University of North Carolina Athletics
Karen Shelton: A Great Athlete & Coach
September 26, 1999 | Field Hockey
Sept. 26, 1999
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Three times she was named National Player of the Year while in college. She started for the National Team that won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics.
Nearly 20 years ago she had a vision of how far she could take Carolina field hockey. Today that vision has become a reality. The always nationally-ranked Tar Heels play before an enthusiastic following in the new Frances E. Henry Stadium, one of the finest field hockey facilities in the country.
Meet Karen Shelton, the lady who has taken Carolina to the top of the college field hockey world.
TarHeelBlue: As you sit here and look around at this fabulous facility (Francis E. Henry Stadium), how do you feel?
Karen Shelton: "I feel wonderful and incredibly proud, not only proud of this team and the former student-athletes who have worked so hard to earn this kind of facility, but to the Athletic Department and the Educational Foundation for committing to women's athletics at this level. I'm proud to be a part of it, and proud to be able to operate out of this facility and use it to the benefit of our girls."
TarHeelBlue: Tell me about the interior of the stadium.
Karen Shelton: "It's very nice. We have wooden lockers and nice carpeting. The bathrooms are real nice with private showers for the girls. There are eight private showers, individual showers. The individual showers are key for us.
"Also inside is a team meeting room. It's a wonderful lounge area that very soon will have four computers and two printers for the student-athletes. It serves as a team meeting place as well as a player's study lounge, and just a casual lounge where they can go and watch television. It has big-screen TV with a VCR, so we can break down tape in there and view it in a group setting that's a very convenient way to maximize our potential to teach our kids. It helps us study ourselves and our opponents in a timely, efficient and productive manner."
TarHeelBlue: Could you have envisioned this in 1981?
Karen Shelton: "Not totally. I did start eyeing this space and kind of dreaming about a facility like this, and I must admit it that it has surpassed what I had expected.
"The people of the state of North Carolina and our women's lacrosse and women's field hockey programs have stepped forward to generously donate to the facility, so it's really a reflection on a great deal of people and a wonderful statement for the University and the people of the state."
TarHeelBlue: Tell me about your college career.
Karen Shelton: "Oh, it's so long ago I can hardly remember. I had a wonderful college career, I picked a place (West Chester State College) that was just perfect for me and had wonderful coaching. I really enjoyed my four years in college. I learned a lot, and I think I was at a place that prepared me well for what ultimately turned out to be my profession.
"I also played lacrosse and ran winter track to stay in shape. That was back in the days when you did a little bit of everything. It was a lot of fun. I've got a lot of fond memories."
TarHeelBlue: How old were you when you first started playing field hockey?
Karen Shelton: "I was in the seventh grade. They had field hockey teams for girls in junior high up in Pennsylvania.
"I had four brothers growing up and that's how I kind of became a tomboy. I had lots of practice running around and playing with them, but when I got in the seventh grade it was the first time I could join a team. One of my friends said let's stay after school and go out for the field hockey team, and I said sure. It was just wonderful, I loved it."
TarHeelBlue: It looks like field hockey requires a great deal of hand-eye coordination.
Karen Shelton: "It does. It's a difficult sport to play. It's a lot like ice hockey with the fine stick skills, but we don't sub in and out as much as they do in ice hockey. We may go ten minutes at a time, where in ice hockey the shifts are much shorter.
"I do like ice hockey, and I encourage the players to watch it when they can because the goal scoring and the setups are very similar. It's just a bigger rink here, and we're on foot."
TarHeelBlue: Tell me about your national and international experience.
Karen Shelton: "I had a wonderful career as a National Team player, I was on the team for seven years. I made it for the first time in 1977. My first international match, just coincidentally, was against England in Wembley Stadium. Wembley was targeted once a year for all the schoolgirls in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland to come watch an international match. So, my first international match was played in front of 63,000 people. It was great. They couldn't use a whistle to make the calls They had to use an air horn because all these girls would be screaming 'England, England' the whole time. We ended up tying them, 2-2.
"I was on the team that boycotted the Olympics in 1980 and didn't feel too badly about it. There were some athletes who were devastated, but I was from a military family and just felt that it was the thing to do. I supported it out of patriotism. It was a way for me to take a stand against the invasion of Afghanistan.
"Another reason it was easier to take was because I knew I was going to keep playing. It wasn't the end of my career. The 1980 Olympics wasn't a one-shot deal for me like it was for some of the swimmers and gymnasts who have a shorter career span. I was able to continue on and play in 1984. That was a wonderful experience. We won a bronze medal, and that's the highest finish ever for an American team in field hockey."
TarHeelBlue: I see a lot of new faces here at every match. What are the most important rules a new fan needs to know to better understand the game?
Karen Shelton: "I think the call that's whistled the most often is off the foot or the body. You're not allowed to come in contact with the ball. If it hits you in the foot it's a turnover. You know in ice hockey you can play it with your foot, but in field hockey you can't.
"Also, what's called a lot is a lifted ball. If it's hit up in the air, they call that as being potentially dangerous, except for when you're shooting on goal. It's a call that's blown inconsistently. Sometimes they call it, sometimes they don't.
"We have a 16-yard semi-circle in front of the goal. Any kind of defensive infraction in that area can be a penalty corner or a penalty stroke. If you foul in there intentionally, if you take somebody down from behind, for example, that can be a penalty stroke.
"On a goal, the ball has to be touched by an offensive player somewhere inside the 16-yard circle."
TarHeelBlue: Who's the best field hockey player you've ever seen?
Karen Shelton: "I would have to say Karina Benningen. She played from '84 to '92. She was the captain of the Dutch team for two Olympics. She's probably the best I've seen.
"And of course Tracey Fuchs is on the U.S. National Team now, she's very good. She's the captain of the team."
TarHeelBlue: Tell me about your summer camp.
Karen Shelton: "We have two sessions in the middle of July, each a four-night camp. We have three sessions a day. I hire the best field hockey staff in the country. I get many coaches, so there's a lot of individual instruction. We use two grass fields and one astroturf field.
"It's a great camp and a great recruiting tool. A lot of the best players go from campus to campus of the schools they're interested in. We like to expose them to our coaching style."
TarHeelBlue: You're a guest lecturer at the Kenan-Flagler Business school. What do you talk about?
Karen Shelton: "I've spoken about team building, team dynamics and high performance in groups. It's about how you get groups of people working together towards a common goal in business. It's very similar to what we do out here.
"It's about chemistry. That's kind of the hardest thing for me to address, because sometimes it's out of your control. Sometimes you have it, and sometimes you don't."
TarHeelBlue: What do you do for recreation?
Karen Shelton: "I love to play golf. I'm not very good, but I enjoy it a lot. I like to read good books, particularly historical novels. I like to watch my son play soccer. I like to go to the beach, I like to go to the pool. I exercise regularly and that keeps me healthy in the mind and the body."
TarHeelBlue: Is field hockey growing in popularity?
Karen Shelton: "It's really growing in this area. It's very exciting. I think what we've been able to do is provide exposure to the sport. I think the kids around the schools are looking for more opportunities to practice and to play. The boys seem to have more choices, but now the choices are expanding a bit for girls.
"What holds us back a little bit is the lack of knowledgeable coaches. We don't have enough coaches to go around right now. A lot of our former coaches have been able to help out in the Chapel Hill schools."
TarHeelBlue: Does a team learn more from a loss or a win?
Karen Shelton: "Absolutely a loss. I think you can learn from a win, but they learn more from a loss. It just speaks louder to them, and the consequences become real to them. They listen to me more when we lose."
TarHeelBlue: What's your toughest loss as a coach?
Karen Shelton: "I can pinpoint two. The first one was losing the National Championship in 1987. We hosted it here on our campus and lost to Maryland. We played great and should have won. The way they won it was kind of fluky, and that was just heartbreaking.
"The second one was in 1994 when we lost to James Madison in penalty strokes. I really felt like we had the better team. That was another real heartbreaker. We had lost on strokes the year before, and that begins to play in your mind. Those were the two most difficult losses."
TarHeelBlue: Should a match be decided by penalty strokes?
Karen Shelton: "I think not. I've seen it happen too many times. I don't think it's a fair way to break a tie. It puts too much pressure on the players, particularly the goalie."
TarHeelBlue: It's a shame that Chancellor Hooker isn't here to enjoy this new stadium. How much have the Hookers meant to the field hockey program?
Karen Shelton: "I don't think words could adequately express how much they've meant to our program. Their support was just wonderful, and Carmen's continues to be. I think his interest in our program gave us a little extra credibility, and I think it opened some eyes.
"Because they were interested and came to the games, a lot of other people started coming to the games and started to like it. His support of the facility was very important to get it off the ground.
"His first year was 1995, and I remember him coming up to me after the championship game, telling me this was his first NCAA Championship as an administrator. It's just a tragedy, you wonder why and how, but we so much value Carmen's support, and we want to support her as much as we can through a very difficult time."
TarHeelBlue: How long do you plan to coach?
Karen Shelton: "Depends on what day you ask. Seriously, I want to enjoy this facility for a little bit, but I also think it should be in a young person's hands.
"I don't know, I don't know. Some days I feel like a couple more years, other days I feel like five more years. This is my 19th year, which seems like an awful long time.
"Then I worry if I retire as a coach here, what am I going to do? I'm too young to retire and just play golf. I'm going to have to put my boy through college, and there's some other considerations.
"But I love it, and I'm proud of the program here. I've got good people working under me, I'm real pleased with Nick Conway (assistant coach) and what he's meant to the program. I'm working for two wonderful administrators in Dr. Miller and Dick Baddour whom I trust, and I know they trust me.
"So I don't know how much longer. I guess I feel like Dean Smith. If I ever don't feel like doing it anymore, that's when I'm going to retire."
TarHeelBlue: Is it easy to sell the University of North Carolina?
Karen Shelton: "It certainly is. It's an easy place to recruit to.
"I've been here so long, I tell everybody I've never applied for another job. Why should I? I've got the best Division I field hockey coaching job in the country.
"It's not hard to recruit because I believe in it. It's a wonderful place with wonderful people, tremendous faculty, it's got everything. It's a beautiful campus with an outstanding social life. There's really no other place like it."
TarHeelBlue: Could you describe your coaching philosophy?
Karen Shelton: "I think the game should be fun, that's my number one goal as a coach. I want to keep it fun for these kids. I want them to learn and be competitive and work hard.
"I want them to understand the value of hard work when they leave here. Then they can look back on their experience and smile, remembering what it meant not only to them personally, but how it helped influence them as people and what it added to their education here at Carolina."
Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue.com
