regarding a woman whose impact on the game was so transformational. Di, as everyone called her, turned Loyola into a national power. Battling brain cancer for eight years until she died in 2003, she coached her final season from a
wheelchair and led
the team to 14 straight wins and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. There would be no storybook ending, though, as Loyola lost 5-3 to Princeton in the semifinals.
Impact? Lacrosse has never seen anything like it. Her story drew national attention on CSTV’s “Season of Hope: The Diane Geppi- Aikens Story,” in national magazines and in a book written by Chip Silverman entitled “Lucky Every Day.” That was a long time ago.
Within the lodge, we knew chapter and verse of Diane’s story, but the general public was mostly unaware. One of my best friends, a graduate of Loyola and a former athlete there, stumbled across the TV show and only then took an interest in the women’s game.
Lacrosse has come a long way in the last decade. But Geppi-Aikens doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame only because of the heartbreaking story of a coach who died of cancer at age 40. As a player at Loyola, she was an All- American goalie. In 15 years as the head coach there, her teams were 197-71. She led Loyola to the NCAA
“She was a role model for strong, independent women who can raise a family. She showed you could
do it all.” — Kerri Johnson O’Day
38 LACROSSE MAGAZINE March 2014 >>
tournament 10 times and was a three-time national coach of the year. Stats can’t tell the whole story. Geppi-Aikens was a divorced mother of four children, one of whom, Shannon, now is a sophomore on the Loyola team.
Listen to Johns Hopkins coach Janine Tucker, who played for Geppi-Aikens at Loyola and has written several lacrosse books because of a promise the two made to each other to advance women’s lacrosse knowledge: “Diane knew how to inspire, energize and motivate her teams. She was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known.” Listen to Kerri Johnson
O’Day, who played for Geppi- Aikens and then succeeded her as coach at Loyola: “She was a role model for strong, independent women who can raise a family. She showed you could do it all.” Listen to Suzanne Eyler
Williams, a three-time All- American who played in 79 games (a Loyola record) for Geppi-Aikens from 1999 to 2003: “She taught us that being with people you love and enjoying life, that’s how you win at life.”
Geppi-Aikens had universal appeal in the lacrosse community. Even the college men’s coaches marveled at her. I remember a day at US Lacrosse when then- Towson coach Carl Runk bear-hugged her and asked, “Diane, how do you do all this?”
“I get up at 4:30 to write recruiting letters,” she told him.
I believe Diane Geppi- Aikens will be elected to the Hall of Fame in time. What are we waiting for? Let’s do it now. LM
— Bill Tanton
btanton@uslacrosse.org A Publication of US Lacrosse
©JOHN STROHSACKER
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