A Coach's Perspective

  • Print
Details
Created on Tuesday, 01 October 2013 19:42
Written by Adam Donnelly

field hockey coachLYNDON- Back in 1998 Lyndon Institute took a different approach to finding it's next junior varsity field hockey coach. Rather than trying to find someone with a background in field hockey, they asked someone with a soccer background to fill the vacant spot. Now, fifteen years later Roxanne Courser is still coaching field hockey at LI.

 

Roxanne Courser had been a part of the game of soccer her entire life. Even after her playing days were over following her graduation from Lyndon State College, Courser continued to make soccer a part of her life by coaching youth soccer, as well as junior varsity soccer. However, fifteen years ago Lyndon Institute approached Courser and asked her to be their next JV field hockey coach. After initially declining LI's offer because of her soccer background, she took a look at field hockey, and noticed the similarities between the two sports. She eventually accepted the position as the junior varsity coach, and hasn't looked back since.

Now in her ninth year as LI's varsity field hockey coach, Courser still loves the game of field hockey. But it isn't the sport that has her in love with her job; it is the girls that make up her team. She says that the players have a great attitude and that she has a very good, professional relationship with the girls. Coach Courser can joke with her players, but she can also be very serious with the time calls for it.

"One of my favorite aspects of being a coach is dealing with the girls. The girls I have on this field hockey team are fantastic kids. It's not about winning and losing with them. They come to practice, they work hard, they're good students off the field and they're out there having fun and that's a big thing to me," Courser said, "I really enjoy it, I enjoy the kids a lot. Like I said they come to practice, win, lose, or tie they're always working hard. That's a big plus to me when it comes to coaching."

Similar to her players, Courser is not overly concerned about winning and losing. Even though she says winning and losing should be a concern of hers, one of the big things to her is keeping the number of rostered players up, and the kids off the streets while they're playing field hockey.

Contrary to what people might think, there isn't a lot of strategy that goes into planning for a field hockey game. No plays that are drawn up. Most of the preparation is with the girls. Pre-game, Courser says that she has to see what kind of players can play what kind of position and who can play both ways, as well as seeing who is strong offensively and defensively, and how strong her goalie is. On the field her responsibilities change. While on the sideline Courser must try to keep the kids upbeat, and she says that she needs to be able to have players play multiple positions, and sub players in when they are tired or hurt.

For the first time in her 9 years as LI's varsity field hockey coach, Courser had her team off to a 3-0. Now sitting with a 3-2-1 record, Courser looks for her girls to pick it up, play hard, and piece everything together to make a strong push into the playoffs this season.