NEWTOWN, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference mourns the passing of Adelene "Addy" Malatesta, a longtime field hockey coach and athletics administrator at Wilkes University whose career in collegiate athletics spanned more than three decades. Malatesta served Wilkes for 34 years, including 23 as director of athletics, and was a fixture in the MAC throughout that time.

A native of Berwick, Pennsylvania, Malatesta starred in field hockey, basketball and softball at Berwick Area High School before earning her degree at Slippery Rock University and a master's at East Stroudsburg University. After coaching stints at Berwick and SUNY Potsdam, she joined Wilkes in 1989 as head field hockey coach, a post she held until 2002. She became the program's all-time winningest coach with a 140-113-9 record, guiding the Colonels to five Freedom Conference titles, three ECAC Mid-Atlantic championships and Wilkes' first-ever MAC field hockey crown in 1999. Her 1995 squad advanced to the NCAA Division III championships while ranked as high as 11th nationally. She was named MAC Coach of the Year in 1993 and also coached Wilkes softball for five seasons.

Malatesta's impact on the conference extended well beyond the sideline. She chaired the MAC Field Hockey Games Committee and served on multiple NCAA Division III selection committees. In 2019 she received the MAC's Lou Sorrentino Award, given to the league administrator who has had a sustained, influential role in conference and national affairs while embodying the Division III philosophy. She was later inducted into the Wilkes Athletics Hall of Fame, the Middle Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame and the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.

Named Wilkes' athletics director in 2000, Malatesta oversaw major facility upgrades, including renovations to the Henry Gymnasium, Schmidt Stadium and Munson Fieldhouse and the addition of Bruggeworth Field, while growing the department to 23 varsity teams and more than 550 student-athletes. She retired from Wilkes in 2023.
Colleagues throughout the MAC remember Malatesta for her humility, compassion and genuine investment in student-athletes — a legacy built as much on the relationships she formed as on the championships she won.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 18, 2026, at St. Joseph Church in Berwick, Pennsylvania, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. and a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. A full obituary is available through Times Leader Legacy.com, and condolences can be shared at mayofh.com.