Jody Patrick, the winningest and longest tenured girls head basketball coach in the history of Flint Hill School, has stepped down from that position after 21 years on the bench of the private high-school squad.
Patrick will continue to work full time at the school in her new position as the Lower School physical education-department chair, along with continuing to coach various middle school and junior varsity teams, and help out if needed elsewhere.
“It was a hard and emotional decision. But with the new position, I felt like this was the right time to step down as head coach,” Patrick said.
As Flint Hill’s coach, her Huskies compiled a 345-182 record, won multiple Independent School League championships, finished second in state tournaments four times, won five Flint Hill tipoff tournaments and had multiple 20-win seasons.
This past winter, Flint Hill finished 12-9, including a 2-2 mark in postseason action.
Her teams were known for playing heady and hard, especially causing havoc for opponents on defense.
Many of Patrick’s Flint Hill players were selected to all-state and all-conference teams, and 16 played college basketball.
Prior to Flint Hill, Patrick was an assistant at nearby public-school Madison High School under Virginia High School League Hall of Fame coach Pat Deegan.
“That’s a real big loss for girls high school basketball in the area,” Deegan said about Patrick. “When she was an assistant, I learned so much from her. She’s a great coach and her teams were always prepared and played hard. They would start boxing you out during introductions.”
In addition to coaching basketball, Patrick has worn many hats over the years at Flint Hill. She has lined athletic fields, driven school buses and for years, she and her husband, Dick, were the announcers of the varsity football games.
Patrick also has worked as a color commentator for NCAA Division I women’s college basketball games for many years.
“Jody has been a tremendous part of the Flint Hill athletic program over her career,” Flint Hill athletic director Dewayne Robinson said. “She has been eager to pull the sled in any way needed to help our students have a great athletic experience.”