By Melissa Yerkov
Times Sports Editor
Judy Haughton has always been a leader.
As an athlete, she led her high school and college swim teams to victory.
As a teacher, she inspired her students to enjoy learning and discovery.
And for the past 19 years as St. Hubert’s swim coach, she has led the Bambies to their share of success.
"I’ve always enjoyed coaching," said Haughton. "It’s a lot of hard work and very time-consuming, but it’s also very rewarding."
After almost two decades of keeping the Bambies afloat, Haughton has decided the time is right to retire.
"I wanted to leave while I still liked it," said Haughton. "I knew I could walk away now because I know I’m leaving it in good hands. I feel like I’m leaving it with people who can take it forward."
Haughton’s sister Katie — the Bambies’ assistant coach for 17 years — will be the head coach. Another assistant, Kristine Kozin, will provide support to Katie.
"I had a great time coaching Hubert’s," said Haughton. "But I’m tired. That’s a long time to coach. And I feel like it’s time to go."
The Northeast Philadelphia native jumped into coaching shortly after graduating from St. Hubert in 1983. Haughton, 18 at the time, was an assistant coach for the Bustleton Swim Club, a summer swim team.
After attending University of Pittsburgh on an athletic scholarship and graduating with a degree in communications and English writing, Haughton continued her coaching career at her high school alma mater.
"Coaching at St. Hubert was a wonderful experience," she said. "I was always an intense person, so I always pushed the kids. We trained really hard and worked really hard.
"I think over the years I did mellow out a little," she added. "But one thing that never changed was that I was always the supportive kind of coach."
Haughton’s coaching philosophies may have evolved over the years, but one rule always remained constant.
"There’s no crying in swimming," she said. "I have a very strict rule about that. We’re not here to bum ourselves out. We’re here to do our best and move on. The focus was always on swimming. The drama of it was not what we were after. This is not the drama team. It’s the swim team. We got to be having fun."
Happy in the knowledge that it wasn’t a case of sink or swim, the players soaked up Haughton’s positive attitude.
"I really did adore Judy as a coach," said St. Hubert swimmer Amanda Spaeder, who’ll be team captain this season. "She had a unique way of coaching that you could either love or hate, but chose to love. Judy was a tough coach, but she was a great coach. Judy had everything I wanted in a coach . . . she was straightforward, funny and dedicated, and I couldn’t help but love her, even at nine on Saturday mornings."
While coaching at St. Hubert, Haughton also started a women’s swim program at Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College) in 1994, and a men’s program surfaced the following year.
"I stayed at Beaver for about five years," she said. "I loved it there, but the time commitment got too big. I was also coaching at St. Hubert’s at the time, and I didn’t want to leave them."
Haughton also has been devoted to an 18-year teaching career that has spanned a variety of subjects and schools.
She started as a social-studies teacher at St. Timothy’s School. She later switched to the School District of Philadelphia, tackling math classes at the Thomas Middle School in South Philly and teaching general education at the Smedley Elementary School in Frankford.
"I spent my teaching career at middle school, and Smedley is grades K through five, so it was much younger kids," said Haughton. "But I liked it a lot. It’s been an adjustment. But there are good kids and good families there."
Haughton, 42, still works for the School District of Philadelphia, but she recently made the transition to administration. She’s the manager of non-instructional school services at Smedley, which, according to Haughton, is "basically an assistant principal."
"I wanted to move into administration and deal with non-academic issues, like discipline and truancy," she said.
The Pennsauken, N.J., resident is enjoying her retirement from coaching.
"I’m really looking forward to not doing much," she said. "I golf competitively now in the spring, summer and fall, and I love that. I’m competitive by nature.
"I am looking forward to spending the winter months not worrying about meets and practices," she added. "But I’ll always be involved at Hubert’s. There are great people there and I plan to stay in touch. The most important thing at St. Hubert is that you are always part of the team." ••
Sports editor Melissa Yerkov can be reached at 215-354-3035 or myerkov@phillynews.com