February 14, 2003

     WALLIINGFORD — Steve and Christie Madancy penciled in their Valentine's Day plans months ago. They have two seats reserved on the Sheehan girls basketball bench at 7 p.m. Perhaps a bag of Skittles from the snack table in the hallway will serve as an appetizer, with two paper cups of chilled water poured from the spout of a big orange cooler to make the evening complete.
     This may not be the romantic getaway that some envision. But the husband and wife team who double as the Sheehan girls basketball coaches - Christie is the head coach, Steve serves as assistant - wouldn't want it any other way.
     "For the two of us there's nothing better than a date at the gym," Christie said with a laugh. "It's easy for him because he doesn't have to worry about what to do with me."
     The couple are in their second year coaching the Titans, who host Lyman Hall tonight at 7 p.m. with a chance to clinch a berth in the state Class L state tournament.
     Their story goes back to 1995 at Rhode Island College, where Christie, transferring in as a sophomore, met Steve, a senior who happened to be the resident assistant in her dormitory.
     He stayed at school for a fifth year while finishing up a double major in physical education and health, which allowed him to remain with Christie for an extra year. After graduating, Steve moved in with Christie's parents, Nick and Susan Economopoulos, in Wallingford while taking a job as a long-term substitute teacher in the town.
     Christie began student-teaching at Sheehan in the second semester of her senior year, enabling her to come back to Wallingford with Steve. She became a math teacher at Sheehan in 1998. He is now a physical education teacher at Parker Farms Elementary School.
     Steve popped the question on Christmas Day in 1997.
     "He embarrassed me in front of all my family," Christie said. "He wrote a poem and written down the left hand side it said 'Christie Will you marry me?'
     "He and my father were in cahoots," she added. "All my family was there and they handed the poem out to everybody. It was actually very sweet."
     They were married April 17, 1999 at Wallingford's Holy Trinity Church and recently moved into a new home in town. Although Christie, 26, and Steve, 28, are just finishing up their second season at Sheehan, their coaching history together goes back to their college days. Christie used to coach AAU basketball in Connecticut during the summers while Steve remained in Rhode Island.
     "I said to him he can be my assistant over the summer so that we can see each other," Christie said. "That's how it all started."
     Steve, who was a collegiate wrestler and soccer player, was not a basketball connoisseur at the time.
     "I really started out knowing absolutely nothing about basketball," Steve admitted.
     "We really cherish this," Steve said of sharing the coaching duties. "If we didn't have this together, we would probably never see each other."
     Steve picked up basketball quickly and soon went on to become an assistant coach for the Cheshire girls basketball team for two years under former head coach Joe Ticotsky. But when Christie took a job as the women's basketball coach at the University of New Haven, Steve left the Rams to become her assistant.
     "We make such a great team because he always knows what I'm thinking and I always know what he's thinking," Christie said. "It works very well."
     "I get a lot of people making comments about me being the assistant and her being the head coach," Steve said. "I really feel like it's a 50-50 thing and we work really well together."
     Steve said the equality they share on the sidelines has not only been successful, it's shown Sheehan players a healthy relationship.
     "It's nice for the girls to see how a relationship should work," Steve said. "We do everything equally and that's how it should be. Hopefully these girls will see that and find a guy who treats them the way they deserve to be treated."
     They may share the coaching duties and work well together, but like all married couples they have their little spats.
     "At times we've gone back and forth," Christie said. "I've called him stubborn and he's called me stubborn when we disagree on things."
     "It's funny sometimes when we have a disagreement about something because the kids get a kick out of it," Steve said.
     They certainly do.
     "They're so funny," senior tri-captain Amanda Bergantino said. "Them bickering over what to do is fun to watch. Steve will say one thing and Christie will say another. The things she says to him, she wouldn't say to another coach." "They'll argue about stats," said senior tri-captain Emily Walter. "They talk about who remembers what about which stat."
     "It's nothing major," Christie said with smile. "We're still married."
     Walter said some of the couple's funniest moments come when they take part in drills during practice. She described a practice drill where the two coaches will partner up against Titan players. "She gets mad at him when he takes a bad shot," Walter said. "It's fun to watch because you know they're having fun together." Another of Walter's favorite memories was when Steve had to coach the team against Mercy in January when Christie was sick. She said the team managers were in constant cell phone contact with Christie, updating her on every situation. Steve insists they were not calling to ask for her advice. The Titans lost the game.
     "They actually never did ask her anything," Steve said. "I probably should have."
     But perhaps the couple's most memorable coaching moment came in front bleachers full of Sheehan fans. The Titans have a tradition that when someone scores her first varsity points, that player has to sing in front of the team. The players decided Christie should be required to do the same for her first varsity win. Although her first win at Sheehan actually came against North Haven, it was not until a 41-27 win over Cheshire in December of 2001 that the team got its wish.
     Steve joined Christie after the game at mid-court and belted out the lyrics to the Barney theme song.
     "I love you." "You love me." "We're a happy family."
     "We were new and the kids were just getting to know us," Steve said. "They really held us to that."
     "All the girls sat at half court and they would not leave the gym until we sang," Christie said. "It was an on-the-spot thing."
     The entire team is buzzing about what Steve will do this Valentine's Day. Last year, he gave Christie a spice rack as a joke gift, before giving his wife her real presents the next day. "The girls think it's a big joke," Christie said. "They're waiting to see what he's going to do this year."
     "I've been telling people lately that this year is easy," Steve said. "I'm getting her a victory over Lyman Hall for Valentines Day."