Rumson-Fair Haven Field Hockey Has A Rookie Coach But The Same Results
By Robert Solomon
RUMSON – Being a first-year high school head coach is a tough assignment. Filling the shoes of a well respected and loved coach is tougher. Taking control of a historically successful program and reigning Shore Conference champion is the toughest. It seems that Casey Hanna, the first-year Rumson-Fair Haven field hockey coach, has found a way to make a tough situation a bit easier.
Hanna was a stand-out player for Ocean City High School, helping the team to a 23-1 record and capturing the New Jersey Group III state championship in 2012.
Upon graduation, she moved onto Monmouth University where she continued to excel. She was selected the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, along with numerous All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference first and second team selections, as well as being a member of two All-Metro Atlantic Athletic championship teams.
Her success as a player gave her credentials to be a high school coach, but taking over Julie Brewington’s program was a different ball game. Hanna felt nervous filling Brewington’s shoes but she knew that the program was left in good shape.
When asked what her biggest concern was about taking over the team, the 24-year-old coach said, “I was most nervous with the many changes in my life and being so young to get the girls to respect me.” Her confidence built as she showed the girls the knowledge she had and the skills she possessed. “Once they saw I knew what I was doing and had the skill, they were able to hop on board,” she explained.
There were some butterflies when she started her first practice. “I was definitely a bit nervous. I probably over planned for practice.” Once she got there, “seeing the girls’ smiling faces and willingness to learn eased the nervousness and anxiety I had,” explained Hanna. She also began to feel more comfortable when she saw the level of the players’ abilities. She was familiar with the program and had the confidence to be able to continue its success.
The team had a 20-2-1 record in 2018 on its way to a Shore Conference Tournament championship and a trip to the Tournament of Champions semifinal. Nine players from that team were lost to graduation. “Some people thought of a rebuilding year, but I didn’t,” explained Hanna. From freshmen through seniors, a lot of the players stepped into new roles they didn’t have before,” she stated.
This year’s team is young with only five seniors, nine juniors, three sophomores and one freshman. The talent is there as validated by the five players who have college commitments to play field hockey at the next level. Seniors Maeve Hierholzer has committed to Lehigh University and Eliana Swell has committed to Georgetown University. Juniors Sarah MacGillis also has committed to Georgetown University; Meadow Maguire has committed to Princeton University and Helena Stoever committed to Sacred Heart University.
“Hungry,” that is the word Hanna used to describe this year’s team. “The team is hungry to play and win, especially on game days,” she continued. This might have something to do with the team motto, “Hungry Dogs Hunt Best.” The “dogs” refer to the Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldog mascot.
When asked about how she felt about this year’s team as compared to last year’s, Hanna believes they could be just as successful. It is a mindset in addition to a skill set she explained. “I have no doubt in my mind that these girls could do it,” she exclaimed. Actions speak louder than words as the team prepared to play Shore Regional in a return to the Shore Conference championship.
This year’s team is led by outstanding players. Maguire and Sarah MacGillis are poised to score as forwards, Swell and Sarah MacGillis roam the midfield. Hierholzer protects the defensive zone as the center fullback and Cecila Newman defends the goal. Of course every successful team has an entire roster of contributors and Rumson-Fair Haven is no different.
The main obstacle the team faced on its road to the Shore Conference Tournament final was “the transition to a new coaching staff and not knowing the team and coaching styles,” according to Hanna. She continued that the girls had to break through the stage of getting to know each other again.
The season started out slowly with losses to Shore and Oak Knoll. Both teams are highly ranked and extremely good. Hanna explained that they struggled in those games as a team. They were slow to get familiar with each other in those early games.
In those first two, the team and coaching staff looked at what Shore and Oak Knoll did right to help them realize and learn what they needed to do to get better. “We saw that we could play at that level, we just needed more effort,” said Hanna. Sometimes a wake-up call is needed when a team is used to winning. It helps the girls to realize how easy it is to lose, she explained.
The team did not hit the snooze button and began to mesh. The victories started to pile up and they won their next six games before falling again to their biggest rival, Shore, 1-0. The team bounced back, winning seven of their last eight games to finish the season 13-4. With that came a third seed in the Shore Conference Tournament and eventual showdown with Shore in the final.
Hanna definitely sees that the team has gotten stronger as the season progressed. She feels they have strengthened all aspects of their game including, but not limited to, skills, effort, knowledge of the game and working as a cohesive unit.
Rumson-Fair Haven had a game against Bridgewater-Raritan in September. Hanna believes this was their most significant non-tournament game of the season. She explained, “It was our first game against an out-of-conference team. We saw what we could do against another conference. We were able to gauge ourselves in the state of NJ.” They won the game, 3-0.
“These girls love each other. They are sisters on and off the field. They’re pretty much unstoppable,” Hanna responded when asked about the team’s biggest strength. The girls are definitely a close-knit group of players that are friendly across grade levels, she continued.
“We are family” is taken literally on the Rumson-Fair Haven team as there are three sisters of former players are on the team. Cece Arko, Adeline Horan and Meadow Maguire all had sisters on the team who recently graduated. Maguire is the fourth sister in her family to play field hockey at RFH. Hanna, who played at Ocean City and Monmouth with her sister Kelly, explained that it is special for these players to have played with their sisters. Although none are playing with their sisters this year, Hanna said it helps when you have honest input from your sister in addition to teammates and coaches.
The girls are not only together on the field, but off it as well. They had pasta dinners the night before games and also reached out to help in the community. The girls collected a total of 100 pounds of food for the local food bank, Lunch Break, which provides food, clothing, life skills and fellowship to those in need in Monmouth County and beyond.
“It is a nice way for the girls to be in the community not only as hockey players but also to give back to the community as well,” explained Hanna.
Hanna believes she should help prepare the girls for the future. She includes team-building exercises in her practices and requires the girls to keep a journal at the beginning of practice. In the journal, the girls reflect on the upcoming practice and set individual goals for themselves. They then, together as a team, set team goals before practice as well. After games there is always a chance for team reflection to identify what went well and what needs to be improved. “These are necessary skills in the working world,” she said.
The team was more anxious than nervous at the beginning of the Shore Conference Tournament as they began the road to defend their championship, explained Hanna. “They knew it was going to be a battle but they didn’t shy away from it. They felt they could do it,” she continued. By winning the first four tournament games and outscoring their opponents, 19-3, their confidence is well founded. Hanna identified buckling down, focusing on everything from basics to being offensive and defensive minded as the key to beating Shore in the Shore Conference Tournament final. “It is not an easy game and we have to be ready to play the full 60 minutes,” she stated.
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