[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 95 (Tuesday, July 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1370-E1371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       TRIBUTE TO LINDA ANN ALIMI

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 8, 1997

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to your attention 
Linda Ann Alimi of West Essex, NJ.
  Linda received her bachelor of science from Boston University in 1965 
and received her master of arts from Montclair State University in 
1977. She graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Kappa Phi, 
the National Honor Society.
  Ms. Alimi has coached the women's field hockey team of West Essex 
High School for 32 years. She clinched conference titles 25 out of 27 
years--1970-79, 1981, 1983-95, and 1996, Essex County titles 5 times--
1974, 1975, 1987, 1990, 1991, and North Jersey sectional titles 19 
times--1971-76, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991-93, and 1996. 
West Essex has been ranked the No. 1 women's field hockey team in New 
Jersey 3 times--1984, 1992, 1993, and the No. 2 team in the State 4 
times--1987, 1989, 1991, and

[[Page E1371]]

1996. She also coached the women's junior Olympic field hockey team to 
a gold medal in 1992. Such a dynasty can only be explained by 
tremendous coaching.
  Linda is the recipient of many prestigious awards including the 1987 
Merit Award from the Governor's Council on Fitness and Sport; the 1987 
Gold Award, Franklin Life Insurance and Scholastic Coach magazine, 
Select Circle Coaching Award; the 1989 Garden State All Sports 
Foundation Award; the 1989 NJSIAA Executive Award; the 1989 Coca-Cola 
and Madison Square Garden Network Spotlight Award; the 1990 Outstanding 
Coaches Award for Field Hockey from the National Federation 
Interscholastic Coaches Association for the State of New Jersey; and 
the 1990 Boston College Sargent College Special Merit Award for 
Coaching Excellence. Linda was also the recipient of the 1994 Women's 
Sports Foundation Budget Car Coaches Award.
  Linda was inducted into the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic 
Association's Hall of Fame in 1985 and received the Boston University 
Harry Clevarly Award for Coaches Excellence that same year. She was 
inducted into the West Essex Regional High School Hall of Fame in 1991 
and was named New Jersey's Winningest Field Hockey Coach in 1994 with 
an unprecedented 422 victories, 53 losses and 40 ties. Ms. Alimi was 
also named the Winningest Field Hockey Coach in the U.S.A. in 1996 for 
her amazing 457 victories. Linda received the Honor Award for 
Outstanding Leadership in Sports from the New Jersey Association for 
Girls and Women in Sports in 1996, and was the recipient of the 1996 
Pathfinder Award presented by the National Association for Girls and 
Women in Sports. She was inducted into the NJSIAA Hall of Fame on 
December 2, 1996, placed in the National Federation High School Sports 
Record Book in 1997 and previewed in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the 
Crowd on March 17, 1997.
  On top of being an exceptional coach, Linda Alimi is a member of 
numerous committees and involved in a number of activities. She has 
served as vice president of the West Essex Education Association 1987-
88; been liaison committee chairperson to the board of education 1987-
88; and was the originator and president of the North Jersey Field 
Hockey Coaches Association from 1974-85 and county representative from 
1985-96. Linda was certified as an instructor in 1982 under the 
American Coaches Effectiveness Program, Level I and is presently the 
clinician and chairperson for the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic 
Association. Ms. Alimi was a member of the New Jersey Governor's 
Council on Fitness and Sport from 1986-88, and the winner of the Garden 
State All Sports Foundation Award in 1988. She served as a member of 
the U.S. Field Hockey Association board of directors from 1988-92, on 
the NJSIAA Field Hockey Committee from 1989-96, and on the USFHA 
Futures Committee in 1994. Linda presently serves on the National 
Federation Field Hockey rules committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me, our colleagues, Linda's family, 
friends and teammates in recognizing Linda Ann Alimi's outstanding and 
invaluable service to the community.

                          ____________________