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McCall recalls coaching career
Cardinals girls golf coach steps aside
By Greg Gulas
CANFIELD
As the academic year drew to a close for area schools, so did the coaching career of one of the Mahoning Valley’s most successful golf coaches.
Diane McCall, who launched the Canfield Cardinals’ girls program in 1997, decided the time has come to turn over her coaching reins.
“A big part of my decision is because my parents are still living and as an only child, I need the flexibility to have a freer schedule,” McCall said. “My parents currently live in Tucson, Ariz., and my father [Ben Roth] is still playing the game at the young age of 94.
McCall started the program after her daughter, Ashley, was forced to compete individually in 1996 as a freshman.
“I golfed but didn’t coach, so I had to rely on another coach to teach me how to run a match and the other little things that go along with your season,” McCall said. “That first year there was a lot of teaching done by me, but the thing I learned most was that the secret to becoming a successful program lies in the seventh and eighth grades.”
For 20 years she ran a girl’s middle school junior golf league in the spring at Diamondback Golf Course, which provided the younger girls an opportunity to learn and enjoy the game of golf.
“It was our feeder program and helped our varsity team become more competitive and successful,” McCall said. “For five or six weeks each spring they played Diamondback Golf Course where they got to understand walking the course, carrying their bags and course etiquette. That was important.”
In 22 seasons, McCall fashioned a 381-83 (.821 winning percentage) record which included 16 league crowns, 21 district appearances, nine sectional championships.
She also had teams qualify for state in 2006 and 2013.
McCall led three individuals to state Her daughter was the first in 1999, Felicia Ciotola was the second in 2003 and Hannah Keffler (2016-17), the program’s only back-to-back and two-time qualifier.
Ashley McCall — who also qualified in 1996 — tied for eighth and earned second-team All-State honors and later played at Ohio University. Ciotola played for head coach Roseann Schwartz at Youngstown State while Keffler posted competitive rounds both years but opted not to play in college.
To understand how McCall built her program and the success her players achieved, you need only go back to that 1997 season and a day that she spent in the school’s gymnasium.
“I’d see the plaques honoring our school’s championship teams and my immediate goal was to have our team honored with a championship plaque,” she said. “We accomplished that with our first title in 1999.”
McCall also ran and coached a varsity B team for 11 seasons while coaching her A team. They posted a 57-14 overall mark.
She had the distinction of coaching the program when girl’s golf was one division, before breaking into two divisions in 2007.
“To get out of district with your own team says a lot about your program,” McCall said. “My ‘Dream Team’ in 2006 went to state when it was one division and that was quite an accomplishment.”
She is most proud of her players’ many academic successes with 22 (29 percent) team members playing collegiately. Ten attended Division I schools, two players played on the Division II level with 10 players attending Division III colleges. Two former players are currently competing at the college level.
McCall has spent time with the Northeast Ohio High School Golf Coaches Association, Ohio High School Golf Coaches Association and Northeast District Girls Golf Coaches.
A rules official at the girls’ Division I and II state tournaments for seven years, she was inducted into Ohio High School Golf Coaches Association hall of fame in 2012.
That same year she received the Midwest Sectional Coach of the Year award for girls golf on behalf of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and was named Ohio Women’s Golf Coach of the Year by the Ohio High School Golf Coaches Association.
On June 11, McCall was presented with the OHSAA’s Sportsmanship & Integrity award in Columbus.
“My goal as a coach was for our girls to practice the game in a fashion that would help get them to state at the end of the season,” she said. “I always wanted to have a competitive program.”