University of North Carolina Athletics
Professor Cohen (far right) and students check out the Tar Heels' newest NCAA hardware.
Carolina Collaboration: English Class Learns About Field Hockey Success
July 22, 2020 | Field Hockey
Early in the Spring 2020 semester, Athletic Communications student assistant Matt Penner followed a UNC English class as first-year students learned about the Carolina field hockey program as part of a writing exercise. It was the first of three planned projects for the class, which was able to complete two of those – also shadowing physicians at the UNC Hospitals Emergency Department – before in-person classes were halted in March.
By Matt Penner
About 40 first-year students quietly walk into the locker room. Their classroom today is UNC field hockey's Karen Shelton Stadium, and their tour guide is none other than head coach Karen Shelton.
Not your typical English class experience, to be sure.
The students sit at the lockers that line three sides of the rectangle-shaped room. They're crowded by equipment belonging to the U.S. Field Hockey National Team, the country's elite team, which will practice at KSS later that day in preparation for facing the Netherlands, one of the world's elite teams, later that week.
Many of the students, now in the orbit of the sport's upper echelon teams in college and international play, have only learned the rules of field hockey in past two weeks. The students have watched film of the UNC field hockey team, including the 2019 National Championship win from November.
After a brief introduction, Shelton leads the class out of the locker room and into the rest of the facility.
"It's impressive, isn't it?" Professor Marc Cohen says to a student as the class exits the locker room. He gets no argument.
Also impressive: the thought that goes into creating an experience like this for UNC students.
Cohen says his English 105 courses ought to "produce nimble, 21st-century writers," so he pulls his students outside the confines of the normal classroom. He teaches three experiential education units every semester, often collaborating with programs across campus. After the UNC field hockey team completed a second consecutive undefeated national-championship season last November, he decided to contact Shelton.
"I thought, 'Wow, I need to learn more about this program, and my students need to learn more about this program, because clearly, they have much to teach us," Cohen says.
Cohen's group ascends the stairs to the alumni lounge, which is also where players eat pregame meals. The walls are lined with pictures of the program's best, some of whom have been Cohen's students in English 105, an introductory class required for all first-year students at UNC. The most recent was sophomore forward Erin Matson, whose photo hangs among the first-team All-America honorees on the team room walls.
After a look around, it's back downstairs to the film room, where Shelton ends the visit with a presentation. She stands at the screen at the front of the room where she normally addresses her team, but she's not there to talk tactics. She quickly touches on a few field hockey rules, but soon switches to the program's history. Today is about legacy, especially the combined 46-0 record from the 2018 and 2019 seasons that this class has come to learn about.
She tells of her hiring as UNC's field hockey coach back in 1981, when she was still playing for the U.S. National Team. She mentions the program's top players, national championships, and even visits to the White House. All of it has made UNC one of the premier field hockey programs in the country.
"I don't get that opportunity often to talk to students and participate in a class like this," Shelton says later. "I think for us it's awesome to interact with the student body to share this magnificent facility."
Then, Shelton shifts to the program's culture. She tells the students to "never be above anything, especially as the leader." Example: the facility's sprinkler system went off the night before, flooding the turf in what turned into a sheet of ice. Shelton shoveled snow for five hours to ensure the United States and Netherlands national teams could practice that day.
She also makes a point to call out greatness. When whether it's a player's performance, a coach's midgame adjustment, or the parents' contribution to the postgame tailgate, she praises them in front of the team. Even the littlest contributions must be recognized.
Of her players, she asks them to "be a good ancestor" when they leave. It's not just success, but the marks they leave. Fortunately for the current players, many alumni come back to tell their most inspirational Coach Shelton stories.
"For our student-athletes, it's important to know what happened before they came here," says Shelton, "and that they are representing something that's greater than themselves."
In the subsequent classes, the students meet with current players to understand the team's daily rhythms, and with assistant coaches Grant Fulton and Robbert Schenk and performance analyst Chris Fry to learn tactics. Executive Associate Athletic Director Larry Gallo, who serves as the field hockey team's primary administrator, speaks to the class, sharing lessons from his career in athletics. Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham even gives the class a tour of the Athletic Department's offices and the department's new Media and Communications Center, and speaks to the students about leadership.
After the eight-day process, during which the class also watches a matchup between the U.S. and Netherlands national teams as part of FIH Pro League play at Shelton Stadium, it's time to synthesize the information. Each student must write a paper on lessons learned from an intensive study of one of America's most successful college athletic programs.
Cohen urges his students to tell stories of significance – to seek repetitions that form common themes, lessons, even deeper meanings. He advocates for interdisciplinary collaboration at Carolina, and hopes his students attach such a mindset to whatever discipline they choose.
"You're taking hours of speeches, of notes and opinions," says student Charlie Wang, "and trying to pick out and translate that into an argument that boils down to ultimately, what are the secrets of success of the field hockey team."
Wang plans to study statistics and business. He points out that statistics is full of number crunching to make "sensible" conclusions, but this project challenged him to form conclusions from a host of stories, interactions and observations.
Another student, Gwendalyn Flick, highlighted the players' ownership of the team – the coaches let them make the team rules and a yearly team slogan. She sees how that ownership, coupled with support from coaches, develops leadership skills. She also noted that many players expressed appreciation for the important role played by sports psychologist Dr. Jeni Shannon, who helps them through conflict, injuries and career setbacks.
Cohen predicted his students would take away "universal lessons" that cross over into all disciplines from their time with the field hockey team. It turns out he did, too.
"I was fascinated to learn that the players help make the team rules," Cohen says. "That is really valuable for me to know because I manage people, too."
Before the students leave, some pause to absorb the facility, taking pictures of the national championship trophies displayed in glass cases, certainly a unique feature of this particular "classroom."
"We love being a part of this University – not just the athletic program, but the University as a whole," Shelton says. "Our student-athletes are students first, and the academic experience they have here will be with them forever, along with the lessons they learn as a part of this team.
"This project was a great example of the broader educational experience at UNC and the ways we all work together. I hope it was a great experience for Professor Cohen's students, but it was also a valuable thing for our team, to give their fellow students insight into new experiences. Being college students is a journey for all of them, and I always appreciate being a part of that."Â
The students slowly file out and Professor Cohen follows. Soon, the writing begins and the journey continues.
Matt Penner graduated from UNC in May 2020 with a double major in public policy and journalism & media. He now live and works in Washington, D.C.
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By Matt Penner
About 40 first-year students quietly walk into the locker room. Their classroom today is UNC field hockey's Karen Shelton Stadium, and their tour guide is none other than head coach Karen Shelton.
Not your typical English class experience, to be sure.
The students sit at the lockers that line three sides of the rectangle-shaped room. They're crowded by equipment belonging to the U.S. Field Hockey National Team, the country's elite team, which will practice at KSS later that day in preparation for facing the Netherlands, one of the world's elite teams, later that week.
Many of the students, now in the orbit of the sport's upper echelon teams in college and international play, have only learned the rules of field hockey in past two weeks. The students have watched film of the UNC field hockey team, including the 2019 National Championship win from November.
After a brief introduction, Shelton leads the class out of the locker room and into the rest of the facility.
"It's impressive, isn't it?" Professor Marc Cohen says to a student as the class exits the locker room. He gets no argument.
Also impressive: the thought that goes into creating an experience like this for UNC students.
Cohen says his English 105 courses ought to "produce nimble, 21st-century writers," so he pulls his students outside the confines of the normal classroom. He teaches three experiential education units every semester, often collaborating with programs across campus. After the UNC field hockey team completed a second consecutive undefeated national-championship season last November, he decided to contact Shelton.
"I thought, 'Wow, I need to learn more about this program, and my students need to learn more about this program, because clearly, they have much to teach us," Cohen says.
Cohen's group ascends the stairs to the alumni lounge, which is also where players eat pregame meals. The walls are lined with pictures of the program's best, some of whom have been Cohen's students in English 105, an introductory class required for all first-year students at UNC. The most recent was sophomore forward Erin Matson, whose photo hangs among the first-team All-America honorees on the team room walls.
After a look around, it's back downstairs to the film room, where Shelton ends the visit with a presentation. She stands at the screen at the front of the room where she normally addresses her team, but she's not there to talk tactics. She quickly touches on a few field hockey rules, but soon switches to the program's history. Today is about legacy, especially the combined 46-0 record from the 2018 and 2019 seasons that this class has come to learn about.
She tells of her hiring as UNC's field hockey coach back in 1981, when she was still playing for the U.S. National Team. She mentions the program's top players, national championships, and even visits to the White House. All of it has made UNC one of the premier field hockey programs in the country.
"I don't get that opportunity often to talk to students and participate in a class like this," Shelton says later. "I think for us it's awesome to interact with the student body to share this magnificent facility."
Then, Shelton shifts to the program's culture. She tells the students to "never be above anything, especially as the leader." Example: the facility's sprinkler system went off the night before, flooding the turf in what turned into a sheet of ice. Shelton shoveled snow for five hours to ensure the United States and Netherlands national teams could practice that day.
She also makes a point to call out greatness. When whether it's a player's performance, a coach's midgame adjustment, or the parents' contribution to the postgame tailgate, she praises them in front of the team. Even the littlest contributions must be recognized.
Of her players, she asks them to "be a good ancestor" when they leave. It's not just success, but the marks they leave. Fortunately for the current players, many alumni come back to tell their most inspirational Coach Shelton stories.
"For our student-athletes, it's important to know what happened before they came here," says Shelton, "and that they are representing something that's greater than themselves."
In the subsequent classes, the students meet with current players to understand the team's daily rhythms, and with assistant coaches Grant Fulton and Robbert Schenk and performance analyst Chris Fry to learn tactics. Executive Associate Athletic Director Larry Gallo, who serves as the field hockey team's primary administrator, speaks to the class, sharing lessons from his career in athletics. Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham even gives the class a tour of the Athletic Department's offices and the department's new Media and Communications Center, and speaks to the students about leadership.
After the eight-day process, during which the class also watches a matchup between the U.S. and Netherlands national teams as part of FIH Pro League play at Shelton Stadium, it's time to synthesize the information. Each student must write a paper on lessons learned from an intensive study of one of America's most successful college athletic programs.
Cohen urges his students to tell stories of significance – to seek repetitions that form common themes, lessons, even deeper meanings. He advocates for interdisciplinary collaboration at Carolina, and hopes his students attach such a mindset to whatever discipline they choose.
"You're taking hours of speeches, of notes and opinions," says student Charlie Wang, "and trying to pick out and translate that into an argument that boils down to ultimately, what are the secrets of success of the field hockey team."
Wang plans to study statistics and business. He points out that statistics is full of number crunching to make "sensible" conclusions, but this project challenged him to form conclusions from a host of stories, interactions and observations.
Another student, Gwendalyn Flick, highlighted the players' ownership of the team – the coaches let them make the team rules and a yearly team slogan. She sees how that ownership, coupled with support from coaches, develops leadership skills. She also noted that many players expressed appreciation for the important role played by sports psychologist Dr. Jeni Shannon, who helps them through conflict, injuries and career setbacks.
Cohen predicted his students would take away "universal lessons" that cross over into all disciplines from their time with the field hockey team. It turns out he did, too.
"I was fascinated to learn that the players help make the team rules," Cohen says. "That is really valuable for me to know because I manage people, too."
Before the students leave, some pause to absorb the facility, taking pictures of the national championship trophies displayed in glass cases, certainly a unique feature of this particular "classroom."
"We love being a part of this University – not just the athletic program, but the University as a whole," Shelton says. "Our student-athletes are students first, and the academic experience they have here will be with them forever, along with the lessons they learn as a part of this team.
"This project was a great example of the broader educational experience at UNC and the ways we all work together. I hope it was a great experience for Professor Cohen's students, but it was also a valuable thing for our team, to give their fellow students insight into new experiences. Being college students is a journey for all of them, and I always appreciate being a part of that."Â
The students slowly file out and Professor Cohen follows. Soon, the writing begins and the journey continues.
Matt Penner graduated from UNC in May 2020 with a double major in public policy and journalism & media. He now live and works in Washington, D.C.
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Players Mentioned
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