Pat Seligman has a new challenge.
Shenendehowa’s long-time swimming coach has accepted a job as the Harrison (Westchester County) Central School District Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics.
I’ve had my administrative degree for a while now, and something always came up whether it was an All-American I was coaching that I didn’t want to leave or it was the (Shen) pool project,` said Seligman. `There’s never a good time to leave, and when this opportunity presented itself with my daughter graduating and me being the senior class advisor and that obviously coming to an end, I thought it was the right time.`
`Ms. Seligman brings comprehensive expertise and experience in the field of physical education, health and athletics to the Harrison Central School District,` said Harrison school superintendent Louis Wool in a press release. `We have every confidence that Ms. Seligman has the energy, passion, experience and capacity to lead our comprehensive programs.`
With a K-12 population of 3,600, the Harrison school district is nearly the same size as Shenendehowa High School by itself. But, its interscholastic athletic program is more comprehensive than Shen’s program.
`It has 27 sports, and there’s two modified teams for every sport,` said Seligman. `So, I have 96 coaches to work with.`
The Harrison school district is also known to be a place where athletic administrators stay for a long time. Current athletic director Mike Gansell is retiring in June after 22 years on the job.
`The athletic director I’m replacing is a well-respected, well-liked man and the person he replaced had been there for a long time, too,` said Seligman.
Seligman is well-respected both within the Shenendehowa and Section II swimming communities for what she has accomplished as a teacher, a coach and an administrator.
`It is so bittersweet for me to acknowledge such a great loss to the district because I am so happy that Pat has fulfilled her professional dream,` said Shen board of education president Janet Grey in the same press release. `I know that she will be as great of an administrator and athletic director as she has been a teacher, coach and role model for so many people.`
`Ms. Seligman is not only a championship-caliber coach and educator, she is equally a great person,` added Shen superintendent L. Oliver Robinson. `Her sense of determination and perserverance is unparalleled, and her commitment to excellence is unwavering.`
As a swim coach, Seligman’s success is matched only by a handful of people around the state. She guided the Shen boys and girls teams to a combined record of 238-18-2 and nine Section II championships. Equally important to her is the fact that both teams have been named scholar-athlete squads by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association every year since 1996.
The fact that the Shen program has excelled over the years is all the more impressive considering that the Plainsmen haven’t had a pool to call their own. That will change this fall with the opening of the new aquatic center on the Shen campus ` an eight-lane facility complete with a separate diving area with 1- and 3-meter diving boards.
`I’ve been in the Clifton Park area for 36 years, and working with the community and leaving them with the brand new Shen Aquatic Center, it’s probably my greatest accomplishment,` said Seligman.
Seligman’s influence reaches beyond the Shen program. She made girls swimming a Section II sport and has been a Sectional chairperson and state coordinator.
Seligman will have to leave all those responsibilities behind as she takes the Harrison school district job, but she won’t leave Shen completely behind. She said she plans to maintain her home in the district and spend weekends in Clifton Park while working at Harrison during the week.
Still, Seligman has to say good-bye to the Shen school district, and that’s the hard part.
`I think back to the many student-athletes that I’ve had the privilege of coaching, teaching and mentoring through the years,` she said. `To know that I was a part ` however small ` in their development as caring, honorable young adults is truly fulfilling and satisfying.`
`I wish Pat nothing but the best that life has to offer. What a loss for Shen,` said Grey.“