The United States Coach of the Year: 2013
Jim Larkin, Fredericksburg Chancellor (Va.)
In between postseason field hockey games, most coaches spend extra time working on tactics and situations.
Jim Larkin, however, sat on a bucket.
And it worked.
Larkin, who has spent two decades as either the assistant or head coach
with Fredericksburg Chancellor (Va.), was on the bucket as part of a
teambonding exercise. The exercise not only helped the Chargers repeat
as a Virginia High School League (VHSL) state champion, but gave
inspiration and hope to other teams across the Commonwealth of
Virginia. For his efforts, Larkin is the TopOfTheCircle.com
United States Coach of the Year for 2013.
To understand Chancellor's championship feat, you have to understand
the last two decades of field hockey amongst Virginia public schools.
When Larkin started his coaching career as an assistant at Chancellor
in 1994, there were two kinds of public-school teams: those in Class
AAA, and everybody else. There was a gulf in class between the two
sides because of the tradition of the Beach District's field hockey
teams and the unusual concentration of girls' sports in the autumn,
especially in Class AA and A. Back when Larkin started, female students
in smaller Virginia high schools could choose cheerleading, cross
country, field hockey, volleyball, and basketball.
Yep, basketball. The presence of fall basketball as a high-school sport
for girls in smaller Virginia schools was not just the subject of a
landmark Title IX lawsuit, but served as an impediment for the state's
smaller schools when it came to starting or improving their field
hockey teams. Smaller schools labored for attention, often getting
overlooked for all-star teams and Futures selection, and rarely were
able to schedule larger schools because of Virginia's limit on the
number of regular-season games.
As a result, VHSL small-school field hockey teams didn't even get to
participate in the postseason until a number of Class AA and A coaches
got together to form an invitational tournament. It wasn't until the
turn of the century until the VHSL offered a state tournament for
non-AAA teams.
Larkin took over the head coaching position at Chancellor in 1997, and
his teams won three titles amongst their small-school competitors -- in
2001, 2006, and 2012. All the while, Chancellor looked for
opportunities to prove themselves against higher levels of competition,
including an annual trip east to play Hampton Kecoughtan (Va.) and one
or two other schools on the National Training Center turf.
But in December of 2012, word came down that there was going to be a
realignment of the field hockey teams in the state of Virginia. The
realignment meant that an equal number of Virginia's public-school
teams would compete for three state championships, and all under the
same competition format. Previously, the Class AAA format and the AA/A
format had different requirements to get to from the regional
tournament into the state tournament.
"In truth," Larkin says, "we didn't know what the format of the
tournament was going to be. We didn't get a whole lot of information
from the VHSL until we were into the postseason."
But the lack of familiarity with the new VHSL Class 4A format didn't
affect this team, or its coaching staff. Not nearly as much as the
episode involving the bucket.
"Our athletic director wanted to bring in life coaches to help out our
sports teams," Larkin said. "I wasn't much on the idea of bringing them
in, but I thought it couldn't hurt. The person they brought in, Lynn
Kline, brought out a bucket and had each of our team members sit on it
in front of the entire team. They couldn't get up until someone else
said something the person on the bucket that was positive, or didn't
involve someone's looks."
The sessions continued during the season until the postseason, when
Larkin was elected to be on the bucket. His time on the bucket lasted
for an hour and a half as the team shared thoughts about him.
"Honestly, it bonded and molded our team," Larkin said. "We learned
from this, that wins and losses really didn't matter in the grand
scheme."
The session came at a time when Larkin had been pondering a considerable life decision.
"I had been thinking of stepping down. With the number of seniors that
we've had the last couple of years, it might be good to go out on top,"
Larkin says. "But I can't now. I'm not only having an impact on this
kids on the field, but in the classroom as well."
As the 2013 season was winding down, the Chargers were playing some of
their best field hockey. In the Class 4A state semifinals, Chancellor
beat a Yorktown Tabb (Va.) team that finished as the No. 2 team in the TopOfTheCircle.com Top 50 in 2011.
"After that game," Larkin says, "my assistant coaches and I looked at
each other and said, 'Whoa. I didn't see that one coming.' "
The next game, the state final, was against Suffolk Lakeland (Va.), a
team which had knocked off Virginia Beach First Colonial (Va.) while it
was the No. 1 team in the TopOfTheCircle.com
Top 10. Lakeland, which won the Class AAA state championship in 2011,
was a clear favorite. But Larkin received messages of support from
other coaches from small-school teams in the commonwealth.
The Class 4A final finished 1-1 at the end of regulation, and was set
to go to overtime. Larkin sent out team captain and senior defensive
midfielder Greer Trainham out for the coin toss.
"And the thing is, in most of our 23 games this season, we didn't win
the coin toss," Larkin says. "But she picks the coin toss for the
overtime period, we take the ball forward, earn a corner, and win the
game."
Though it was the second straight state championship for Chancellor,
this year's title run was different -- and not just because of
realignment.
"When we won last year, it was pure exuberant happiness," Larkin said. "This year, it was a massive relief of pressure."
As it turned out, the Chancellor victory served as an inspiration to
others. The Class 4A final was the first of a tripleheader of VHSL
upsets at the National Training Center. Shortly after the Chancellor
game concluded, Stafford Mountain View (Va.) would win the 5A
championship over a good Gloucester (Va.) team, and in the nightcap,
Chantilly Westfield (Va.) would beat Virginia Beach First Colonial
(Va.) for the 6A final.
And all of this might not have been possible without a 90-minute session on a bucket.
ALSO CONSIDERED:
Nikki Barrett, Ann Arbor Skyline (Mich.) — Won inaugural Michigan
Division II championship in a penalty-stroke shootout and will now join
Division I in 2014
Leslie Caito-Jones, Providence Moses Brown (R.I.) –Used a team style of
play to overcome the opposition to win a third consecutive state final
Abby Comerford. Edwardsville (Ill.) — Second-year coach piloted the
only Illinois team in the St. Louis-area league to a quarterfinal berth
in the postseason
Eileen Donahue, Watertown (Mass.) — A few months after the Boston
Marathon bombing dragnet ended in the neighborhood of the school, team
showed itself to be “Boston Strong,” finishing an undefeated season
undefeated in 115 games
Jeanne Frevola, Clifton Park Shenendehowa Central (N.Y.) — Steered her
team to its first state championship thanks to a dramatic and
controversial penalty shootout
Danyle Heilig, Voorhees Eastern (N.J.) — Won 15th consecutive state
championship and managed to handle all of the attention focused on a
team that continuously found new records to break
Starr Karl, Chantilly Westfield (Va.) — After 30 years as a coach, umpire, and administrator, she finally won first state title
Rebecca Kingsbury, San Diego Canyon Crest Academy (Calif.) –Taking over
from a successful predecessor, she got the Ravens to win the CIF San
Diego Division I section championship
Jennifer O’Donnell, West Chester (Pa.) Henderson — The Hall-of-Fame
lacrosse umpire coached a team with her lacrosse-committed daughter to
within a goal of the PIAA state final
Jenna Tuccio, Stonington (Conn.) — Helped Bears to win their first CIAC state championship since 1987
Adele Williams, Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) —
Blended her South African hockey knowledge with some of the best
suburban Philadelphia club players to create a team which won its
second PAISAA championship in three years