The United States Coach of the Year: 2015
Danyle Heilig, Voorhees Eastern (N.J.)
It was in early December 2014 when the New Jersey State Interscholastic
Athletic Association's field hockey tournament committee -- a body made
up of coaches, umpire representatives, and members of the state
governing body -- gathered for its annual meeting to make any needed
changes to the state's postseason field hockey competition.
The NJSIAA field hockey competition differs from those in other states
in several aspects. One, it hosts a unique non-public state
championship for private and parochial schools. This change was made a
few years ago after private schools won three out of four state titles,
and five of eight finalists were either private or parochial. Two, the
geographic map for field hockey differs from most other NJSIAA sports.
Princeton (N.J.), for example, plays in Group IV Central in soccer and in most other sports, but
the field hockey team plays in Group IV Section 2.
But perhaps the most important difference is that there is an extra
trophy at stake at the end of the season. New Jersey is the only state
in the Union that plays off its state field hockey champions in a
one-off Tournament of Champions. The four group champions and the
non-public champion still are designated as "state champions" at the
end of the season, but bragging rights and prestige are on the line.
And because the Tournament of Champions has five participants, a
play-in round is needed. And in that December 2014 meeting, the
committee voted unanimously to use a power-point formula borrowed from
football to seed the Tournament of Champions.
One of the people in that vote was Danyle Heilig, the head coach of
Voorhees Eastern (N.J.). Little did she or anyone else know the chain
of events that vote would ensue from that decision. And how she steered her
team through what happened next has made her the TopOfTheCircle.com
United States Coach of the Year for 2015 by the overwhelming
sentiment of a nationwide network of field hockey journalists.
Danyle Heilig, for more than a decade and a half, has
parlayed tradition, location, and the internal drive of teenagers into
a series of effective and skilled teams unlike any seen in a century of
scholastic field hockey in the United States.
Coming into the 2015 season, the Vikings had won every state
championship for the previous 16 years, extending their own national
record for state titles. That, in itself, is an amazing feat,
considering that the state of New Jersey has about 230 scholastic
teams, and that the school district is located just up the road from
Haddonfield, where the idea to play field hockey as an interscholastic
sport began back in 1909.
Oddly enough, the opponent that November day was Moorestown, where
Danyle Heilig played with distinction in the late 1980s, winning four
state championships as a player before matriculating to James Madison,
winning a national championship in 1994.
Eastern's teams have been unrelenting over the years, winning more than
400 games in just about every locale and situation imaginable. It
crosses state lines to find better competition. In short, winning is
routine for this program.
On Nov. 14, 2015, Eastern did what was expected in the
Group IV state final at Bordentown (N.J.). The Vikings, for the 11th
consecutive season, beat Bridgewater-Raritan (N.J.) 5-1 for the Group
IV state championship. It was the last of the five state championship
games contested that day. About two hours after the contest ended,
however, Sherlon Christie of The
Asbury Park Press put this message on his Twitter feed:
"Shore will play Eastern on Monday
after winning Group 1 state title."
The announcement came after the seeding meeting, which is usually held
after the state final. The five state champions were collected and
ranked as to their power-point totals as of the date of the state
tournament cutoff, Oct. 22:
| Teams
|
PPTs |
| Warren Hills |
390.0 |
| Madison |
379.5 |
| Oak Knoll |
379.0 |
| Eastern |
359.0 |
| Shore Regional |
276.5 |
This meant that undefeated Eastern, a team with a more ambitious
non-league schedule, and a team which held the state and national No. 1
ranking all year, was awarded only the fourth
seed for the Tournament of Champions. It meant that the path to the
final would be more difficult. The physical effort and strain would be
unprecedented: for Eastern to win, it would require the Vikings to win
four games in seven days against battle-harded teams from time-tested
field hockey programs. And no team had ever won its way into the final
from the play-in match.
Normally, state tournament schedules are leisurely, with only a couple
of games per week during the post season. But a four-game week was
something entirely different. New Jersey regulations do not allow teams
to schedule more than one game in a day, or three games on consecutive
days. Until a few years ago, a four-game week was out of the question;
only recently has the NJSIAA allowed a single four-game week in field
hockey during a team's season.
So, less than 48 hours after winning the Group IV state title against
Bridgewater-Raritan, the Vikings were slated to meet Group I champion
West Long Branch Shore Regional (N.J.), a team which has had tremendous
championship heritage over the years. And with only limited preparation
before the Monday evening matchup, Eastern not only beat Shore, but won
decisively. The score was 12-0, which not only was a high-water mark
for goals in the history of the Tournament of Champions, but it might
have been the worst loss that the Blue Devils program had suffered
since its founding in 1970.
Waiting on Wednesday was top-seeded Washington Warren Hills (N.J.), the
Group III champion. The Blue Streaks had found great success over the
last couple of seasons after being so close to state championship
success on numerous occasions. Eastern and Warren Hills were supposed
to meet in 2015, but the death of the school's popular football
quarterback led to the cancellation of all athletic contests involving
Warren Hills teams for several days. It was thought that Eastern might
have been vulnerable to some of Warren Hills' 1-on-1 skill play, but
any thoughts of an Eastern letdown were cancelled when the team scored
three goals in a shade over 12 minutes of the first half. Dani Profita
scored a goal for Warren Hills late in the first half, but it was
answered by a Nikki Santore goal three minutes after the interval.
(Make note of the Profita goal: it would be the only one conceded by Eastern during the entire Tournament of Champions.)
The Friday night final would have Eastern facing Summit Oak Knoll
(N.J.). The two teams are relatively new foes that have developed a
healthy respect for each other, not only because of great skills and
tactics, but the results on the pitch. Oak Knoll got onto the national
field hockey map by beating Eastern in the 2007 Tournament of Champions
semifinal on a goal from future U.S. national teamer Michelle Cesan.
And when the Royals bested Eastern in the 2010 Tournament of Champions
final, it was the last time the Vikings lost a timed, scored, and
umpired field hockey game.
But it wasn't going to happen again this night. As was the case in the
rest of the Tournament of Champions, Eastern got off to a fast start
against Oak Knoll, raking in a pair of quick first-half goals within a
minute and 15 seconds, then, after several minutes of sustained Oak
Knoll pressure to open the second half, the Vikings scored two goals 27
seconds apart. The result was a 5-0 win.
So, the totality of the week ending Eastern's season was thus: in just
seven days, the Vikings beat four field hockey teams with a combined
record of 90 wins, a draw, and 10 defeats coming into their matches
against Eastern. Three of the teams held state championship titles.
The result: four wins, with a combined score of 26-2.
Even when compared to the great teams in Eastern's recent past, getting
the 2015 team in a position to win the Tournament of Champions in these
circumstances was a coaching master stroke.
EPILOGUE: The NJSIAA field hockey
tournament committee met on Dec. 2, 2015. The group, of which Heilig is
still a member, voted to change the system to win percentage beginning
in 2016. The vote was 7-0 with one abstention.
And referring to the 2015 competition, the minutes said, "Tournament ran smoothly with a few very minor issues."
ALSO CONSIDERED:
Jen Biery, Lunenburg (Mass.) — Steered the Blue Knights into the MIAA
Division 2 Central championship game for the first time
Brandi Castaneda, Pocomoke (Md.) — Stepped into the coaching shoes of
the late Susan Pusey and brought the program its 19th MPSSAA title
Craig Chambers, Houston St. John’s (Tex.) — Won SPC Championship and
was a goal away from a perfect season
Eileen Donahue, Watertown (Mass.) — Followed up an MIAA Division 2
championship giving up zero goals with an MIAA Division 2 championship
season in which the Raiders conceded only one goal
Leslie Fry, Chelsea (Mich.) — In the first varsity season of this
program, brought the Bulldogs to the state’s Division I championship
game
William Heresniak, Alexandria T.C. Williams (Va.) — Brought the Titans
to its deepest postseason run in 22 years, losing in the VHSL Class 6A
semifinal
Jessica Javelet, San Diego Torrey Pines (Calif.) — Steered her team to
a 24-3 record and a silver-medal finish in an ultra-competitive CIF San
Diego Open Division tournament, all while maintaining her place as an
Olympic hopeful in Rugby Sevens
Karen Judge, Glen Ellyn Glenbard West (Ill.) — Saw her 11-year quest to
build varsity field hockey at the school come up one goal short of
winning the state title
Corey (Samperton) Kelly, Washington St. John’s College (D.C.) — After a
number of years in mid-table, the Cadets won the 2015 Washington
Catholic Athletic Conference tournament
Jennifer Lobasso, Stroudsburg (Pa.) — Instilled a great sense of belief
in her team and pushed eventual PIAA Class AA champion Emmaus (Pa.) to
within an inch of its life twice in two weeks
Jessica Rose Shellenberger, Mount Joy Donegal (Pa.) — Wore her heart on
her sleeve and kept her eyes on the prize as the Indians became one of
the only teams ever to score more than 200 goals in a season, but fell
a game short of making the PIAA Class AA final
Margie Snead, Richmond Trinity Episcopal (Va.) — The VISAA Division I
title team might have had the most talent in the entire Commonwealth of
Virginia this year
Kim Walsh, Elverson Twin Valley (Pa.) — First-year head coach brought
team its first state championship and the school’s first girls’ state
title in 37 years
Dana White, Lower Merion (Pa.) — A school known for being the alma
mater of Kobe Bryant made field hockey’s postseason for the first time
Laurie Wilkins, Hudson (Ohio) — In her second year at the helm,
brought the Explorers to the OHSAA title match