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Maria Christine, now in her 15th season, is the senior
member of Coach Mircetic’s staff. Maria has helped lead
the Pirates to a
429-56 record since 1994 (a winning pct. of
.885), including a 153-3 (.981) Western State Conference
mark and a record of 43-9 (.827) in playoff games. In ten
of Maria’s 14 years, the Pirates advanced to the state
elite eight, reaching the state championship game seven years
in a row (1996-2002). She has played a significant role in
each of Ventura College’s five state championship teams.
Coach Maria was born in Marina de Pisa, Italy, where her
father was stationed with the U.S. Air Force. She lived
overseas in Italy and Germany, and in Maine, Atwater, CA and
Santa Maria, CA before her family settled in Oxnard. She was
a standout basketball player at Santa Clara High School,
where she graduated in 1976, and continued her playing
career at Moorpark College. She completed her bachelor’s
degree in psychology from the University of LaVerne in 1991.
Maria received an M.Ed. degree from Azusa Pacific in 1996.
Maria’s coaching career began in 1983 at Camarillo High
School. She began her collegiate experience with Ventura
College in the 1994-95 season. That year the Pirates went
28-3, winning the WSC championship and advancing to the
state final four.
The following season, the Pirates sailed through the season
with an undefeated 35-0 record and a state championship. In
1997, Maria helped the Pirates earn back-to-back state
titles.
Ventura returned to the state championship game the next two
seasons, losing in the finals each year. In 2000, VC posted
the best record in state history with their 38-0 state
championship run. Maria helped Coach Mircetic with two more
championship teams in ‘01 and ‘02.
Throughout all of these championship seasons, Coach Maria
has been a steady influence on the bench for Coach Mircetic
and an outstanding role model for the players. Maria’s
presence has made a tremendous impact on the success of the
Pirates.
Maria works full-time at the Ventura County Courthouse. She
has one son, Gregory, 20, who is a redshirt-sophomore on the
football team at the University of Washington in Seattle.
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