Tim Hickey, hall of fame Philadelphia high school track and field coach, and longtime teacher, has died at 80
More than just a coach, Mr. Hickey inspired and motivated his athletes through hard work and humor. He also often fed them, paid their personal expenses, and counseled them when things got tough.
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Tim Hickey, 80, of Philadelphia, longtime high school girls’ track and field coach, member of three track and field halls of fame, teacher, master motivator, and surrogate father to hundreds of city athletes, died Wednesday, June 28, of Parkinson’s disease at Paul’s Run retirement community.
Revered by the international track and field community for his lifelong dedication to the sport and its athletes, and beloved by local families whose children he guided through often difficult teenage years, Mr. Hickey made contributions to the Philadelphia track and field scene that cannot be overstated.
He spent nearly half a century coaching girls at William Penn, West Catholic, and Swenson High Schools, and was inducted into the National High School Track and Field hall of fame in 2021, Middle Atlantic Amateur Athletic Union hall of fame in 2019, and New York-based Armory track coaches hall of fame in 2016. He guided the William Penn girls to 23 Philadelphia Public League track championships in 29 years, lost just five regular-season meets between 1974 and 2003, and went undefeated in 20 straight seasons.
His William Penn teams set numerous national high school records, dominated the Penn Relays for decades, and won 546 of 551 regular-season meets. He also won 18 indoor track state championships in 20 years and 14 Public League cross-country championships.
“He’s been the standard for the last two, three decades. He’s relentless,” Simon Gratz High School coach Robert Massie told The Inquirer in 2003. “He won’t settle for anything but the best. You love, love to beat Hickey.”
Best of all, Mr. Hickey said often, was that at least one of his runners earned a scholarship to a Division I college nearly every year. “He found what was good in me,” Christina Smith told The Inquirer in 2003. Smith earned a scholarship to Clemson University and went on to compete in the 2004 World Junior Track and Field Championships.
Mr. Hickey taught math and African studies over his 35-year teaching career at Vaux Junior High School and William Penn, and served as a mentor to countless teenagers. “He’s like a father to me,” William Penn track star Kandis Worthington said in 2003. “He’s like a father to everyone.”
Few tracks were available to Philadelphia high school teams in the 1970s and ‘80s, so Mr. Hickey had his runners do training sprints and laps in trash-strewn parking lots, on uneven sidewalks, even up and down the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He organized bake sales and other fundraisers to buy uniforms, and saved up to buy a van so the team could travel to big meets.
And because he sacrificed, he demanded his athletes do so, as well. Several of his best runners sat out championship meets because they missed class or broke a team rule. “He made us keep our grades up and told us anything is possible,” Dawn Jones, a 1987 Public League long distance champion, said in 2003. “We knew we could be the best.”
Mr. Hickey also founded the Delaware Valley Girls Track Coaches Association and Klub Keystone track team, and was a longtime official at the Penn Relays and the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics. He retired from William Penn in 2003, but, unable to fully let go, served as an assistant coach for three years at West Catholic and eight years at Swenson.
A few weeks after his last meet for William Penn in 2003, colleagues and runners from nearly all of his past teams gathered for a reception in his honor. A colleague told the Daily News then: “Our biggest challenge will be to find him a gift that he won’t give to one of his runners. That’s how Mr. Hickey is. He’s in this for the kids.”
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Born Oct. 12, 1942, in Muncie, Ind., Timothy Dennis Hickey was valedictorian and a star athlete at Parker High School. He earned a scholarship to Ball State University, received a bachelor’s degree in 1964, and obtained a master’s degree later at Indiana University.
He spent 1965 to 1968 with the Peace Corps, teaching English and coaching the national basketball and track teams in Tanzania. He and others were recruited by the School District of Philadelphia, and he took a job as a math teacher and coach at Vaux in 1968.
Mr. Hickey liked to watch Phillies and 76ers games simultaneously on multiple TVs at home. He visited his sisters, Theresa Hickey and Thecla Dodge, in New Mexico, and traveled to many international track events, including the Summer Olympic Games in Russia, South Korea, China, and Brazil.
“He was outgoing and passionate about teaching,” said his sister Theresa. “He was an entity unto himself.” His longtime colleague and friend George Phillips said: “His life should be a book.”
In addition to his sisters, Mr. Hickey is survived by other relatives. Three brothers died earlier.
Visitation with family and friends is 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2, at Our Lady of Calvary Church, 11024 Knights Rd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19154. A funeral Mass is to follow.
Donations in his name may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Box 5014, Hagerstown, Md. 21741.