By Lian Bunny
News Editor
A nun and four-decade coach with a .957 winning percentage — this describes Sister Maria Pares, O.S.F., who will speak at this year’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day event at St. Bonaventure University.
On April 21, local high school female students and their coaches will attend sporting event programs along with St. Bonaventure’s female student-athletes and staff.
The high school students will attend two 45-minute clinics. Students can choose from softball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, swimming, cross country and fitness challenges (strength and conditioning) and a roller derby exhibition.
Sister Maria said she wants to use her talk to help people value young women in sports.
“It’s a privilege to be able to [speak at this event],” Sister Maria said. “It’s a delight to talk to young people and tell them they can make a difference.”
Sister Maria is a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in Buffalo, class of ’58. She returned to the school as the varsity women’s basketball coach in 1973. Sister Maria earned a record of 229 wins and 10 losses in 13 seasons.
Her team held a 127-game winning streak in 1986 and won a New York State Class C championship.
She coached at both Sacred Heart and Canisius College in Buffalo from 1982 to 1986. She inherited a Canisius team with a 13-10 record and transformed it into a 26-5 record team with a New York State Championship.
In her second season, the team earned a 18-5 record and recaptured the New York State Division II title. That year the team also reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Sister Maria was honored as Converse Region II’s Coach of the Year.
According to Sister Maria, she defies stereotypes as a nun who coaches basketball.
“[Some people] are very conservative and put nuns in boxes,” Sister Maria said. “That’s difficult for me, because I don’t fit that mold. I am who I am, and I don’t fit that stereotype. It didn’t stop me from doing what I needed to do.”
Sister Maria was called up to coach Division I women’s basketball at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1986.
She left Canisius with a 108-39 record, a .735 winning percentage.
The Marquette Warriors finished in third place in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) under Sister Maria.
She also established the 1989 Warrior Tip Off, Marquette’s first women’s basketball tournament.
Sister Maria returned to Sacred Heart to coach in 1999. She was fired March 3, 2015. Sacred Heart has not told Sister Maria why she was fired.
Members of the Sacred Heart Academy community have started an online petition to name the school’s new gymnasium after Sister Maria.
Sophomore St. Bonaventure softball player Kelly Farrell said she was shocked when she heard Sister Maria had been fired.
“Sister Maria has coached for 50 years and has given so much to that school and accomplished so much,” Farrell said. “She was a great coach, and I was honored to have played for her during her time at Sacred Heart. I agree with the petition to name the gymnasium after her. Again she has done so much and worked so hard to finally get that nice new gymnasium. She totally deserves it.”
Sister Maria is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, the Cansius College Sports Hall of Fame, the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame and the Sacred Heart Hall of Fame.
Farrell said Sister Maria would be an excellent speaker at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day event.
“She has a lot to offer and is a great supporter on any sport, especially women in sports,” Farrell, a sophomore, said. “I’m sure she will be very inspirational.”
Sister Maria said she plans to talk about the history of women in sports, because many young women think history begins with them.
“There are people that go before you and provide the things you need to have,” Sister Maria said. “Where did all this come from? Did it happen over night? What are their obligations to make sure it doesn’t fall off the radar? All these opportunities didn’t just happen.”
