Like Battery, 'Lucky' Keeps Going, Going

By: Keith Mills

He stands on the sidelines, the epitome of composure and perspective, with more than 40 years of coaching and teaching experience on his resume and a reputation and legacy that are unparalleled in local high school sports.

There is nothing that Stephen "Lucky" Mallonee, 64, hasn't seen on the soccer and lacrosse fields of Baltimore, and nothing he hasn't accomplished. Yet here he is, back for a 42nd year at Park School, savoring yet another win and the chance to impact another group of young men.

"I have a directory, and why I do this I don't really know," Mallonee said. "It's a directory of every kid I've coached since I've been here. I guess there are over 600 names in it and I try and stay in touch with as many as I can."

Why does he do it? Because like so many "lifers" in the educational system, Mallonee is in it for much more than lesson plans and championships. He's in it for the kids -- the thousands of students and hundreds of athletes he has mentored along the way who have called Park School home.

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One day after his Bruins beat Cardinal Gibbons, 3-0, for their fourth MIAA B Conference win of the year, Mallonee was back in the classroom and back on the elliptical machine, trying to stave off Father Time.

Mallonee isn't just a teacher and coach; he is the face of the school, its anchor, its historical reference and a local icon in every sense.

An inductee last February into the Baltimore Chapter of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, "Lucky" was born Stephen Mallonee, one of C. Gardener and Esther Mallonee's six children.

"My mother gave all of us nicknames," Mallonee said. "Mine was Lucky. She gave it to me before I was born and said I'm going to be the 'lucky one.'"

C. Gardener Mallonee, who passed away in 1980, was one of the greatest players and coaches in lacrosse history. A graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, he was an All-American at Johns Hopkins and in 1961 was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He also taught and coached at the Park School before moving on to teach at Johns Hopkins University and eventually Forest Park High.

Lucky Mallonee was born in 1944 and immediately settled in at Park. He went to school there from first grade through 12th and even met his wife on the north Baltimore campus.

The former Karen Abrams, like her husband, is also a member of the Baltimore chapter of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. And, like Mallonee is at Park, she is an institution at Garrison Forest, where she has coached field hockey, basketball and lacrosse for nearly 30 years.

While a student at Park, Mallonee met Bob Scott, who went to Forest Park High School, played in several all-star games under C. Gardener Mallonee and eventually would become a Hall of Fame lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins University. Scott is a close friend of the Mallonee family to this day.

"I remember playing in the backyard with Bobby when I was growing up," Mallonee said. "My dad was sort of his mentor. When I got to Hopkins and I played for him, I had to think hard about what to call him because I had always known him as Bobby."

Lucky Mallonee graduated from Park in 1962 and, like his father, became an All-American lacrosse player at Hopkins. In 1967, he played for the Mt. Washington lacrosse club, which represented the United States in the World Lacrosse Championships. Mallonee's teammates included Dutch Ruppersberger, Buzzy Krongard and Al and Joe Seivold, who coached Lucky Mallonee at Park six years earlier.

"I'm a product of my dad, Bobby Scott, Joe Seivold," Mallonee said. "They always stressed accountability, work ethic, commitment. I hope I've been able to pass that along to my players."

He has indeed, beginning in 1966 when Park headmaster Chuck Callanan offered him a chance to coach and teach at his alma mater.

"I didn't really want to teach," he said, "but I really didn't have anything else going on. I had just gotten out of Hopkins and I didn't want to go to Vietnam. They had the draft back then, and that was an option I didn't like. So I decided to take the job. It was kind of an accident."

It is no accident that Mallonee has never left. He won his first soccer championship in 1974 and his last 15 years ago -- although this year's team was 4-1-1 heading into the week and tied for the lead in Division II of the MIAA B Conference. But it's not the won-lost record or the standings that motivate Mallonee, it's the players.

Players like Stuart Berger, who graduated in 1977 and introduced Lucky at this year's Hall of Fame inductions, Dan Jackson, Bert Levin and Fred Hecker of the 1970s.

Jamie Matz and Colin Smith were among the leaders of Mallonee's lacrosse team last year while Andrew Duberg, Jonathan Hettleman, Andrew Patterson, Carlos Cruz, Arthur Sonnenfeld and Noam Yaffe are on this year's soccer team.

Mallonee says the kids haven't changed as much over the years as the parents. And while he once again fields a soccer team that plays hard and smart, the veteran coach does admit things are different.

"When we played, there were no trainers," Mallonee said. "Now it seems kids spend all of their time in the training room. We used to turn our ankle or get nicked up and we'd tape it up and get back out. The parents have changed a lot. It's great that they're more involved but sometimes they get too involved. It would be nice if they just let their kids play."

Mallonee is still not sure when he'll call it a career, though he's getting some pressure to stay from current Bruins assistant soccer coach Roger Seidenman, also the school's director of development and another of Mallonee's former players.

"Roger's son (Branch) is in first grade," Lucky said, "and he told me he would like to me to stick around to coach his son."

Eleven more years?

"I don't know about that," he said.

If he does, Branch Seidenman would be the "lucky one."

Issue 3.39: September 25, 2008