Printer Friendly Version - Cummings is Loving Her First Year as North Haven’s Golf Coach

Daria Cummings brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for golf to the Indians as their new head coach of the sport at the high school. Daria is a Monroe resident who played soccer, basketball, and softball at Masuk, after which she attended college at George Mason University in Virginia. Photo courtesy of Daria Cummings

Daria Cummings has achieved some notable feats as a competitive golfer and she’s always embraced how the sport challenges one to use a mixture of intensity, athleticism, and intellect to see success. Now, Daria is passing on her love of the links to a group of guys who are just getting going on the greens in her first season as North Haven’s head coach.

Daria played some golf as a kid, but didn’t get serious about the sport until she finished college. Daria won the local and regional titles for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship in 2000 and then finished third at the national competition. She’s also placed second at other national events and qualified for United States Golf Association (USGA) tournaments like the U.S. Open sectionals. In fact, Daria was pondering turning pro before she suffered an Achilles’ tendon injury.

Last March, Daria’s father Tom passed away. Daria and her dad had played golf together since her childhood and her interest in the game waned a bit after he died. However, when she saw that North Haven was looking for its new coach, Daria’s excitement reignited and so she went for the job. Daria was hired shortly before the season teed off and she’s been enjoying guiding the Indians’ up-and-coming golfers.

“I’m thrilled to be coaching and have fun every day that I go there,” says Daria. “That’s definitely a testament to the guys I’ve been coaching. They like to work hard and, at the same time, they’re some of the funniest kids I’ve ever met and we’re having a good time.”

Daria’s been pleased with her athletes’ effort and enthusiasm and not just during matches or regularly scheduled practices. Daria says they’re also giving an extra effort and a great example of that came when North Haven saw a nice turnout for a voluntary practice.

“They’ve been great. I have guys calling me and texting me with their scores from the weekend to show that they’ve gone out and played and are doing stuff they don’t have to. We just had an optional practice and a bunch of guys showed up on a Saturday morning. I said, ‘I’ll be here if you want to hit,’ and most of the team was there,” Daria says. “I think they know that I know how to play and I’ve been able to give them things that work so far. They trust me and they’re ready to roll with it.”

Junior Gianni Abate has quickly gained trust in Daria and says that she’s “a great coach” and “we’re lucky to have her.” Gianni says that Daria is improving everyone’s swing, while educating them about the game.

“She’ll stand behind us with her phone and do a video and we’ll watch it in slow motion to see where we went wrong. Then we’ll try again with what she said to improve and we’ll watch that as a comparison. It gives us a visual of what we’re doing wrong, instead of just saying, ‘Do it this way.’ The new video shows us what we’re doing right and how to improve our swing,” Abate says. “Then one of our matches was canceled and, instead of going home, she called us into the school library and we went on the USGA website to watch things like what to do when your ball goes in the water or out of play. That gives us a better understanding of how the game works…We’re responding great to her and, if she wants us to try out a technique, we’ll try it because she has a lot of golfing experience, so we’ll take her word for it.”

Daria says everyone’s scores have been pretty consistent and that they’re starting to come down. She wants the Indians to grab as many victories as they can this spring, but she’s also establishing a foundation for the future with an eye toward contending at the SCC and state levels. Daria details some of the things she wants to be hallmarks of her program as North Haven tries to ascend to those plateaus.

“I want us be a scrappy team. I don’t think we’ll ever be the prettiest team, but I want to be a team that people are eventually scared to play because they’ll never know when everything will come together and we’ll win. Our guys are hard workers and, with the athletes we have, once the drives start staying in bounds and the putts fall, we’ll get there,” she says. “I also think chemistry is very important…I’m proud of my guys because they work together. I see our golfers walking up the fairway together and talking about things or just telling someone to keep their head up and keep playing hard. My team does a really good job with that.”