Palombo relaxing from job> Coach may return to UMaine soon

Joanne Palombo-McCallie did not return Tuesday to her job as the University of Maine women’s basketball coach, but there are signs the fourth-year head coach is feeling much better.

The 30-year-old Palombo, who was not available for comment Monday, confirmed in a brief statement released Tuesday by the university that she was told by doctors to take a break.

“Due to extensive summer travel and a very busy preseason, I have become physically exhausted,” Palombo said in the statement. “Upon the advice of my physicians, as of last Wednesday, I have taken a needed rest from my day-to-day responsibilities as head coach.

“In the meantime, my very capable assistant coaches, Sarah Mannes and Jody Benner, have been handling the team. I am very much looking forward to rejoining the team and resuming my schedule soon.”

The women’s basketball team took Tuesday as its NCAA-mandated weekly day off.

Palombo, who Monday was recuperating at her home in Orono, did some relaxing outdoors Tuesday, according to UMaine athletic director Sue Tyler.

“She’s playing golf today [Tuesday]” said Tyler, who spoke with Palombo Tuesday after returning to Orono from Kansas City, Mo., where she attended Monday night’s NCAA Woman of the Year festivities. Tyler believes Palombo has made a good decision.

“It gets to the point where you have to recoup,” Tyler said. “There’s a great season ahead, and she’s got to be poised and ready. It was smart on her part.”

Tyler is hopeful that Palombo will be able to return to work soon. John McCallie, Palombo’s husband, said Monday that her doctors will determine when she may begin coaching again.

Tyler is not concerned about the effect Palombo’s absence might have on the women’s team.

“The players are doing great and the assistant coaches are doing a great job,” said Tyler, who had talked with Palombo last week about taking some time off.

“We talked about it before she did it,” Tyler said. “It was something where she just needed to take a couple of days off. We really didn’t want to make a big deal of it.”

In the university release, Palombo requested that reporters not to attempt to contact her directly, out of respect for her need for rest.

Tyler said that had the NEWS not uncovered the story Monday, the university likely would not have divulged the fact that Palombo was taking time off from her job.

“She didn’t want to be hassled and she really just wanted to get some rest,” Tyler said.

Fatigue is a problem that faces many Division I coaches, according to Tyler, who coached Maryland’s field hockey and lacrosse teams to national championships.

“I ran into it in the mirror at times,” Tyler said of her experience with exhaustion. “Anybody that works this intensely [as does Palombo] and wants the gold, you just push yourself as hard as you can. It just happens. It’s not unusual.”

Tyler also pointed out that the responsibilites of a coach go far beyond just on-court coaching, planning and recruiting.

“You don’t have enough time to do everything,” Tyler said. “You want to write a newsletter and be available to the Rotaries and the Moose and the Elks. You want to go to high school and junior high school clinics.”

And, while coaches at Division I universities in large metropolitan areas where there are many colleges can share the load, coaches like Palombo must shoulder the burden alone.

“Here, who else are they going to ask?” Tyler said. “[Palombo] just didn’t know how to say `no.’ ”

A quote from Auburn University women’s basketball coach Joe Ciampi that appears in the 1994 UMaine media guide points to the kind of drive that may have led Palombo to exhaustion.

“She has a great work ethic and never works 9 to 5,” Ciampi said. “She understands the commitment it takes. She works for objectives and that is a 24-hour day.”