Bowling Green State University Athletics
Heritage Series: Carol Durentini
May 01, 2018 | General, Falcon Club, Heritage Sports
Throughout the months of April and May, BGSUFalcons.com will be highlighting some of the men and women who have impacted the University, the community and the athletics department. From pioneers to more recent members of the campus community, Matt Markey will be providing the stories of our history. In our fourth installment, pioneer Carol Durentini discusses her wide range of contributions to BGSU.
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PREVIOUS HERITAGE SERIES STORIES
Bob Dwors
Noel Jablonski
Judy Jeanette
The path Carol Durentini's career would follow became clear fairly early. As a college athlete at Central Michigan University, she had demonstrated her versatility and skill set by lettering in four sports – field hockey, volleyball, basketball and tennis.
As a coach and an instructor at BGSU, her already wide range of expertise only expanded. Durentini would lead the Bowling Green women's lacrosse team for more than a decade, and she also coached Falcon women's field hockey for nearly that long. As an instructor at BGSU, she taught classes in tennis, golf, archery, softball, field hockey, lacrosse, billiards, bowling, swimming, lifesaving, advanced first aid/CPR, square dancing and folk dance.
"Those are the ones I remember – there might have been more," Durentini joked. "I was hired as a 'generalist' because they wanted someone in women's physical education who could coach and teach a lot of different things. In that day and age, you did everything, including driving the team van. It was a lot to take on, but I enjoyed it."
Durentini, who was an assistant professor and also served in an academic advising role in the College of Education during her 30 years at BGSU, came to campus in 1967 after receiving her Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts. She had other professional options, but chose Bowling Green due to the involvement of so many female students in her area of study.
"Bowling Green at the time had one of the largest groups of women majoring in physical education and recreation," she said. "There were almost 200 women in the program and that was impressive, and I also found the place to be very welcoming. It really appealed to me, and also put me not too far away from my family in Michigan."
Durentini first coached field hockey at BGSU, and for one five-year stretch she coached both the women's lacrosse and field hockey teams. She directed the field hockey team from 1968-76, and women's lacrosse for most of the 1971-81 period. The Bowling Green women's lacrosse team became a varsity sport in 1977, and the Falcons went 34-31-6 at that level, mostly under Durentini's leadership.
"It is demanding, very time-consuming, and when you are coaching you don't really have much of a life, but I never regretted being a coach," she said. "I love to teach, but there's nothing like coaching. For your players, you are their mother, the confessor, the trainer, the scheduler, and anything and everything else they need."
The women's lacrosse and field hockey programs were full of energetic and enthusiastic student-athletes at the time, with many of the young women playing both sports. Durentini said the two sports were popular on campus as well, with then University President Hollis Moore and his wife Marian occasional spectators at the matches.
"I was always fascinated with how well these young people could make the transition from a ground game with field hockey to an aerial game with lacrosse, but they did and we were always successful against great competition," she recalled. "One key component was the cohesion – the kids enjoyed one another and supported one another. They were all different types of kids, but such a cohesive group. They weren't on scholarship – they played for the love of the sport."
Durentini, who learned golf at age six from her father, a club champion in her home state of Michigan, maintained an involvement in athletics as a player following her undergrad days. While at UMass she played club field hockey at nearby Smith College, and continued to play the sport on the club level in the Detroit area after coming to Bowling Green.
In golf, she was also the club champion at Bowling Green Country Club for several years, and was the resident golf professional at a Northwest Ohio public course during three summers while she was teaching and coaching at BGSU.
Durentini also worked on the Black Swamp Players' productions and theater productions at the University, was a coach and officer with the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Association, was an officer in the Buckeye Field Hockey Association, directed the sports program at an arts summer camp, and was a swimming instructor another summer.
An education major as an undergrad, she did post-Master's work at Northern Colorado in 1978, studying the sociology of sport. She collaborated on several research studies and papers on gender and sport, and is a member of five prestigious professional and academic associations.
After retiring from coaching in May of 1981, Durentini focused fulltime on teaching in what was then called the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. She said her interest in sports psychology continued to grow, with her many years of coaching providing a solid foundation for work in that field.
"You get these players fresh out of high school, and then you see them mature. There is a maturation process that takes place over a couple of years," she said. "I don't think there is anything quite like the coaching experience. It's not like walking into a classroom, because for your players, you are very much like a parent to them."
Durentini retired from full-time teaching in 1994, but taught part-time at BGSU for another three years. She still lives in the Bowling Green area, and recently became a life master in bridge.
"My best memories always involve the people," she said. "Bowling Green is a friendly community with wonderful people. I think you stay in places where you meet good people and you feel comfortable. I'm from Michigan, but Bowling Green is really my home."
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ABOUT THE FALCON CLUB
The Falcon Club Scholarship and Success Fund was created to align the Athletic Department's fundraising priorities with the increasing need for scholarship support. Falcon Club membership gifts allow our programs to recruit and retain the best student-athletes as we compete for championships in the MAC and WCHA, while also preparing our current Falcons for success upon graduation. We hope you will consider helping us change lives by making an investment in the 400+ student-athletes that represent BGSU on the field, in the classroom and in the community. To make a gift please visit https://falconfunded.bgsu.edu/project/5311 or call 419-372-2401 to learn more.
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PREVIOUS HERITAGE SERIES STORIES
Bob Dwors
Noel Jablonski
Judy Jeanette
The path Carol Durentini's career would follow became clear fairly early. As a college athlete at Central Michigan University, she had demonstrated her versatility and skill set by lettering in four sports – field hockey, volleyball, basketball and tennis.
As a coach and an instructor at BGSU, her already wide range of expertise only expanded. Durentini would lead the Bowling Green women's lacrosse team for more than a decade, and she also coached Falcon women's field hockey for nearly that long. As an instructor at BGSU, she taught classes in tennis, golf, archery, softball, field hockey, lacrosse, billiards, bowling, swimming, lifesaving, advanced first aid/CPR, square dancing and folk dance.
"Those are the ones I remember – there might have been more," Durentini joked. "I was hired as a 'generalist' because they wanted someone in women's physical education who could coach and teach a lot of different things. In that day and age, you did everything, including driving the team van. It was a lot to take on, but I enjoyed it."
Durentini, who was an assistant professor and also served in an academic advising role in the College of Education during her 30 years at BGSU, came to campus in 1967 after receiving her Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts. She had other professional options, but chose Bowling Green due to the involvement of so many female students in her area of study.
"Bowling Green at the time had one of the largest groups of women majoring in physical education and recreation," she said. "There were almost 200 women in the program and that was impressive, and I also found the place to be very welcoming. It really appealed to me, and also put me not too far away from my family in Michigan."
Durentini first coached field hockey at BGSU, and for one five-year stretch she coached both the women's lacrosse and field hockey teams. She directed the field hockey team from 1968-76, and women's lacrosse for most of the 1971-81 period. The Bowling Green women's lacrosse team became a varsity sport in 1977, and the Falcons went 34-31-6 at that level, mostly under Durentini's leadership.
"It is demanding, very time-consuming, and when you are coaching you don't really have much of a life, but I never regretted being a coach," she said. "I love to teach, but there's nothing like coaching. For your players, you are their mother, the confessor, the trainer, the scheduler, and anything and everything else they need."
The women's lacrosse and field hockey programs were full of energetic and enthusiastic student-athletes at the time, with many of the young women playing both sports. Durentini said the two sports were popular on campus as well, with then University President Hollis Moore and his wife Marian occasional spectators at the matches.
"I was always fascinated with how well these young people could make the transition from a ground game with field hockey to an aerial game with lacrosse, but they did and we were always successful against great competition," she recalled. "One key component was the cohesion – the kids enjoyed one another and supported one another. They were all different types of kids, but such a cohesive group. They weren't on scholarship – they played for the love of the sport."
Durentini, who learned golf at age six from her father, a club champion in her home state of Michigan, maintained an involvement in athletics as a player following her undergrad days. While at UMass she played club field hockey at nearby Smith College, and continued to play the sport on the club level in the Detroit area after coming to Bowling Green.
In golf, she was also the club champion at Bowling Green Country Club for several years, and was the resident golf professional at a Northwest Ohio public course during three summers while she was teaching and coaching at BGSU.
Durentini also worked on the Black Swamp Players' productions and theater productions at the University, was a coach and officer with the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Association, was an officer in the Buckeye Field Hockey Association, directed the sports program at an arts summer camp, and was a swimming instructor another summer.
An education major as an undergrad, she did post-Master's work at Northern Colorado in 1978, studying the sociology of sport. She collaborated on several research studies and papers on gender and sport, and is a member of five prestigious professional and academic associations.
After retiring from coaching in May of 1981, Durentini focused fulltime on teaching in what was then called the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. She said her interest in sports psychology continued to grow, with her many years of coaching providing a solid foundation for work in that field.
"You get these players fresh out of high school, and then you see them mature. There is a maturation process that takes place over a couple of years," she said. "I don't think there is anything quite like the coaching experience. It's not like walking into a classroom, because for your players, you are very much like a parent to them."
Durentini retired from full-time teaching in 1994, but taught part-time at BGSU for another three years. She still lives in the Bowling Green area, and recently became a life master in bridge.
"My best memories always involve the people," she said. "Bowling Green is a friendly community with wonderful people. I think you stay in places where you meet good people and you feel comfortable. I'm from Michigan, but Bowling Green is really my home."
----
ABOUT THE FALCON CLUB
The Falcon Club Scholarship and Success Fund was created to align the Athletic Department's fundraising priorities with the increasing need for scholarship support. Falcon Club membership gifts allow our programs to recruit and retain the best student-athletes as we compete for championships in the MAC and WCHA, while also preparing our current Falcons for success upon graduation. We hope you will consider helping us change lives by making an investment in the 400+ student-athletes that represent BGSU on the field, in the classroom and in the community. To make a gift please visit https://falconfunded.bgsu.edu/project/5311 or call 419-372-2401 to learn more.
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