Legendary coach, mentor, teacher and friend Mary Hines passed away at the age of 93

Legendary coach, mentor, teacher and friend Mary Hines passed away Sunday at the age of 93.

Hines was a standout swimmer who captured several youth championships, setting a Southern Arizona record in the 100 Freestyle at age 17, beating University of Arizona swimmers along the way. She also helped lead the Rec Center Girls softball team to a City Championship in 1944 over the Convair Queens, hitting five home runs in the series, when she was 16. Oh, and she took second place in a 4^th of July bicycle race at the age of 13. Even better, Hines won a Halloween Costume contest at age 12 dressed as a witch in the Tucson Mardi Gras Parade.

Hines won the 1947 AIA Class A State Doubles championship with her Tucson High partner, legendary sports figure Serafina Grace, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 over Beryl Tolliver and Carol Houston of Mesa. Grace passed away in 2007 and the two standouts were part of a dominating period where Tucson won six straight team championships from 1945 to 1950.

We are excited to introduce you to Mary Hines! Mary attended Arizona from 1947-1951. Her favorite memories include playing softball and coaching volleyball! Check out why Mary is a Wildcat for Life! #beardownforlife @ArizonaSoftball pic.twitter.com/FCJE5OPzAq

— Arizona A-Club (@UALETTERWINNERS) February 4, 2020

Hines continued to play softball with the legendary Sunshine Girls squad and she won quite a few local bowling tournaments while teaching at Wakefield. She was named University of Arizona Outstanding Sportswoman in 1952 and she served as the Boston University Aquatics Camp Leader in the summer of 1954. She was one of the first Synchronized Swimming coaches in Tucson.

Hines started coaching volleyball at Catalina in 1957 and she sat on the AIA panel to start the process of adding girls swimming to Arizona. She coached the Trojans to a state championship in 1972, 15-10, 15-5 over Paradise Valley. Former Rincon/University volleyball coach Juanita Kingston was part of that championship squad along with former University of Arizona volleyball athlete Anne Davenport. Davenport went on to coach at Pima.

Hines helped set national rules in volleyball for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and she set the standard for how TUSD handled the new Title IX legislation by demanding representation on district committees.

Former University of Arizona multisport athlete and Palo Verde volleyball coach Kathy Krucker played for Hines as did Cherrie Brinlee, who led Sahuaro to two state championships. Hines coached against Brinlee to win her second state championship 1983.

Catalina beat Sahuaro 15-13, 15-9 that year with Pima County Hall of Fame player Lacy Williams leading the team along with legendary Arizona softball player and coach Stacy Engel Iveson and Heather Moore-Martin, who led championship teams at Catalina and Salpointe. Former New Mexico coach Kelley McKee also played for Hines. In all, 15 of her former players coached at some level with a record nine at the same time.

Hines retired in 1984 after 33 years of coaching with a 215-27 career record. She was replaced by a former player, Debbie Summers. Hines was named National Coach of the Year in 1985 and she retired from coaching in 1986. She went on to win local golf tournaments and she scored a hole-in-one in 1989 on the 120-yard 15^th hole at Silverbelle with a 9 wood.

The Mary L. Hines Gymnasium on the Catalina campus was dedicated in 1997. Hines coached a 70 and over softball team to a Senior Olympics gold medal in 2012 and she won a gold medal throwing a shot put and another in the softball throw at the 2016 Senior Olympics.

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Named one of “Arizona’s Heart & Sol” by KOLD and Casino del Sol, Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and a 2019 AZ Education News recognition. He was a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling and his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is a Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019, became a member of the Sunnyside Los Mezquites Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2021 and he was a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee. He earned a Distinguished Service Award from Amphitheater and he was recognized by City Councilman Richard Fimbres. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com