Smith Academy gym named after longtime coach Sherry Webb
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HATFIELD - Sherry Webb knew the assembly scheduled for the final period of the day at Smith Academy was for her.
The students and faculty hadn't tried very hard to keep that secret. There were well-wishing signs hung on seemingly every wall, door, window and display case at the Hatfield high school on her last day of work after 37 years as a coach, teacher and athletic director. Some were hand made in colored markers. Others were varied photocopied pictures of Webb coaching field hockey with printed messages alongside.
All the signs conveyed a similar sentiment: Ms. Webb, as everyone calls her, is going to be missed.
But as she walked through the double doors pumping her fist as the students applauded, waving pictures of her face attached to popsicle sticks, Webb didn't know that the basketball court she was walking onto was about to be christened Sherry A. Webb Gymnasium.
Principal Stefan Czaporowski and members of the School Committee kept that announcement close to the vest. Committee members considered naming the Falcons' field hockey field after Webb.
Her coaching prowess in that sport, until she retired last year, made her a local legend throughout western Massachusetts.
But the field isn't at the school and they decided that Webb had influenced far more kids than just those who'd played for her in the fall.
Instead, they chose the gym where she coached basketball and taught physical education, but told very few people in hopes of preserving the surprise.
"She certainly deserves it after 37 years as coach, friend and teacher," Czaporowski said. "The kids all really like her. She's really well-known and well-respected in this town."
After short speeches and gifts from Czaporowski, students Pat Lowery and Emiko Barker and former Principal Scott Goldman, Hatfield School Committee Co-chairwoman Cathy Englebrecht made the announcement.
She presented Webb with a plaque that will hang by the doors she'd just walked through, proclaiming the site "Sherry A. Webb Gymnasium."
"I knew they were up to something and as legend has it, Ms. Webb does know everything. But that was a little over the top. It was very nice," Webb said. "That's quite an honor. That doesn't happen very often while you're alive."
The gym had her signature on it long before it bore her name. More than 30 of the purple banners that hang high up the walls are from teams she coached. Webb's teams won two state softball and two state field hockey titles and countless conference and sectional crowns during her 36 years.
Known by all
In tight-knit Hatfield where everyone knows everyone, few were known as well as Webb, who had been coaching a steady stream of daughters of her former players in recent years.
She said seeing the players succeed beyond the field meant more than any on-field success.
"The kids and the successes they've had, and will continue to have, are what means the most," Webb said. "It's a great school system, great kids, a great community."
Webb declined to give a speech herself, but was a one woman receiving line for over an hour after the assembly ended.
A handful of girls from Hopkins Academy, who'd played field hockey at Smith through a co-op program, fortuitously had a half day of school and joined the hoards of students hovering around Webb. They shared hugs, stories and laughs. Webb posed for cell phone photos and autographed the back of her popsicle-sticked picture they'd been waving earlier. She took the opportunity to keep reminding the students to "work hard" and "be good."
"I've got to keep them on the straight and narrow," she said, smiling.
If not for the arrival of school buses in front of the building and Webb's need to get to practice at Mount Holyoke, where she's working as an assistant field hockey coach, the mingling might have lasted for hours.
Barker, who was a standout on Webb's last field hockey team, was proud to speak on behalf of the Smith students.
"It definitely was an honor," said Barker, a junior. "This gym is named after her for a reason. This school would not be where it is today without her."
For Webb, retirement doesn't mean moving to Florida or fading from sight. She's added her name to Hatfield's substitute teacher roster and will officially be the scorekeeper and public address announcer at home basketball games at Sherry Webb Gymnasium.
In the midst of all the excitement, the magnitude of having her name on the gym didn't hit her until a Smith boys basketball player approached her after the assembly.
"Mat Sulda came up to me and said, 'I can't wait to play in your gym. We're not going to lose in your house,'" Webb said, her eyes moistening for the umpteenth time that afternoon. "That's pretty special."
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.
