The United States Coach of the Year: 2016
Jessica Rose Shellenberger, Mount Joy Donegal (Pa.)
If
you went into the Donegal field hockey team room or into head coach
Jessica Rose Shellenberger's office in 2016, there was something
missing: any mention of the phrase "bring it on," which is part of the
quote that she gave to a local journalist when the list of possible
PIAA Class AA field hockey tournament opponents was released by the
PIAA last year.
Instead of projecting strength and bravura, the team instead turned inward through an annual off-field ritual.
"We try to do these teambuilding exercises at the beginning of the
year, to get the players to connect with a word or a saying,"
Shellenberger says. "They settled on 'clear heart, open mind, can't
lose.' That was their thing."
Yet, the bravado expressed in the preseason quote remained. And "bring it on" has
perfectly summed up Shellenberger's life in field hockey since taking
over the Donegal position 13 years ago. She came in after winning a
national championship at the University of Michigan, and brought that
kind of mentality to her first head-coaching position.
"When we first started, all we had was hustle, hard work, and grit,"
she says. "And there were times in the early years when we would play
with only eight field players."
Only eight field players? Bring it on.
"I felt, because I didn't have the kids that could compete, I thought
it would be best, for the players who could, to have more time and
space," Shellenberger said. "I felt it was a better option than puting
a player out there who was unsure of themselves or cause turnovers. It
made everyone have to do more work, but they were able to."
Shellenberger, as head coach without a very large staff, started
coaching up each of her players equally in position-specific training
and drills. In other words, all of Donegal's non-goalkeepers would
receiving training in how to play forward, midfield, and defense, on
either side of the pitch or the center of the park.
"I want them to have a complete skill set," Shellenberger says. "And
that comes from my sophomore year at Michigan, when Marcia (Pankratz,
the head coach) put me in the midfield, and I had no comfort with it. I
really struggled with it, because I had been playing forward all my
life."
The flexibility of all of the team's players were on display during
critical junctures of the 2016 season. In the Falcon
Classic final against Hummelstown Lower Dauphin (Pa.), Shellenberger sent in winger Grace Miller after an injury to
team captain Rachel Robinson.
Lose a key player? Bring it on. Miller scored less than three minutes after entering overtime.
“Grace can play anywhere,” Shellenberger says. “We just wanted someone to be able to finish on that side.”
There has always been athletic talent within the towns that make up the
Donegal
district -- Mount Joy, Maytown, Marietta, and Donegal Heights. One of
Shellenberger's earliest top players, Alexis Pappas, won two national
championships while at the University of Maryland. Later on, Laura
Gebhart would play for Penn State and make the U.S. high-performance
developmental system.
But it was when the Donegal varsity started developing players selected
for junior national teams that the side started getting noticed
statewide. Robinson, goalie Katie Jean, and Mackenzie Allessie made
Donegal an immediate threat for state championship honors once the trio
hit the field together in the fall of 2015.
Since then, the three of them have helped their teammates reach a level
of play that very few other teams have ever experienced. Robinson has
been the epitome of flexibility within Shellenberger's system, starting
her career as a center forward, but finishing her career on defense.
Katie Jean, the U-17 national team goalie, has been outstanding,
winning penalty-stroke shootouts and frustrating the best shots of some
of the better players in the country.
And then, there's wunderkind Mackenzie Allessie. Allessie was a pupil of
Shellenberger's in off-season training as early as middle school, and,
as a 15-year-old sophomore, she has already authored a pair of seasons
for the ages. She heads into her junior year with 136 goals, which is
already 34th in the recorded history of scholastic field hockey in the
U.S.
With Shellenberger's team approach to the game, it would be tempting to
try to figure out ways to win without Allessie becoming the focal point
of the team, so that opponents couldn't man-mark or double-cover her.
But Allessie is a player of such refined and uncommon skill that she
commands the ball, especially in pressure situations.
This included the Lancaster-Lebanon League final against
Millersville
Penn Manor (Pa.), when her long blast on a penalty corner was the
difference in a 1-0 win. It also included a PIAA semifinal game, when
the Indians were down a goal to Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) in the final 40 seconds of play.
Down one with the season on the line? Bring it on. Alessie scored pair of
backhand corner goals, the latter to win the game in overtime.
"Her skill set is so strong, and she is such a competitor; that kid
hates to lose," Shellenberger said. "Her personal effort in that game
against Villa Maria, I think, came from a year's worth of frustration,
her thinking she could have done more the year before. But now, as a
sophomore, she's gotten stronger and more confident, and now I think
she's going to be more confident in being able to make those kinds of
decisions."
But winning the 2016 PIAA Class AA championship with a 29-0 record,
scoring more than 200 goals for the second straight season, is not the
only measure of the Donegal team. Shellenberger has instilled an ethic
of selflessness and an emphasis on things other than sports in her time
as a coach and physical education teacher.
Part of that "team first" ethic and the willingness to trust multiple
people with critical skills came into play during the state final
against Merion (Pa.) Mercy. During the second half, the umpires called
five penalty strokes, three in favor of Donegal. But despite Allessie's
proven ability in this skill, Shellenberger had two seniors -- Robinson
and Kodee Bair -- take two of them.
"I felt comfortable that we were going to win the game, and my thought
was that if you earned the stroke, you get to take it," she says. "On
our team, Mackenzie and Rachel are my No. 1 and 1A for taking strokes.
Mack earned the first one, and Rachel earned her opportunity, so she
got to take it. Now, as for the third, we were trying to get Kodee some
minutes towards the end of the season, and she was deserving of the
minutes that she got. And she's a senior, so we thought it was
appropriate to give her the opportunity, so that she could say, years
from now, that she scored a goal in a state championship game."
Shellenberger has also gotten the Donegal field hockey team involved in
causes within the local community. For several years, Donegal held a
tournament to raise money to fight cancer; Shellenberger's mother died
from melanoma in 2009.
"I love to give back, and one of the things I want to do is to teach
these young women to become good people," Shellenberger says. "When you
have a cause that you can relate to, and it's something that touches a
team and they can understand it, it can have a bigger impact."
This year, Donegal devoted a game to raise funds for a scholarship for in the name of the organ donor whose heart now beats in the chest of Allessie's father.
"(Fundraising awareness) is like teaching: if you can get one or two of
them to pursue it later in life, it's worth it," Shellenberger says.
"It was really neat when we got the family to come to the game, and
it's a good life lesson for the team."
But there is one aspect of the Donegal field hockey team that you do
not see on the field. For most of Shellenberger's tenure, the team has
been amongst the county leaders in academics. The team GPA is amongst the highest in Lancaster
and Lebanon County, and number of her team members
take AP courses. And a couple of Donegal alumnae, Gebhart and
current senior Kirsten Gochenauer, were enrolled in the Schreyer Honors
College program while at Penn State.
"Grace Miller is No. 1 in her class, and Rachel Overlander is not far
behind," Shellenberger says. "It's a culture of this team, and you're
not going to get a kid that wants to come in and work this hard and
sacrifice this much if they're not doing it in other capacities in
their life."
As proud as Shellenberger is of the District and state championship
trophies in the lobby of Donegal High School, she is equally
enthusiatic showing off the photographs of the school valedictorians
since the 1950s, enshrined in a separate glass case. Two of the photos
are of Rachel Mummau and Jess Garber, two of Shellenberger's former
field hockey players.
And in a glass case a few steps away, they're making room for the PIAA Class AA trophy for 2016. And, maybe, more to come.
ALSO CONSIDERED:
Laurie Berger, San Diego Serra (Calif.) — Gifted attacking side set
a California record for goals scored in a season, winning the Serra
Invitational (where a team is obligated to play three games on
consecutive Saturdays), a pair of intersectional matches, and the Open
Division of the CIF San Diego Section
Sue Butz-Stavin, Emmaus (Pa.) — Took virtually the same team that won
the PIAA Class AAA Tournament by an overtime goal a year ago, and
improved them to a point where they won the championship final against
the same team by four goals
Cheryl Capozzoli, Newport (Pa.) — Steered the Buffalos to their best
record since 1989 and their first state tournament berth since 1990
Tiffany Cappellano, Oley (Pa.) Valley — Team went undefeated through
the regular season and playoffs until the state final. During the
final, the Lynx spotted the opposition a four-goal lead and were within
1:02 of making up that deficit.
Jill Cosse, North Caldwell West Essex (N.J.) — Built a balanced attack
and gave confidence to a young defense and goalkeeper as the Knights
won the Group II state championship and the Tournament of Champions in
overtime
Janet Dickey, Westbrook (Conn.) — Guided the Knights to their first state championship appearance in 41 years
Kathryn Dolan, Andover Phillips Academy (Mass.) — Playing in a tough
conference with extensive travel, won second consecutive NEPSAC Class A
title in a penalty shootout
Katie Duke, Chesapeake Great Bridge (Va.) — Given a chance to play for
a state championship thanks to the expansion of classifications, the
Wildcats, a team from a lesser well-known area of Hampton Roads, made
their way to the VHSL Class 4A state final, winning the championship in
a penalty shootout
Jeanne Frevola, Clifton Park Shenendehowa (N.Y.) — Steered a talented team to an undefeated season in NYSPHSAA Class A
Jodi Byrd Hollamon, Delmar (Del.) — After five appearances in the
final, the Wildcats brought home a championship to the small village of
1,600 on the Delaware/Maryland border
Nancy Millward, Webster Groves Nerinx Hall (Mo.) — Markers sent out
veteran head coach with a season with a number of strong wins,
including defeats of Lake Forest (Ill.) and St. Louis Villa Duchesne
(Mo.)
Janina Perna, Cape May Court House Middle Township (N.J.) — Won first
NJSIAA South Jersey Group I championship led by one of the school’s top
athletes, who forms part of a great lacrosse attack
Derek Ryan, Leesburg Heritage (Va.) — Brought first-year Loudoun County
team to the state championship semifinal round, but he also did a lot
of work in petitioning to get the sport added at this and 13 other
schools
Ian Tapsall, Westport Staples (Conn.) — Brought his international
credentials to the school and, in his second year, built a defense
which helped the Wreckers win the CIAC Class L co-championship