NEW PORT RICHEY - Jenn Molby's passion for coaching at her alma mater lost out to a greater love.
The Ridgewood coach resigned for the love of her life.
Molby, who coached softball and volleyball, moved to Bradenton last week to be with her fiance, Craig Little, a physical education teacher at Lakewood Ranch. Molby, 24, was hired at Palmetto, where she will teach critical thinking and coach volleyball.
Molby informed players of her plans before taking the team to a Devil Rays baseball game at Tropicana Field on May 19. Most, though, knew Little proposed in April and had an inkling their coach might not return.
"When I came in with the (engagement) ring, they kind of said, "Wait a minute. Doesn't (Little) live ... '
"All the relationships I made with the girls. It's going to be hard to find another situation like that."
Molby coached volleyball and softball this past season at Ridgewood. The volleyball team went 14-10 and the softball squad posted a 12-14 record. Both teams lost in district semifinals.
"That was a big job, she undertook," said Ridgewood athletic director Gary Anders of Molby replacing Greg Bollinger as the softball coach weeks before the season started. "She came in and gave us stability. The kids liked her and respected her. She did a good job for us. She's not going to be easy to replace."
Ideally, Anders said a teacher would be hired to fill both coaching vacancies. But, he added, that is not always the case.
"Any time you have one person doing more than one sport, you really feel it," Anders said. "Finding somebody that's going to fit is not an easy thing to do."
And having a teacher come in and coach both sports, Anders said, "is a preference, not a hard-set rule."
Molby and Little, a former cross country runner at Saint Leo, met at that school and have dated more than three years. The couple has not set a wedding date.
Before coming to Ridgewood, Molby taught for a year at Cotee River Elementary and coached Gulf's junior varsity softball team.
Molby played volleyball at Saint Leo and set a single-season assists record (1,359) in 1999. She also played softball and tennis at Saint Leo and graduated from the Division II school in 2001.
A 1997 Ridgewood graduate, she played volleyball, basketball and softball for the Rams. As a pitcher, she led Ridgewood's softball team to a district title in 1997.
