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====== Sr. Maria Pares ======

{{  women_s_basketball:wbb_sr._maria_pares.gif}}Sister Maria Pares grabbed the women’s basketball coaching reins at Sacred Heart High School in 1973, and in 13 seasons, compiled a remarkable record of 229 wins and 10 losses for a .957 winning percentage. That record was punctuated by a winning streak of 127 games and a New York State Class C championship in 1986.

During Sister Maria’s tenure, her Sacred Heart teams not only dominated the Monsignor Martin Association, but routinely beat the best that the public schools had to offer. Sacred Heart was a regular participant in the Ken-Ton Kiwanis Tournament and Lockport Tournament, which featured outstanding public school teams.

Canisius College hired Sister Maria as their Head Women’s Basketball Coach in 1982 where she inherited an average squad (13-10 in 1980-81) and produced a 26-5 record and a NYS Championship in her first season. Her 1982-83 team went 18-5, once again capturing the New York State Division II title and reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Griff's tenacious coach was honored that season as Converse Region II's Coach of the Year. When Sister Maria Pares moved on to coach at Marquette in 1986, she left behind a record of 108-39 (.735) at Canisius.

While at Marquette, Sister Maria guided the Warriors to a third place finish in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) and earned a berth in the MCC Championship.  She established Marquette’s first women’s basketball tournament, the 1989 Warrior Tip Off, and received national recognition by being featured in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today, as well as, an appearance on the “Late Show” with Joan Rivers.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Sister Maria Pares' coaching career is the fact that she achieved an unmatched level of excellence while coaching basketball simultaneously at Sacred Heart and Canisius from 1982 to 1986. In addition to basketball, Sister Maria coached volleyball, softball, and badminton at Sacred Heart; and several of her teams in those sports captured Catholic League titles.

Throughout Sister Maria’s career, she has received numerous awards including Upstate Conference College Coach of the Year, Buffalo Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizen Award, and High School Coach of the Year.  She has been inducted in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame (1996), Sacred Heart Academy Sports Hall of Fame, Town of Amherst Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canisius College Sports Hall of Fame (2002).  Sister Maria is also a member of the Hope Chest Dragon Boat Team, which is a unique floating support and exercise program geared to improve the quality of life for breast cancer survivors, encourage early detection, raise breast cancer awareness in Western New York and encourage the pursuit of a cure.

Although a singularly demanding coach, Sister Pares has never lost sight of the fact that excellence in any sport most often springs from enjoyment of the sport. Her common sense approach to coaching has fostered mature, cohesive teams which produced not only outstanding results, but also produced a legacy of their coach embodied in several graduates who coach women's college basketball at the Division I level. These coaches represent a generation of young women who have carried forth valuable lessons in perseverance, perfectionism, and fulfillment from their coach and teacher, Sister Maria Pares.

She has influenced so many young women during her 36 year career as a coach. Her current SHA Varsity squad has held the title of New York State's #1 Team in Class A since January 4.