Wolf Ends Tenure as Stuart Athletics Director; Proud of Program’s Titles, Sterling Reputation

Bill Alden

Cheryl Wolf made quite a change in 1997 when she took over as the Athletics Director at the Stuart Country Day School after coaching lacrosse and field hockey the previous 21 years at Cornell University.

Wolf was going from a Division I college athletics program at a university with an undergraduate enrollment of more than 13,000 students to an all-girls private institution with about 130 upper school students.

Upon her arrival at Stuart, Wolf brought her Ivy League sensibility to her new school.

“When I came it was ‘oh little Stuart’ and I said we want to be just Stuart,” said Wolf. “I said the other teams can only put 11 at a time on the field for field hockey and 12 at a time for lacrosse; it doesn’t matter how big the schools are.”

Last week, Wolf, 60, concluded her tenure at the school with pride in the knowledge that Stuart athletics became a program that could compete with the big boys.

During her 14 years at the helm, Stuart teams won 25 New Jersey prep championships, three county crowns, and 29 Patriot Conference titles.

“We would play anyone, anywhere, anytime,” said Wolf. “Sometimes, we were in both state and county tournaments simultaneously and play three or four games in a week. That wasn’t easy but we wanted to advance in both tournaments; kids, coaches and parents have responded.”

For Wolf, her love of games came early. “In elementary school, I had a crush on my gym teacher Mr. Ferguson; he was a tennis champion from Temple,” said Wolf with a laugh.

“I wanted to be a gym teacher when I grew up. I went to Jenkintown High (Pa.) and I played field hockey and lacrosse. I was also on the swimming team and played basketball for a year. I played whatever sport I could.”

Wolf, who was later named to the Jenkintown High Athletics Hall of Fame for her field hockey prowess, went on to West Chester State where she enjoyed more athletic success.

“I focused on field hockey and lacrosse at West Chester; I was All-College in field hockey as a senior and I was All-College all four years in lacrosse,” said Wolf, a 1972 West Chester grad who played defense in both sports.

“One great experience was playing for a U.S. lacrosse team against the British traveling team in 1973. We were the first U.S. team to beat the British.”

After college, Wolf coached and taught in the Lower Moreland (Pa.) school system for four years before heading north to Cornell.

At Cornell, Wolf served as the women’s lacrosse head coach and a field hockey assistant coach where she helped the programs grow under the dictates of Title IX.

“We were in on the ground floor; we had to set everything up,” said Wolf, recalling those fledging days for women’s college athletics.

“We had to push to get equal opportunity. It’s not that administration didn’t want to do things; sometimes they weren’t aware of what needed to be done. We went from playing local teams to Ivy League games to playing in national tournaments.”

Looking to be closer to her extended family in the Philadelphia area, Wolf took the Stuart job in 1997 and made a smooth transition to her new role.

“I had no problem with the younger age group; when you are a college coach, you are working the camps with high school kids,” said Wolf.

“Going from public school to private was a little difficult. Two former ADs were still there (Dora Bennett and Carol Slorkwicz) and they really helped me along the way. Jan Baker, the AD at Princeton Day School, was a great mentor as was Melissa Speidel, the assistant AD at Lawrenceville.”

Wolf helped to bolster the school’s athletics program as she brought in several new sports.

“We added upper school cross country, squash, and golf,” said Wolf, noting that the school is starting a soccer program this fall.

In addition, Wolf took a role in upgrading the school’s athletic facilities. “We enlarged the big grass field; we have added five tennis courts and we resurfaced the main gym floor,” added Wolf.

“We put in new locker rooms, a new fitness center, a new athletic training room and new PE offices.”

One of the major projects under Wolf’s watch was the construction of the school’s turf field.

“The board of trustees did a great job; that field was a parking lot and they decided to bring it back as a grass field,” said Wolf.

“They realized that if they got $200,000, we could put in a turf field. Several families hustled and raised the money. It has been a great source of rental income.”

The achievements and comportment of the Stuart athletes have been a source of pride for Wolf.

“It is a demanding and rigorous school academically, the students are able to balance that and do well athletically,” said Wolf.

“They are real scholar athletes; they have a terrific work ethic. They conduct themselves in a certain fashion on and off the field; they are hard competitors but they show good sportsmanship.”

Wolf’s colleagues at Stuart have shown her friendship and support. “I will miss the people in the PE department,” said Wolf.

“We are like a family; we go through ups and downs together. The faculty and staff are terrific and top notch; I know I am a better administrator from being around them.”

And Stuart sports is better from having Wolf at the helm the last 14 years.

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