Methacton HS softball coach retires with a storied legacy
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Do what you love and love what you do. No truer words come to mind when speaking of Methacton Softball Head Coach, Cathy Miller. Miller’s passion for athletics fueled her drive to become a coach. And now, after forty-one years of coaching for Methacton, on May 11th, Miller coached her last softball game and ended her career with a win for the Warriors against the Perkiomen Valley Vikings.
Coach Miller’s notable career includes a 538-241 record, 16 Suburban One and one PAC championship, 30 district-level playoff appearances and the 1994 District 1 title. However, the outpouring of support at Miller’s last game by former players, assistant coaches and families, past and present, as well as Tribe fans, was the true testament to her highly admired career.
“Coach Miller is such a wealth of knowledge and fun to be around,” stated Katie Civitello, current Assistant Coach of Methacton Softball and former player. “I looked forward to every spring and the opportunity to hang out with her as an athlete.”
According to Miller, “If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?”
A native of the Evansburg section of Lower Providence, Miller’s love for softball began at the age of eight. She played for a league called Little Lassies. They played every Saturday morning on a field near Superior Tube. The program was run by all women coaches.
“It was so much fun!” recalled Miller of her softball years.
Miller would continue playing fastpitch softball in the summers. However, as a high school athlete she played lacrosse and field hockey because at the time Methacton had no softball team. Miller (aka – Catherine Snovel) graduated from Methacton in 1968. She then attended Lock Haven University where she earned her B.S. in Health & Physical Education.
“My goal was to always get into coaching,” Miller said.
However, when Miller graduated from college teaching jobs were sparse and coaching jobs even harder to come by. She to a job in a factory in King of Prussia while she worked on fulfilling her dreams.
In the Spring of 1974, got her first coaching opportunity with Villanova as their first women’s lacrosse coach and then would also coach field hockey for them, too. Miller would continue to work in the factory by day and then coach in the afternoon and evening.
In 1975, Cathy was introduced to Ken Miller. He was the brother of a friend that played softball with her. She wasn’t sure at first, but the two dated and were married in 1976. In fact, they just celebrated their 46th anniversary.
“He has always been my biggest cheerleader!” Miller said with pride.
Around 1975, Miller was able to get a substitute teaching job and continued coaching for Villanova through the fall of 1979. In 1976, she started substitute teaching for Methacton.
But her big break came in 1981, when she was hired as the softball coach for Methacton High School. Their softball program was only a couple years old.
“We literally had no home field for games,” Miller reminisced.
The softball team would practice on a dirt field across the road from the high school where the church is now. They would bus us to Worcester Elementary School to play our games because there was a field there for us to use. Finally they would share the JV baseball field for games.
Now a mother, Miller recalls bringing along 6-month-old daughter, Casey, to practice with her. I would set her up with toys to play with in the back of the station wagon until Ken could come by and pick her up. Ken was always supportive of my coaching.
Coach Miller remembers many changes along the way from adding fields and introducing a JV team. She recalls coaching with fellow teacher, Karen Pflug-Felder, who had also played softball with her as a child. As well as, Ellie Boehner being her first JV coach and former players Kelly Ames and Katie Civitello coming back as assistant coaches.
As for her coaching methods, Miller stated, “I always wanted the student athletes to feel like they could talk to me and say anything.” I also wanted them to think for themselves, trust in their skills and have fun doing it.”
Senior athlete, Nicole Timko said, “Coach Miller always wanted the best for us and out of us. She also took time to know the athletes she coached and made it fun.” Timko added, “You could tell she really enjoyed what she did.”
When asked about her most memorable moments, Coach Miller said, “Of course, the 1994 District Title and all the league titles we won are highlights. But when it comes to the most memorable it’s all the relationships with all of the people that were a part of the game through all of the years. It’s the smiles, the laughing and not taking the game so seriously, that I will always remember.”
It’s important to add when highlighting Miller’s coaching career, that she also served as Methacton’s Varsity girls’ tennis coach from 2009 thru 2017. During that time, they won 6 PAC 10 Team Championships and in 2013, the team won the District 1 Championship and finished 2nd in the State.
“She will be missed,” Civitello said. “Coach Miller has lefta great impact on so many lives.”
“It has been fun!” Miller exclaimed
Miller and her husband still reside in Lower Providence Township not far from where she grew up. Both of their children, Casey and Joshua, are not only graduates of Methacton High School but also Lock Haven University. She is also the proud grandmother to four grandsons. Since beginning softball as a child, Miller only remembers having two springs off from sports. When asked what she will do with her spring season now, Miller simply stated, “A little golf, more laughs with Ken and some time with the grandkids.”
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