It is strange not seeing Wendy Pinta, who spent the majority of the past three decades coaching Upper Arlington, on the sidelines this year.

But the longtime Golden Bears leader, who stepped away so she’d have time to watch her daughter, Clara Gallapoo, play at Lindenwood College, isn’t going anywhere.

Pinta is still coaching youth lacrosse in the community, and she’s hoping to officiate some games for as long as she can run up and down the field. She noted that she’ll likely stick to officiating middle school games to ensure she can still attend Upper Arlington games as a fan.

“It’s definitely been hard, and I really, really loved my team,” Pinta said. “I miss them already, but I know they’re in good hands.”

If Pinta isn’t going away, neither are the Golden Bears.

Morgan Fee Maldovan, who played club lacrosse for Pinta and was a standout for New Albany and then Ohio State, is inheriting a team with talent and tradition in spades. Maldovan previously served as a head coach at Columbus Academy, an assistant at Kent State University and coached club with Major Force Lacrosse.

“Wendy was my very first lacrosse coach, so that’s a really cool thing in and of itself to have not only learned from her as a player, but then to now kind of learn from her as a coach, like coach to coach, which is really neat,” Maldovan said. “So, I’m really excited for this opportunity.”

It’s an opportunity Maldovan is thrilled about. And an opportunity Pinta is thrilled to see Maldovan have.

“I’m pretty familiar with not just her but her family and have always been a huge admirer of not just the way that she’s played the game, but also how she’s coached the game,” Pinta said. “So, I felt really confident about her taking over the program.”

And Upper Arlington’s legacy is one that Maldovan will work hard to maintain. That’s something she emphasizes when people ask if the New Albany grad plans on making changes.

“’Oh, she’s from New Albany, she’s going to come in and change all this stuff,’” Maldovan said. “Like, no, I don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. There’s so much success. There’s so much power in just the legacy in and of itself. There’s so much behind UA girls lacrosse that it’s nice therevs not a lot to change. It’s small little tweaks here and there that us as coaches or us as a team decide we want to make.”

Perhaps the main tweak Maldovan plans on making is asking her players to improvise more.

“We’re looking at a free-flowing, positive but confident style of play, which is maybe something a little bit different than what they’ve seen in the past versus being like, ‘OK, you need to make sure you’re in this spot, this spot and this spot,’” Maldovan said. “Like, we want them to be able to understand that they have the reins to kind of go into things without us having to tell them.”

While the Golden Bears will surely be among the leading contenders for a state title with their myriad returners including Camryn Callaghan (62 goals) and Kampbell Stone (47 goals, 101 draw controls), Pinta sees the competition getting steeper in the Buckeye State.

That rise in Ohio lacrosse is something Pinta is thrilled to see, noting that when she recently watched college lacrosse on TV, she was able to enjoy state products Tori Banks (Thomas Worthington/Liberty), Sydni Black (Summit Country Day/Loyola) and Ellena Schildmeyer (Upper Arlington/Virginia).

“There’s just been an explosion of teams, which is exciting,” Pinta said. “I mean, I’m in love with this sport. I’ve always been in love with this sport. I think it’s a sport that really showcases girls’ athleticism, their speed and their strength, and their hand-eye and their agility and their finesse.”

As Pinta walks away from coaching the team that she loves in the sport that she loves, she naturally reflects back on a 2019 state title that no one could have predicted and an upset of Land of Lincoln power Loyola Academy (Ill.).

That said, her most lasting memories center on the people she shared a field with for so long.

“The things that I feel like I take away that I think I’m most proud [of are] when I see my own players teaching our youth players the game where they feel like they have something to give and want to share their passions,” Pinta said. “That’s something that’s really rewarding. We have a ton of kids that are coming out to be youth officials this year. It makes me so proud that they care about their community so much that they just want to support the game.”