LUMBERTON — Even as Mackie Register has been a constant part of Lumberton High School athletics for over three decades, he may be best known for his work coaching the Pirates softball program.

After 15 years leading the team, Register recently stepped down. He remains at the school as a teacher and still coaches the girls tennis team, which is currently in season.

“I just thought it was good time for me to step away,” Register said. “We’ve had a run of good years, but we had a lot of seniors last year. We had a lot of good freshmen coming in … I probably won’t see these freshmen out, I’m planning on retiring here soon.”

His daughters’ athletic careers also factored into the decision; Register coached his older daughter, Carlee, on the softball field through her graduation earlier this year, and now with his younger daughter, Mackenzie, in her sophomore year and playing soccer in the spring, he wanted to have more opportunities to support her career.

Register also credits his daughters for being a big part of the reason that he’s coached more girls teams over the last few years, including previous stints coaching volleyball and girls basketball and his current gig coaching girls tennis.

“When I first started, it was football and boys basketball and baseball,” Register said. “And as the years went on I started having girls and I started moving over to softball and girls basketball and girls basketball, because I wanted to coach my daughters, and that’s been really special too. … You really have to have good support from your family, and my wife Renee and my girls, they’ve always supported and been involved with what I’ve done, so that’s made it a lot easier. Being able to do it for so long too, you’ve got to have that kind of support.”

Register, 55, has been at Lumberton 31 1/2 years — initially taking the job just out of college and anticipating he’d only stay for a semester, but finding a home in the school and community. He has coached at least eight sports in total over his 31 1/2 years on staff at Lumberton, including football, baseball, softball, boys and girls basketball, volleyball, girls tennis and indoor track, and was also the Pirates’ athletic director from 2014-21.

“He’s an excellent coach,” Lumberton athletic director Ted White said. “He’s done a little bit of everything here at some time or another over his career. He has a great rapport with the kids, the athletes, the staff, even the community. He’s been a staple of Lumberton athletics for over 30 years.”

Register’s time as head softball coach came in two stints, starting with a four-year run in the early-2000s before he returned to the role in 2013.

Under Register’s leadership, the Pirates won regular-season United-8 Conference championships in 2023 and 2024, setting school wins records in both seasons; the team reached the third round of the state playoffs this spring, the furthest the Pirates had ever been. Lumberton also won the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament championship in 2018 and has three Robeson County Slugfest championships under Register.

But beyond the on-field success, Register is proudest of what many of his players have done off the field, during their playing careers and beyond.

“On the back of our dugout, you can see the players that made All-Region and All-State, and the ones that went on to play college softball, but even better than that, I’ve always been proud that all our girls that are always All-Academic, as far as recognized by the state,” Register said. “I think every team I’ve ever coached in the girls have been like that, and now they’re successful in the community. To see all these girls succeed in college, and other than just softball, in life, that’s what makes it all worth it. Now they’re all starting their families.”

He also credits his coaching staff as a large part of the program’s success, including current assistants Will Britt, Braylon Jones, LeeAnn Nobles and Tony Chavis, and others who previously coached in the program, particularly longtime assistant Craig Wilkins.

“When Coach Paul Hodges with baseball, when I first started out, he always let me coach,” Register said. “He gave me an assignment and let me coach, and that’s what I try to do with my assistants. I try to surround myself with good people, and through the years I talked to them about what I wanted done but then I let them do their thing.”

As Register continues with teaching and coaching girls tennis, he’s floated the idea of helping the Pirates baseball program, which would be a full-circle moment for him in the sport he played collegiately at Methodist, in the program where he began as an assistant coach and working with head coach Jeff McLamb, who 31 years ago was one of the first players Register coached.

“He was on the first team I ever coached, and then we both came over to the high school at the time, and then he went on to Methodist and wore the same jersey I wore at Methodist, so me and Jeff are pretty tight,” Register said. “He’s been instrumental in helping us. Both stints of softball, with Paul Hodges and with Jeff at baseball, baseball and softball have worked really well together, because of friendships and all the coaches working together.”

White is sure that even once Register retires sometime in the next few years, he’ll remain active in Lumberton athletics in some capacity.

“Because he’s been here so long it would be hard to see him just let it go completely,” White said. “I even see him being involved when he’s not here anymore.”