Where Are They Now?

Lynn Kotler

Field Hockey, 1979-82

Men’s basketball national champions in 1999 and 2004…..women’s basketball national champions in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004….. Motor City Bowl Champions in 2005…men’s soccer national champions in 2000.

There’s no question that over the past decade the University of Connecticut has had unprecedented success that every college and university in the nation strive for. While many people look at this success and wonder how far the university will go, it is important to also look back and appreciate what started it all.

In 1981 the University of Connecticut won the first-ever NCAA Division I Field Hockey National Championship. In fact, it was the first NCAA championship ever sponsored for a women’s sport and it was contested on the UConn campus. The success of that year’s field hockey team and its subsequent teams were the building blocks for the most recent success of the athletic teams at UConn.

One of the most important leaders of that 1981 team was Lynn Kotler, whose career spanned from 1979-82. Kotler came to UConn as a proven winner. Kotler played field hockey, basketball, volleyball and softball at Commack High School on Long Island as she helped lead the team to the county championship in 1978.

During her junior year of high school, her father and her put together a recruiting package and sent it to schools of interest. Though Purdue and New Hampshire were high on her list, Kotler chose the UConn.

“I loved the campus,” says Kotler. “I enjoyed the fact that it was so rural and beautiful.”

Kotler was part of a very memorable 1981 for the UConn Division of Athletics as both the field hockey and men’s soccer teams won national championships.

Lynn Kotler is shown here with her parents and former UConn field hockey coach Diane Wright.

“In my junior year (1981), we were extremely talented and the finals were held at UConn,” says Kotler. “We were the third seed but used the home field to our advantage.”

UConn defeated Purdue in the first round of the NCAAs and then went on to beat Old Dominion in the semifinals and Massachusetts in the finals.

“It is probably one of the most meaningful days of my life,” says Kotler of the win over UMass. “The feeling of winning the national championship is indescribable. The ring I have now is a reminder of what we accomplished and I’m very proud of it.”

Kotler went on to win All-America honors as a senior in 1982 as the team advanced to the NCAA semifinals.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in physical education, Kotler continued on to graduate school at UConn and received a degree in education. For the following two and a half years, Kotler coached field hockey and lacrosse at Hofstra University. Wanting a change in her life Kotler went back to school, this time for law at Touro University in California.

“I felt I wanted a new challenge after two and a half years of coaching,” says Kotler. “Now I get to help people from all different walks of life and I get satisfaction out of being a problem solver.”

After first working for different attorneys, Kotler formed a partnership in the law firm of Pollack and Kotler of Mineola, N.Y., in 1985 and for now is happy with where her life has led since her days as a young field hockey star at UConn.

While Kotler doesn’t see herself coaching anymore, she still enjoys watching teams play. “I’m still a huge fan of UConn athletics and go online and check out how they’re doing and watch the basketball teams on national television.”

There’s no question that UConn is at the top of most people’s minds when it comes to successful college sports schools. The benefits that the school receives from this publicity is valuable, but without the success of sports teams like field hockey and soccer in the early 1980s, UConn might never have made in onto the map. Kotler was a powerful force for Huskies field hockey when they won their national championship and continues to be a force today in the world of law.

--Curran Kennedy