Two Mentors, Two Eras. One Legacy of Heart.

Coach Ashley Ziemba-Chicopee High Girls Lacrosse Coach Donna Coombs-West Side High Girls Soccer

At Each Moment We’re Alive, we see every day that rebuilding life after cancer takes the same grit and courage we see in trailblazing coaches and the athletes they lead. Survivors often find themselves starting over building a new chapter, a new identity, a new “first.” Just like the early days of girls’ sports, real strength gets built from the ground up, with community at the center. And none of it happens alone.

Fifty years apart, two Western Massachusetts coaches showed what true leadership looks like:

West Springfield’s Donna Coombs and Chicopee’s Ashley Ziemba. Different eras, same commitment to shaping young women both on and off the field.

In 1977, Coach Coombs led the very first West Springfield girls’ soccer team to the first Pioneer Valley champions and the first Western Mass champions. What started as girls’ soccer being added to Parks & Rec grew into a high-school club team before a league even existed. It took vision, passion, toughness, and the determination to build something from nothing. Donna’s accolades and career achievements are extensive, including the Western Mass Division I Girls Soccer League being renamed the Coombs Division, as well as her inductions into the Massachusetts High School Soccer Hall of Fame and the West Springfield Sports Hall of Fame.

Half a century later, that same story played out again in Chicopee. Girls’ lacrosse had no feeder program so Coach Ashley built one from the ground up. What began as a club team grew into a full league. Her players entered high school prepared, many of them first-year starters, and in 2025 they went undefeated to capture their first Suburban League championship. The same year Ashley earned National Coach of the Year, earned the old-fashioned way: hard work, persistence, and heart. Ashley’s drive didn’t stop at Chicopee. She brought girls’ lacrosse to the Springfield Ballers, a nonprofit uplifting kids across Springfield and the surrounding communities. Her leadership has given young athletes structure, purpose, and a place to belong.

These coaches didn’t just coach a team, they built programs, shaped character, and created a culture rooted in discipline, purpose, and real-life skills. Coach Coombs opened doors for girls’ athletics and set a standard for leadership grounded in integrity and community. Her legacy still echoes today. The model she built has inspired the next generation of leaders, including coaches like Ashley, fifty years later.

Ashley says it best “A team’s true legacy isn’t defined by wins or loses — it’s the memories, the lessons, and the friendships that last long after the season ends.”

This isn’t just a sports story. It’s the same story EMWA’s sees in survivorship. New beginnings built from scratch. Strength forged through struggle. People lifting each other because the road isn’t meant to be walked alone.

That’s what EMWA stands for: Strength. Community. New beginnings. The same values Donna and Ashley passed down through generations.