- As Shelly Jacobs in the 1970s, she collected 13 varsity letters at Easton Area High School
- She was a special education teacher in the district for more than 35 years
- She coached girls basketball as the head coach or assistant for 30 years
PALMER TWP., Pa. — One of the most successful coaches and decorated athletes in Easton Area High School history is ending her nearly 55-year association with the school district.
Shelly (Jacobs) Bartolacci, a retired teacher who has served as assistant girls’ basketball coach since 2009, is retiring from coaching. Bartolacci, 63, won’t be on the bench this winter season.
That means 2024 will be the first time in 50 years (not counting her college years) that she won’t be serving as either a student, teacher or coach within the Easton Area School District.
“It wasn’t a tough decision. I’ll miss it for sure. But when you have grandkids and one lives in London, it’s more of a priority than the commitment of time" with basketball.Shelly (Jacobs) Bartolacci, Easton Area High School assistant girls’ basketball coach since 2009
“It wasn’t a tough decision," Bartolacci said. "I’ll miss it for sure. But when you have grandkids and one lives in London, it’s more of a priority than the commitment of time" with basketball.
“I want to be with the kids — my kids. I want to be here for them.”
A remarkable run
It was a remarkable run for Bartolacci, who as Shelly Jacobs in the 1970s earned 13 varsity letters at Easton and a Division I athletic scholarship to Southern Connecticut State.
She is one of only a handful of Easton athletes to receive a record 13 letters: Four each in field hockey, basketball and softball, and one in volleyball as a senior.
"The girls I coached created so many memories that I’ll treasure. All the kids I coached – the memories that we gathered will be in my heart forever.”Shelly Bartolacci
A native of South Side Easton, she first entered Easton Area School District as a fourth-grader at Tracy Elementary School in 1969-70.
She graduated from Easton Area High School in 1978, and started working for the district as a substitute teacher in 1982 upon graduating college.
She retired as a special education teacher in 2020. With her retirement from coaching now, that’s 54 years connected to the district, interrupted only by her four years at college.
“I was honored to teach and coach in a wonderful district,” she said. I had great colleagues and made a lot of great friends. The girls I coached created so many memories that I’ll treasure.
"All the kids I coached — the memories that we gathered will be in my heart forever.”
30 years in coaching
Bartolacci was head coach of the girls’ basketball team for a combined 16 years over three stints until she stepped down in 2006 to take care of her three children.
She amassed a career record of 269-154, including a District 11 championship in 1999.
She demanded of her teams the same aggressive style of play she brought to the hardwood as a point guard.
In 2009 she rejoined Easton’s basketball program as assistant coach and served through last season under head coach Dave Lutz.
Together they won District 11 championships in 2017 and 2023, with the Rovers going a combined 44-0 in the regular season the past two years.
Now she’s stepping away for family reasons again, only this time it’s to spend more time with her three grandchildren — Remy, 3; Maizie Bee, 2; and Violet Moon, 7 months.
Easton tradition
A lifetime Easton-area resident, she has traveled around the world and has a home in Portugal, but said Easton always will be a special place.
“Being a student and an athlete and a coach, the traditions that are taught to you and embedded in your head last a lifetime,” she said.
“And you often refer back to them when you make decisions in your life, as far as with people and with teams. When you have traditions that you live up to and you believe in, you get real close to one another. You bond when you have those kinds of traditions.”Shelly (Jacobs) Bartolacci, Easton Area High School assistant girls’ basketball coach since 2009
“And you often refer back to them when you make decisions in your life, as far as with people and with teams. When you have traditions that you live up to and you believe in, you get real close to one another. You bond when you have those kinds of traditions.”
Bartolacci said she doesn’t plan to pull entirely away. She’ll still go to games as a spectator and keep tabs on her players.
“I’d like to see them play,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing my brother’s team, too.” (Her brother, Eric Jacobs, coaches Easton’s boys basketball team.)
Besides spending more time with her own children and grandchildren, she and her husband, Jim, have a motor home and enjoy camping with old teammates, she said.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “We all park together and relive the great days.”
