Coach Amy Proctor ends 19-year tenure at Lawrence

Phil Roy

While weather has ensured that little action occurs on our playing fields, little has prevented the Human Resource happenings of the Lawrence Athletic Department from being frequent and newsworthy.
Athletic Director Bob Beeman announced that women’s basketball coach Amy Proctor resigned from her post Wed., April 10 – less than three weeks since Beeman revealed the departure of Coach Tharp.
This unexpected departure sees the Lawrence community lose another long-standing and successful member of the Athletic Department. Amy Proctor’s legacy here at Lawrence is one of sustained success.
Not only did Coach Proctor have the longest tenure as head coach compared to her colleagues, the former St. Norbert star had also compiled more wins than any other coach in Lawrence history.
These significant achievements saw women’s basketball undergo a resurrection under Proctor’s 19-year tenure.
After taking over a program that had seen their 1987-88 season cancelled, Proctor led Lawrence to a conference championship in each of her first two seasons.
Over the course of her almost two-decade run with the Vikings, Coach Proctor racked up an impressive 247-192 record and has led the Vikings to the MWC Tournament in five of the last six years.
Proctor emphasized community involvement throughout her tenure, strongly encouraging her players to be more involved in our wider community.
One noticeable tradition that Proctor created as a means to promote such involvement was to invite a different professor to sit on the bench with the Vikings during each home game.
Coach Proctor’s versatility and dedicated contribution to Lawrence is also evident in her ability to take on head coaching responsibilities for the volleyball team for five seasons, and she also served as Athletic Director for a few years.
We wish Coach Proctor well in her future endeavors and express a deep gratitude on behalf of the Lawrence community for her 19 years of dedicated service.
The department also announced the hiring of a new assistant football coach this week.
Paul Kinsella, a former coach at Lakeland College, joins the football program as its new offensive coordinator, and will also take on recruiting responsibilities.
The Vikings went 5-5 last season, putting an end to an almost two-decade-long streak of losing seasons, and look to continue the turnaround when they kickoff against Monmouth College come September.