St. Charles East softball’s Horan steps down

St. Charles East softball coach Kelly Horan told her team Wednesday afternoon she will step down after seven seasons in charge of the Saints program.

After East’s season ended with a 4-1 loss to Conant in Monday’s Class 4A Conant Regional championship game, little did most people know that it also would be Horan’s last game as coach.

Although the decision was not made verbal until Wednesday, Horan said it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“I have always preached since I first took over: family first, school/work second and softball third,” Horan said. “I think my husband and I knew this was going to be [my last year] prior to this season. Nothing about this is easy, but it’s absolutely the right decision for my family and I.”

Horan, 33, said she had been lacking in the first two areas, as a teacher, but more importantly as a mother to her two children. Horan’s decision will allow her to spend more time with son Brady, 3, and daughter Emma, 10 months.

“My dad taught me how to play catch, and chased me around the house … and still does,” Horan said with a laugh. “I want to be that parent to my kids, and that is a big reason for this decision. Teaching is one, but family is something that weighed on me considerably.”

Horan currently teaches health and wellness at East and will continue to do so.

Her decision is not something Horan took lightly, having a successful tenure in charge of the East softball program. She finished with a record of 174-74-3, winning two regional championships, the first of which came in the 2013 campaign, a season in which the Saints finished as the Class 4A state runner-up.

Horan also was named the Illinois Coaching Association’s Coach of the Year that season, as well as in 2009.

As successful as her teams were, there are few things she will miss more than the players and families she has made relationships with over the years.

“If I told the kids that running through a brick wall would help them win… they would do it,” she said. “To share a sport that I have loved forever and watch these kids share that same passion means the world to me. It means so much to have met and shared so many memories with all of the players and great families that have supported us year in and year out.”

Horan shared one such memory of a team she will never forget.

“A Saturday morning, the coaches and I showed up to practice to see a note left by the girls,” Horan said. “The note said: ‘Coach, we got here a half-hour early and couldn’t find you, so we all went to breakfast.’ Little did I know that they were all hiding, watching mine and my assistant coaches’ reactions. It’s little things like that that I will never forget.”

East will have its end-of-the-season banquet later this week.

Horan is sure memories will be shared and Saints players and coaches will remember and celebrate all of the good things that this year’s 29-win, Upstate Eight Conference River Divison championship team accomplished.

She summed up her coaching with her final thoughts on stepping down.

“I just feel I’m practicing what I preach,” Horan said. “Family and teaching come first ... and I want to be the best mom I can be to my children.”