{"id":53331,"date":"2026-04-01T14:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/53331\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:36:11","slug":"berlin-coach-retires-after-43-years-after-difference-i-could-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/53331\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin coach retires after 43 years. After ‘difference I could make’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sheila McCabe-King, who coached a variety of sports at Berlin High<\/a> \u2013 including girls basketball<\/a> for the last 22 years \u2013 retired last week from coaching after 43 years.<\/p>\n

McCabe-King had retired from teaching physical education at Berlin, which she had done for 35 years, four years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I made just about all the difference I could make, coaching in Berlin,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to look back at the success the program has had. I think that\u2019s a good time to leave, when you can look back and be happy about what you\u2019ve done and what you\u2019ve created.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCabe-King coached girls basketball the longest and had a 314-195 record. Her 2009 team advanced to the Class M state championship game, which was held for the first time at Mohegan Sun Arena<\/a>, but lost 55-53 to Bacon Academy on a last-second shot.<\/p>\n

McCabe-King was a runner and basketball player at New Britain High, where she graduated in 1979. She ran track on scholarship at UConn for coach Betty Remigino-Knapp.<\/p>\n

When she graduated in 1983, Berlin High offered her a job as a coach and wanted her to start the girls soccer program. She had never played the sport growing up because it was not offered in New Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I did not play,\u201d she said. \u201cThey had followed my track career. They said \u2018That\u2019s OK, do you know (UConn men\u2019s soccer coach) Joe Morrone?\u2019 I said I had him for class. They said that\u2019s great, good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t have a job teaching in the school but was a permanent sub. Her first soccer team had 10 girls because there weren\u2019t any programs in the area for girls to learn how to play.<\/p>\n

McCabe-King got a PE job at the school eventually and coached track and coached girls basketball at the middle school and was an assistant girls basketball before taking the head coaching job in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of my favorite memories are probably the early days, when the opportunities were still very new for the kids,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Under McCabe-King, Berlin advanced to the state semifinals four times, the last in 2023-24. This season, the Redcoats went 9-11 in the regular season and lost in the first round of the Division II tournament to Notre Dame Prep, 44-31.<\/p>\n

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