Ford joins athletic staff as lax, basketball coach

  Haley Ford is one of the coaches brought in over the off-season and she’s taking over as coach for the girls varsity lacrosse team and the girls varsity basketball team. Ford takes on both teams after the cancelled seasons in early 2020 due to the coronavirus.      

     Ford is a North Harford alumna from the class of 2011 and she had a list of achievements including starting three years at midfield, helping lead the Hawks to a regional championship and the state finals in the 2010 lacrosse season. She was selected as first team all-county and received the team’s team “Unsung Hero” Award as a junior as well as leading her team in ground balls for junior and sophomore seasons, and was named second team all-county after sophomore season.    

      Ford also played four years of varsity soccer, earning first team all-county honors as a junior and senior and all-state honorable mention recognition in 2010, and even broke the school record for most shutouts in a career as a soccer goalkeeper with 29.     

      Mrs. Ford started coaching right out of college in 2015 and the Penn State alumna claims she started coaching after she had a career ending injury, where she missed both her junior and senior season. Ford credits those two seasons spent on the sidelines as her influence to start coaching which would ultimately bring her back to her alma mater.      

      Coach ford claimed  “I learned a lot from the coaching staff. Learning from some of the best coaches in the country not just about lacrosse, but about life, I thought it would be a waste if I didn’t share some of what I learned with other athletes.”     

      North Harford’s newest addition to the coaching staff also enjoys tending to her vegetable garden in her free time, she claims her love for vegetable gardening stems from a job she was hired for out of college working on a small vegetable farm and Mrs. Ford also stated she “fell in love with it” because “it  allows you to get in that same flow state that sports do”

       When she was an athlete for North Harford and Penn State, Ford enjoyed listening to “Anything Lil Wayne or Biggie Smalls” before games to get herself in the zone and ready to play.

       Ford played club lacrosse for NEMS under head coach Paula Priest, winning the 2010 Top of the Bay Championship and was named to the 2010 Club National Championship All-Tournament Team as well as Leading NEMS in ground balls.

     One Thing Coach Ford hopes for her athletes is “having an understanding that it is just a game, and the game ends someday so enjoy the ride. The balance of working hard and having fun will allow you to get the most out of sport and life.”