Let’s find out ‘Is Derek Lalonde Wife Melissa Lalonde A Women Soccer Coach?’ Despite playing different sports, both Derek Lalonde and his wife Melissa Lalonde have pursued careers in athletics. In June 2003, his wife, a former soccer player, was appointed the second head women’s soccer coach at Ferris State University.
At Hamilton College, where Melissa was an assistant soccer coach and Derek was an assistant hockey coach, the pair first became together.
Her husband is currently the Detroit Red Wings’ head ice hockey coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
He helped the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2018 to 2022 lead the group to back-to-back Stanley Cup triumphs in 2020 and 2021.
Lalonde’s coaching career began at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where he also worked as a graduate assistant from 1995 to 1997.
Lalonde began working as a two-year coaching assistant at Lebanon Valley College in 1998. After that, he spent two seasons as a coaching assistant at Hamilton College.
Is Derek Lalonde Wife Melissa Lalonde A Women Soccer Coach?
Melissa Lalonde, Derek Lalonde’s wife, formerly served as the head women’s soccer coach at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, from 2000 to 2002.
She guided Hamilton to a 19-13-1 overall record and two consecutive visits to the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) Championship during her two-year run.
Lalonde offered lifetime activity classes at Hamilton in sports like tennis, racquetball, and fitness in addition to teaching.
Before getting her big break as a head coach, Lalonde spent two seasons (1999–2000) as an assistant coach at Bethany College (W.Va.), where the Bison won the 1999 President’s Athletic Conference championship.
She served as an assistant coach at Penn State University-Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1998.
Melissa Was Named All-Conference (NCAC) Championship
In addition to coaching in the Olympic Development Program, Lalonde served as an assistant coach for the New York State Youth Soccer Association’s state team from 2000 to 2001.
She played semi-pro soccer for the Cleveland Eclipse of the United Soccer League from 1996 to 1998. While a student at the College of Wooster, Lalonde participated in track and field and soccer.
In 1996, Lalonde guided Wooster to an overall record of 18-3 and a spot in the national tournament while working under head coach David Brown.
She continues to hold the school records for both assists (three) and points (eight) in a single game. Additionally, she won four varsity letters in track and field and was a two-time conference sprinting champion.
Melissa Lalonde Completed High School At Padua Franciscan
As a prep student, Lalonde, an Ohio native who attended Padua Franciscan High School and graduated in 1994, twice won soccer honors, including All-North Coast League and All-Greater Cleveland Area.
The four-year letter winner, according to Ferris State University, captained the Bruins’ team and was chosen nine times for the preseason all-conference track and field team.
Pete Watkins, the team’s sole prior head coach, was replaced by Lalonde, who had previously served as an assistant at NCAA Division I Central Michigan.
He resigned from his post to oversee Aurora University’s NCAA Division III men’s soccer program (Ill.).
Details About Melissa Lalonde Parents, Jim And Cindy Eging
Her parents, Jim and Cindy Eging, welcomed Lalonde into the world in Tampa, Florida. On Facebook, her mother is active, and according to her biography, she attended Valley Forge High School and received her diploma in 1969.
She also has pictures of her grandchildren on her Facebook profile.
The Couple Have Been Together For 18 Years
In May 2004 in Cleveland, Derek Lalonde and Melissa Lalonde exchanged vows. Similar to that, the groom arrived late to their 1970s-themed wedding.
Lalonde and his mother-in-law allegedly also used some filthy language that wasn’t appropriate for a religious context, as reported by The Athletic.
The two are also active on Facebook, however Lalonde only seems to be an avid Twitter user since his first and only Facebook post, which was made on November 21, 2010, was about his kids.
While serving as an assistant hockey coach at Hamilton College, which is located just east of Syracuse, Lalonde met Melissa, his future wife. She had a job as an assistant soccer coach.
Before taking the helm at Ferris State, she worked as an assistant coach at Central Michigan.
MLive claims that Lalonde, a fan of hockey, football, and baseball, remembers making fun of soccer at the time. Then defenseman Dwight Parrish, who had previously played for Ferris State and then for England, taught him the finer points of the sport.
He told him to be patient since he would eventually find it enjoyable. This was after he married his wife, and today he is the family’s biggest soccer supporter.
Derek And Melissa Are Parents To Three Children
Having been happily married for 18 years, the Lalondes have three children: Alex, 16, Luke, 14, and Abby, 12.
In general, the family is mostly visible in photos that their mother posts on her Facebook page. On the other hand, she has pictures of her son playing ice hockey in junior high.
The majority of the post, aside from that, shows the family praising their father for his incredible athletic career.
The family has had the chance to enjoy two Stanley Cup victories in a row.
