University of North Carolina Athletics
Field Hockey's Karen Shelton Answers Your Questions
September 17, 2002 | Field Hockey
The North Carolina field hockey team, 3-3 on the season, will meet second-ranked Old Dominion Saturday at Francis E. Henry Stadium in a battle between two of the sport's traditional powers. The Tar Heels then open Atlantic Coast Conference play when No. 11 Virginia visits on Sunday. Both games begin at 1 p.m.
As the 10th-ranked Carolina field hockey team prepared for one of its biggest weekends of the season, head coach Karen Shelton took time to answer questions from the readers of TarHeelBlue.com. Read on for her thoughts on team building, recruiting and what this year's squad needs to do to improve.
Coach Shelton,
Is this year's team progressing like you thought, or not? I know the schedule is tough.
-Lisa
I am disappointed in our record to date. (I would be lying if I said otherwise.) Granted, we have played a difficult schedule, but I feel as if in two of the three losses we beat ourselves by not playing with poise and discipline for 70 minutes. I truly believe that we can beat any team in the country on a given day, but we must be a team that understands its individual responsibilities and has the determination and conviction to fulfill these responsibilities consistently for the entire game. We don't have any superstars on our team, therefore we must become a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. It's still early in the season. We have many opportunities to play our way back up. I am confident this team will respond to the challenges that lie ahead.
Coach Shelton,
I have a question that I have wondered about for a long time. I live in the state of Delaware. In most sports, Delaware is a very small pond. A Delaware player of the year in most sports can be very ordinary when compared with athletes in the same sport from other states. However, field hockey seems to me to be an exception. I'm startled to see how many Delawareans are playing D1 field hockey or are national standouts in D3 hockey. My question is this: Is Delaware a good recruiting area for field hockey? Furthermore, what do you consider the top three recruiting areas for field hockey?
-Bill B.
What is it about Delaware? I'm not sure what makes that state so good in the sport of field hockey. I suspect that it's a combination of factors: great coaching at the high school level, a good grass roots program, an organized and competitive state championship. Both the private schools and the public schools are competitive and there is strong parental support. All of these factors help contribute to the plethora of strong field hockey players to have come from the First State. All I know is that we have never gotten a "lemon" from Delaware. From Claire Dougherty Hayes (1983-86) to Abbi Keller (1994-97) to Carrie Lingo (1999-2001) to Meredith Keller (a senior on this year's team) and many others, we hope to keep the pipeline going. We love Delaware!
As for other top areas for recruiting, we have a "pipeline" into the Allentown, Pa., area but other than that, we really recruit nationally. We have found tremendous student-athletes in remote areas (for field hockey, anyway) like Tulsa, Okla., Houston, Texas and San Diego, Calif. We don't discriminate geographically.
Coach Shelton,
With four NCAA Championships, six NCAA runner-up finishes, 14 Atlantic Coast Conference titles and 20 consecutive winning seasons, you obviously know a great deal about team building and team dynamics. What would you say are the keys to building a successful field hockey team?
-Bill S.
Great question! In my opinion there are five key ingredients for building a successful field hockey team:
1. First and foremost, you must have talent! I learned a long time ago that I became a better coach when I had better talent. Recruiting the right student-athletes for your particular institution is a must.
2. Your players must possess a strong work ethic and discipline. Nothing great ever comes easy. There is no substitute for hard work. Fitness is part of the game, as is repetitive practice. Wishing and hoping won't make it happen.
3. Attitude is everything. I want students who want a challenge. I want students who see the world as half full. If you have the proper attitude you see opportunity at every turn. Practice is fun, school is fun, life is fun!
4. The ICE Principle, which is an acronym for intensity, concentration and enthusiasm. Intensity to me is "big eye syndrome" - you see everything, you know everything, you jump on everything (within reason). Concentration is the focus to execute the skills necessary for success. The one-time slapshot to the upper left corner of the goal requires concentration. Enthusiasm is the positive energy and excitement associated with enjoying what you're doing, living for the moment.
5. I believe that you must have a passion for what you're doing. If you don't absolutely love it, don't do it. Not at this level, anyway. Play with a passion and practice with a passion. Confucius says, "Choose a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life." I believe it!
I do believe that sports teams differ from business teams in that sports teams tend to understand the basic concepts of teamwork because of years of experience. Every day at practice athletes share a common goal (winning/improving), build cohesion to maximize production, develop leadership traits, practice conflict resolution and work to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This is done on a daily basis, whether they realize it or not. I firmly believe that participation in team sports helps young men and women develop the ability to handle life's challenges. All if this is done in an environment that is healthy and mostly fun.
I am a coach that believes that great team chemistry is a gift. Sometimes you just get lucky, sometimes you can influence it positively and sometimes it's just not there. Chemistry is sort of like karma.
Coach Shelton,
I have three issues I would like your opinion on:
First, it disturbs me that there are so many foreign field hockey players dominating in the NCAA. I've come to really respect the coaches that win with U.S. players.
Second, there seem to be only a handful of "tier-one" college field hockey programs in the U.S., with Carolina being one of them. What can be done to bring the other field hockey programs up to the competitive level of a Carolina without loading up on foreign players?
Finally, I've witnesses several 13-0 games in Division I field hockey and I feel that they are an embarrassment to all players and coaches involved. Why do top-ranked teams even schedule games with weaker opponents and what can be done to force coaches to restrain their teams from pouring on the points?
-Daniel
Your first issue is such a tough one and one that I absolutely struggle over, and actually lose sleep over. I am opposed to the extensive use of the international student-athletes. Yet, I am being hypocritical. We currently have two Canadians, one Australian and one New Zealander on our team. Their involvement and participation on our team has been positive. They help raise the overall standard of play and they provide a positive cultural exchange. I find that they tend to be more appreciative of the educational opportunities afforded to them, free of charge, and they appreciate all the accessories like shoes, uniforms, t-shirts, warm-ups, meal money, and free tutoring. Our American kids tend to take these things for granted.
I have struggled over the issue and feel as if I have been forced to "keep up with the Joneses". I feel a responsibility to keep my program competitive, and an average international player equals a strong American. We won three consecutive NCAA titles with all American student-athletes in 1995, '96 and '97 and I strongly believe that Carolina will have been the last to win with just Americans. It is a sad statement for our sport and I feel as if the college coaching community will hasten the demise of field hockey in this country. It's not the international players' fault. It's the coaches who want to win at all costs. In choosing to give scholarship money to international players, we are reducing the opportunities for our Americans. Field hockey is dying a slow death in this country. We are a gasping dinosaur. We have met the enemy and it is us.
As to your second issue, the only way to increase the level of competition as the college level is to increase the level of competition and practice opportunities at the grass roots level. This means better coaching, at an early age, on Astroturf fields or indoor arenas. Last year I felt there were six teams that would win the NCAA Tournament. This year I feel there are 10 teams that could. More parity, yes, but more international players.
Finally, the lopsided game issue, another difficult one. Anson Dorrance, our legendary women's soccer coach here at Carolina, has a policy when playing weaker teams to get to 9-0 as quickly as possible then just pass it around and don't go to goal. I feel it can be a humiliating experience either way. What's the difference? If a team doesn't go to goal after a certain point, the weaker team still feels bad. Another consideration is that that lesser-used players often get their chance to play against the weaker teams. It is unfair to tell them not to go to goal. I guess I feel that if you are going to back off a weaker team, don't make it so obvious. As for racking up points against those teams, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Those kinds of statistics are for losers.
Coach Shelton,
The opening record seems a little disappointing despite the fact that the losses came to very good (and highly-ranked) teams. What seems to be holding back this year's Tar Heels and do you think you can turn it around before getting heavily into the ACC schedule. And also, is the return of Kelsey Keeran an important part of that and how significant is her play to this year's team?
-Christian
There is no doubt in my mind that we can turn this losing thing around. I love this team. They work hard and care. They generally have good attitudes. Those attitudes get tested with the losing, with adversity, but I firmly believe that as long as we learn from our mistakes and make the necessary corrections, as long as we continue to work hard and stay positive, good things will happen. We must get tougher mentally, stay focused, and play as a team. Two-touch passing is our forte. We must play together and play hard. I still believe that an ACC and even an NCAA title are possible. It's not now you start but how you finish.
As for having Kelsey back in the lineup, we are a stronger team with Kelsey in there, no question about it. She's not yet 100 percent but we are still better with Kelsey in the lineup. Look for her to start "lighting it up" soon. She is an outstanding young woman and tough as nails.
[Keeran, a sophomore forward, suffered a broken jaw as a result of being hit by a ball in preseason practice. After surgery, she missed the first four games of the season but started against Radford and Penn State.]
Coach Shelton,
I went to Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, a perennial field hockey powerhouse. Are you recruiting much in Virginia Beach (and Tidewater generally) and if so, have you had good results?
-Lee
I recruit student-athletes from all over the country, but am not presently actively recruiting anyone from the Tidewater area. Most recently we have had Katie McDonald (1998-2001) from Cox and Nicole Frey (1996-99) from Kempsville. Katie just graduated and is working in Virginia Beach and Nicole was recently commissioned as a U.S. Navy pilot stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas. I'm extremely proud of both of these young women and look forward to working with future Tidewater area student-athletes.
Thanks to everyone for the questions, and for your support of Carolina field hockey!
