Before she was overseeing athletic program operations and administrative duties as Associate Athletic Director, Courtney Middleton was a South student who started the field hockey program with her friends 23 years ago.
In the 2003-2004 school year, Middleton and a group of girls came together to establish a new girls’ fall sport after choosing not to continue with volleyball, Middleton said. There began the idea of a field hockey program. The team started by practicing on the grass at Winkelman Elementary School with around 20 players, little knowledge of the sport, and a rugby coach named Laura Oroni whose expertise was not in field hockey, Middleton said.
Because they lacked off-site transportation, the players ran from the high school to the elementary school while carrying their sticks, Middleton added. It was a journey full of losses, where the team did not win a single game during their first year, but the field hockey community eventually began to thrive, Middleton said.
“GBS Athletics gave me so much opportunity as a student athlete,” Middleton said. “When I think about where we are now and where we came from, the risk that we took then has completely paid off to see what the program has turned into.”
When Middleton returned to South, she spent six years coaching field hockey for the combined Glenbrooks team, which consisted of girls from both South and North, she said. Middleton left a lasting impression on the field hockey program and on the players she coached, Caroline Pekosh, North JV Field Hockey Coach, said. Pekosh played under Middleton for all four years of her high school career at South, noting that Middleton consistently structured practices directly around elements that required adjustment from recent games, Pekosh said. Although returning to the district meant coaching on the other side of the Glenbrooks’ rivalry, Pekosh was excited to help give athletes the same positive experience Middleton and the program had given her, she added.
“Middleton is integral part of the reason I am coaching field hockey now,” Pekosh said. “She was a big part of the coaching staff in making girls excited to come to practice and giving good feedback. She pushed me to be the best player, teammate, and person I could be.”
Now, Middleton’s weekly routine involves managing behind-the-scenes organizational details and weekly preparation tasks, Tom Mietus, Assistant Principal of Athletics, said. Mietus noted that their long-standing professional partnership has provided a reliable foundation for the school’s athletic department leadership. Her passion for athletics is reflected in the energy she brings to her work, which influences those around her, Mietus said. Middleton consistently looks for ways to leave South better than she found it, Mietus added.
“Luckily, Middleton and I worked together as assistant athletic directors before I became the assistant principal,” Mietus said. “So I didn’t hire her, but I would have if I had the opportunity.”
By drawing on her unique perspective as a former high school athlete, Middleton is able to problem-solve issues from multiple angles and co-run the Titan Leadership Academy, which is a program that trains student-athletes leadership skills, team culture, and sportsmanship, Mietus said. This supportive administrative approach actively focuses on removing logistical barriers so coaches can focus entirely on instruction, ensuring that the progressing field hockey program and other campus sports continue to thrive.
“She has the innate characteristic within her to care about all our student athletes,” Mietus said. “Every little bit of success that we’ve had is because of her.”
