In 2000 the Shipley School lost a great girls’ softball short stop and world class soccer goal keeper. Upon graduating from Shipley Suzie Grech was in for a drastic change, for that August she left Shipley for the University of Michigan, a school with a student population of over 44,000, to play soccer in their NCAA division I program. Now a senior at Michigan and the starting goalie for the nationally-ranked Wolverines team, she returned to Shipley to report for her thesis in her area of study, education.
 While visiting at Shipley, Suzie observed Mark Duncan and Kim Whelan teaching some of their Upper School PE classes, including squash and weight training. Suzie also sat down with her former coach from softball, Assistant Athletic Director Michelle Then, to discuss some of the behind the scenes work that takes place in an athletic department, including scheduling, curriculum, grading, and data keeping. Suzie plans to take back what she has observed and learned at Shipley and incorporate the ideas and philosophies into her lesson plans and course work at Michigan. She then aims to finish her studies in the fall semester of 2004. Upon completion of her coursework and student teaching in the fall Suzie will be certified to teach physical education.
 
Suzie is a dual citizen, of Mallorca a small island off the coast of southern Spain and the United States and had the honor of playing for 5 years as starting goal keeper on the Spanish National team. Her father was a semi-professional player in Spain and her grandfather was a national team coach. But Suzie has decided to devote her time to her studies and her life to teaching physical education. She loved her experiences on the sports field at Shipley, where she learned and gained much. Her Shipley coaches, as well as others in the community, touched her significantly, and now she has decided to follow their path and make a difference in the lives of further generations of students.

Photos courtesy University of Michigan Athletic Media Relations.

March 2004