Legendary golf coach steps down

She led an upstart women’s golf team to become a dynasty that some have said is the most successful Portland State athletic program since the Vikings joined Division I in 1996. In her 10 years as a head coach, she has won five Big Sky Conference championships, three of which were at Portland State.

Now, Felicia Johnston, the seven-year head coach of the women’s golf team, is leaving the university, not for a new coaching job, but for something that she says is bigger and better than anything she has done: to be a full-time mother to her newborn son, Connor.

The athletic department will conduct a national search to find a replacement for Johnston, who led the golf team to three consecutive Big Sky championships in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Administrators plan to fill the spot by the end of January, before the 2008 season resumes in spring.

Athletic director Torre Chisholm said he hopes to bring in a coach that will recruit and teach as well as Johnston, and whose salary will be about the same as Johnston’s at $38,000 a year. Johnston said a first-time head coach would best fit the program, because he or she would be able to build the team as well as develop this year’s returning talent.

“Somebody who is hungry to really help these kids,” he said of the ideal candidate for the job.

Besides a new coach, the 2008 season has plenty to look forward to. Five of the women (four sophomores and one junior) are returning from last year’s team, which finished third in the 2007 Big Sky Championship. Four freshmen will be joining the team, including Corrine Gilbertson, a prep player from San Bernardino, Calif., who signed a national letter of intent to join the team, the Vikings announced on Monday.

Gilbertson was highly touted in the San Andreas League, having twice won the league’s individual championship and having led her team to the league championship on two occasions as well.

The Portland State golf team had a tough start this year in the 2007 fall tournaments. At their best, they finished 11th of 19 teams at the Lady Aztec Fall Classic at San Diego State University. At their worst, they finished in dead last of 19 teams at the University of Hawaii’s Kent Youel Invitational in Oahu.

Justine Hix, a sophomore from Grants Pass, Ore., and other returning players are sad to see Johnston leave the program, even though Hix said they know it is important for Johnston to be with her family. Hix said Johnston kept the sport fun, and even when the girls had a bad game, Johnston did not make the players feel bad or guilty.

“I know that she’s like the reason why all of my team came to Portland State,” Hix said. “I don’t want a new coach. I’m pretty bummed.”

In the months after Johnston’s son Conner was born last June, she said she tried to her best at juggling both work as a coach and life as a mother. Soon, however, she realized that she was becoming stressed and impatient about life. By Nov. 21, when PSU announced her resignation, she chose her son over her job.

“Doing two full-time jobs is really wearing,” Johnston said.

Johnston said she is not looking for a different coaching position and is only leaving PSU to be with her son. Although she is not planning to coach again in the future, she also does not count it out entirely.

“I’ve got a good five years ahead of me,” Johnston said about how much time she has before she would even consider coaching again. “I’m sure I’ll have the itch to do something.”

In the meantime, the woman who transformed a no-name program to a well-respected Division I team plans to experience life with a son and take a little free time for herself. Johnston said she plans to start golfing again, which she hadn’t done for over a year, and will try to qualify for the U.S. Amateurs next summer.

Although she plans to be an avid supporter of the Vikings golf team, she said she won’t be playing with any of the girls on the team any time soon-they’re too talented.

“You don’t ever want to play a match against them,” Johnston said.