Late Stonehill coach great example of Integrity base
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When the NFCA created a Diamond of Ethics for all members in 2019, it set forth the four foundational ethical bases of the NFCA — Commitment, Respect, Integrity and Professionalism — which govern how members are expected to speak, write, and act at all times, on and off the field.
It's hard to imagine someone embodying the Integrity base more than late Stonehill College softball coach Ken LeGrice.
A longtime member of the Brockton (Mass.) police department, LeGrice served in a variety of roles over his 34 years on the job, including detective, narcotics, undercover and, most recently, lieutenant over- seeing patrol operations. He also spent 17 years with Stonehill's NCAA Division II softball program, the last 12 as its head coach. He died in May after a five-year battle with cancer. He was just 62.
"YOU CAN SEE how many people he touched by how many showed up at his funeral and wake," said Brian Benvie, a fellow officer and his best friend of 50 years. "I knew this guy inside and out. It was very moving to see the outpouring. He was always helping out someone, but you don't realize how many people he touched until you see that. Everyone (these days) is so wrapped up in their own lives, but he always had time."
"He was at weddings, baby showers," said Danielle Ricci, who both played for and coached with LeGrice. "He was the officiant at the marriage at one of my teammates. He had this amazing ability to build relationships and sustain relationships."
Those who knew him remembered a person who always did things the right way and put others first. On the softball field, he was someone as likely to cheer for a good play by the opposing team as he was for his own squad.
His teams were well-coached, always sportsmanlike. Southern New Hampshire head coach Deb Robitaille saw that first-hand.
"If my team did well, he was always the first to shake their hands," she said. "He was probably the most well-liked coach in the NE-10. Everyone enjoyed seeing him and playing him. It was always a battle with a lot of mutual respect."
"To hear my kids talk about him meant the world to me, because they noticed that. He was very classy. It wasn't only his team he supported."
Natalia Ardagna, the head coach at Division III UMass Boston, said his support wasn't limited to his own conference or division. He never made anyone feel like he was better than them based on where they coached.
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The two coaches didn't immediately realize they had a connection to each other outside of softball.
"I went to Bridgewater State and his daughter, Shannon, also went to Bridgewater State and we were there at the same time," Ardagna explained. "Then, once I started coaching, just both being New England coaches, we'd bump into each other (recruiting) and we knew the same people. We got to talking, and I realized his daughter Shannon was the Shannon I went to school with! I adore his daughter, so it made a lot of sense, once I got to know Ken, that she was his daughter."
"I didn't even realize he was a police officer — and such a decorated police officer — until maybe three or four years later, which goes to show what kind of humble guy he was. He was kind of a big deal, but we would just hang out at Convention and tournaments and talk softball."
"HE DID IMPACT so many people, just being so warm," University of New Haven head coach Jen Starek said. "You could see when he was coaching his kids how much they enjoyed him. The University of New Haven is a big criminal justice school, and in the past he has helped out my student-athletes with internships if they were from that area. He was always willing to help someone out."
Stonehill Director of Athletics Dean O'Keefe said he not only mentored his softball players; he also mentored his colleagues.
"Ken was always the person members of our staff would turn to for insight and advice about life," O'Keefe said. "He had a unique gift to be able to share perspectives and provide guidance in a way which was always honest and caring. That gift was also what made him such a special coach and mentor to so many student-athletes as they navigated college, careers and life."
"When people talk about head coaches and their success, the first thing that is typically discussed is wins and losses. While Ken had plenty of on-field success as the winningest coach in Stonehill history, his most impressive numbers are the volumes of student athletes who benefitted from his commitment to serve."
LeGrice's integrity shined through often.
"He would never act in a way that he didn't expect of us," Ricci said. Ardagna agreed.
"It was refreshing that he was coaching young women, because he was such a great male role model in their lives," she said. "The way he carried himself and spoke about his players, and spoke about his kids and his grandkids, you could just tell how important these things were to him, and these values carried over to coaching."
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Benvie also noted LeGrice's thoughtfulness, even when he didn't need to be.
"When he was diagnosed five years ago, they gave him six months to live," Benvie said. "It wasn't good. But he called me the day after that, because we had a mutual friend killed by a drunk driver on that date, and he said, 'Idon't want you to think about me when you are already sad about (our friend) today.'"
ARDAGNA SAID LeGrice was always striving to make himself better. "He wanted to present Stonehill softball in such a high regard and make sure he was doing all he possibly could to educate himself to give them the best experience," she said. "He always found the time to go to the Convention each year to try to make himself a better coach."
"I thought if this man, who has a very established career and is also a softball coach with a family, can put this much time and effort into bettering his team, it enforces the fact that you can have a family and still coach and maintain your values. That is something I admired about him a lot."
