While Mark Egner was home in Cork over Christmas, everyone wanted to ask the same questions. How was coaching in the USA? Are things much different over there? In a guest column for SFH, he outlines his experiences of his first season as assistant coach to Longwood Lancers in Virginia amid a brand new hockey culture.
I guess I should preface this with a sort of a disclaimer. I don’t pretend to be, nor do I hope to appear as, an expert on the US sport of “field hockey”. I am very much a student of the game and the way it is approached over here. Having completed my first season as assistant coach at Longwood University, I guess now is as good a time as any to hand in my end of semester summary on what I’ve observed!
Firstly, a brief explanation of the system over here. All collegiate sports in America are overseen and organised by two main governing bodies, the NCAA and the NAIA. The majority of schools are under the umbrella organisation of the NCAA, whose job it is to make sure that student athletes are treated fairly and equally in all colleges and universities. Every college is in a division, with no promotion or relegation between divisions. The main difference between divisions is the number of scholarships that they can offer. There are three divisions, with Division 1 being the one where all of our Irish student athletes are currently plying their trade. There are approximately 340 Division 1 colleges in the USA; 80 of these offer field hockey.
The NCAA regulate how many games a team can play and the length of season that is allowed. With regard to hockey, we are permitted a maximum of 20 games in our regular season, over the course of approximately 11 weeks. The head coaches choose what teams they want to play about 12 months in advance – we put the finishing touches to our 2014 schedule before I came home to Ireland for Christmas. It is through competition against the teams on your schedule that a team will be ‘rated’ at the end of the week. The ranking system over here is not as simple as games won/played. Each team’s ranking is determined by the toughness of their schedule and how well they competed against teams ranked above or below them.
As regards the actual nitty gritty side of the regular season over here, coaches have a number of roles. In the 2012/13 season I coached Fermoy ladies, Munster U18 ladies and Regina Mundi second years. This was on top of working as a primary school teacher. I operated largely from the boot of my car, with a suitcase of 100 balls and some cones. This year I worked with one team and lived within walking distance of the pitch, yet I worked significantly more hours than those four jobs combined. Between our preseason start date in the middle of August, and the end of our season at the end of November, I think I had three days off. I’m not complaining by any means – I just want to highlight how intense the season is here.
Field hockey athletes are allowed to spend up to 20 hours in Countable Athletics Related Activities (CARA) with their coaches spread over six days of a given week. These hours can be spent doing whatever the coaches feel is required: lifting, team practice, individual sessions, video sessions or team meetings. Over the course of a typical week this season, we required our athletes to attend practice for two hours a day, while they also had lifting sessions twice a week with our strength and conditioning coach. In addition to this they attended class, had tutoring sessions and kept up to date with their study hall hours.
With the season being such a short, intensive block, coaches traditionally focus on two things: fitness and tactical preparation. The US game is quite different to the European game. Very rarely this season did I see teams playing the ball patiently around the back and waiting for a gap to develop. Instead I saw a lot of attacking and similarly a lot of turnovers. The majority of games were very end-to-end and played at a fast pace, meaning fitness becomes very important.
Before coming over to America, Irishwoman Liz McInerney, who plays with Syracuse University, advised me to “get them fit”. In her opinion, regardless of technical ability, being as fit or fitter than a higher ranked team could be the key to winning those games – after a few months here I am inclined to agree. Tactical preparation is of course crucial to prepare for any upcoming games. Coaches share video relatively freely although do not, as a matter of principle, help people to prepare for a game against an in-conference rival.
US sports are very statistically driven, and hockey is no exception. Every game has at least one staff member whose job it is to keep track of minutes every player plays. They record starts, minutes played, shots on and off target, goals, number of penalty corners, number of saves made by a goalkeeper and assists. Coaches receive a summary at half time and at the end of the game. This is in itself quite a handy resource for coaches. However, “starts” rather than “stats” are what become very important to a player; thus they can get quite annoyed about whether or not they are starting, moreso than how many minutes they receive.
Field hockey is approached differently to the way we view it back home. Players begin, for the most part, playing in high school. They play with their school team, and some turn out for a club or travel team. These players then attend camps and clinics at colleges all over the US, much like Southern Fried Hockey camps back home. I moved to the US on the 17th of July, right off the back of my sister’s wedding. The day after arriving we had a one day clinic, players arrived from all over Virginia and some nearby states. The main difference was that these kids weren’t just here to improve as players. They were here to be seen, and hopefully recruited.
Recruiting is a huge part of my job here, with players being expected to decide on where they want to attend university when they enter their junior (2nd last) year of school. The NCAA allow field hockey programs to offer 9 ‘full ride’ scholarships. These can be split out over a number of players or given as a full ride grant. This means that every prospective student athlete wants to get a scholarship, but it is a physical and financial impossibility.
An American kid will traditionally have been seen a few times before they get to their Junior year. On the 1st day of their Junior year they can be contacted by collegiate coaches, and this is where their most active recruiting begins. They get invited to come on campus on what’s called an unofficial visit. This means that the university cannot pay for any part of the visit to take part, but once that prospective student athlete arrives they are shown the campus and everything that the coaching staff feels can sell the university.
At some point during the visit they will meet the team, and perhaps observe a game or practice. The coaching staff will talk to the recruit and fill them in on where they are with their recruiting. They may even go so far as to offer a position on the roster for when they begin college. Remember, junior year is two years before that player will actually be at college, so it represents a risk on behalf of the university. The NCAA prevent written offers of athletic aid being made until the player is in their senior year, so once they get to that stage the amount of money will be discussed. Some players arrive at college as a “walk-on” meaning that they receive no athletically related financial aid, whereas other players can be offered varying amounts of their college fees up to and including a full-ride scholarship. The best US kids will end up, for the most part, going to the best teams, and this is where international recruiting comes into play.
There are, as with all countries, only a certain number of top quality players. And with 80 Division 1 programs there is a huge competition to get these players. For some schools they would be full-ride candidates and program changers, whereas for other schools they may only be offered half, or partial scholarships. Thus, with supply and demand dictating that schools may not be able to get, say, a good US centre-back because they’ve all been recruited elsewhere, schools begin looking to recruit from other countries. These players are generally offered full-ride scholarships. For these players this is, in my opinion, the opportunity of a lifetime. They are being given the opportunity to attend university in the United States for free, with their own flights to and from the US being their only fee.
But what do they get? I can only answer from my experiences at Longwood, and what we will be offering our incoming recruits for the 2014 season. These players will get the opportunity to attend the third oldest academic institution in Virginia, play Division 1 field hockey against some of the top teams in the nation, travel the country on both coasts, playing games in California, DC, Massachusets and all over Virginia, strength and conditioning coaches, all of their Adidas gear, play all home games and practices on a water based pitch overlooked by a stand and within 30 steps of their personal locker rooms. In short, they get the opportunity to compete in a near-professional environment while getting their degree.
The NCAA regulate how many games a team can play and the length of season that is allowed. With regard to hockey, we are permitted a maximum of 20 games in our regular season, over the course of approximately 11 weeks. The head coaches choose what teams they want to play about 12 months in advance – we put the finishing touches to our 2014 schedule before I came home to Ireland for Christmas. It is through competition against the teams on your schedule that a team will be ‘rated’ at the end of the week. The ranking system over here is not as simple as games won/played. Each team’s ranking is determined by the toughness of their schedule and how well they competed against teams ranked above or below them.
As regards the actual nitty gritty side of the regular season over here, coaches have a number of roles. In the 2012/13 season I coached Fermoy ladies, Munster U18 ladies and Regina Mundi second years. This was on top of working as a primary school teacher. I operated largely from the boot of my car, with a suitcase of 100 balls and some cones. This year I worked with one team and lived within walking distance of the pitch, yet I worked significantly more hours than those four jobs combined. Between our preseason start date in the middle of August, and the end of our season at the end of November, I think I had three days off. I’m not complaining by any means – I just want to highlight how intense the season is here.
Field hockey athletes are allowed to spend up to 20 hours in Countable Athletics Related Activities (CARA) with their coaches spread over six days of a given week. These hours can be spent doing whatever the coaches feel is required: lifting, team practice, individual sessions, video sessions or team meetings. Over the course of a typical week this season, we required our athletes to attend practice for two hours a day, while they also had lifting sessions twice a week with our strength and conditioning coach. In addition to this they attended class, had tutoring sessions and kept up to date with their study hall hours.
With the season being such a short, intensive block, coaches traditionally focus on two things: fitness and tactical preparation. The US game is quite different to the European game. Very rarely this season did I see teams playing the ball patiently around the back and waiting for a gap to develop. Instead I saw a lot of attacking and similarly a lot of turnovers. The majority of games were very end-to-end and played at a fast pace, meaning fitness becomes very important.
Before coming over to America, Irishwoman Liz McInerney, who plays with Syracuse University, advised me to “get them fit”. In her opinion, regardless of technical ability, being as fit or fitter than a higher ranked team could be the key to winning those games – after a few months here I am inclined to agree. Tactical preparation is of course crucial to prepare for any upcoming games. Coaches share video relatively freely although do not, as a matter of principle, help people to prepare for a game against an in-conference rival.
US sports are very statistically driven, and hockey is no exception. Every game has at least one staff member whose job it is to keep track of minutes every player plays. They record starts, minutes played, shots on and off target, goals, number of penalty corners, number of saves made by a goalkeeper and assists. Coaches receive a summary at half time and at the end of the game. This is in itself quite a handy resource for coaches. However, “starts” rather than “stats” are what become very important to a player; thus they can get quite annoyed about whether or not they are starting, moreso than how many minutes they receive.
Field hockey is approached differently to the way we view it back home. Players begin, for the most part, playing in high school. They play with their school team, and some turn out for a club or travel team. These players then attend camps and clinics at colleges all over the US, much like Southern Fried Hockey camps back home. I moved to the US on the 17th of July, right off the back of my sister’s wedding. The day after arriving we had a one day clinic, players arrived from all over Virginia and some nearby states. The main difference was that these kids weren’t just here to improve as players. They were here to be seen, and hopefully recruited.
Recruiting is a huge part of my job here, with players being expected to decide on where they want to attend university when they enter their junior (2nd last) year of school. The NCAA allow field hockey programs to offer 9 ‘full ride’ scholarships. These can be split out over a number of players or given as a full ride grant. This means that every prospective student athlete wants to get a scholarship, but it is a physical and financial impossibility.
An American kid will traditionally have been seen a few times before they get to their Junior year. On the 1st day of their Junior year they can be contacted by collegiate coaches, and this is where their most active recruiting begins. They get invited to come on campus on what’s called an unofficial visit. This means that the university cannot pay for any part of the visit to take part, but once that prospective student athlete arrives they are shown the campus and everything that the coaching staff feels can sell the university.
At some point during the visit they will meet the team, and perhaps observe a game or practice. The coaching staff will talk to the recruit and fill them in on where they are with their recruiting. They may even go so far as to offer a position on the roster for when they begin college. Remember, junior year is two years before that player will actually be at college, so it represents a risk on behalf of the university. The NCAA prevent written offers of athletic aid being made until the player is in their senior year, so once they get to that stage the amount of money will be discussed. Some players arrive at college as a “walk-on” meaning that they receive no athletically related financial aid, whereas other players can be offered varying amounts of their college fees up to and including a full-ride scholarship. The best US kids will end up, for the most part, going to the best teams, and this is where international recruiting comes into play.
There are, as with all countries, only a certain number of top quality players. And with 80 Division 1 programs there is a huge competition to get these players. For some schools they would be full-ride candidates and program changers, whereas for other schools they may only be offered half, or partial scholarships. Thus, with supply and demand dictating that schools may not be able to get, say, a good US centre-back because they’ve all been recruited elsewhere, schools begin looking to recruit from other countries. These players are generally offered full-ride scholarships. For these players this is, in my opinion, the opportunity of a lifetime. They are being given the opportunity to attend university in the United States for free, with their own flights to and from the US being their only fee.
But what do they get? I can only answer from my experiences at Longwood, and what we will be offering our incoming recruits for the 2014 season. These players will get the opportunity to attend the third oldest academic institution in Virginia, play Division 1 field hockey against some of the top teams in the nation, travel the country on both coasts, playing games in California, DC, Massachusets and all over Virginia, strength and conditioning coaches, all of their Adidas gear, play all home games and practices on a water based pitch overlooked by a stand and within 30 steps of their personal locker rooms. In short, they get the opportunity to compete in a near-professional environment while getting their degree.
Great article eggz , fair play
Quite a good insight to the game over the ocean.
Mark, great article. Your summary of USA collegiate hockey is spot on. Some Ncaa schools are fully funded which means they have 12 full scholarships. American had 12. It varies for each school depending on budgets and usually strength of team. I hope you love coaching in the US!
Thanks for the feedback guys! I’m loving it here Melissa! I knew I’d make a few mistakes.. I was wrong about the number of scholarships alright!
Story EggZ!
Flying the Lehenaghmore flag high in the USA we see, ana mhaith a chara!
Make sure to check in with one of your childhood chums on your return, the kettle will be on! 🙂 ……