How Female Athletes can get Noticed with St. Joe's Field Hockey Coach Hannah Prince

[00:00:00] John Boruk: And welcome into Raising a Champion. I'm your host, John Boruk. It's the podcast that focuses on you sports and how we can do it better for everybody involved, for the kids, the parents, administrators, the coaches. My guest today is a four year starter at the University of Massachusetts Field Hockey team.

She then joined Team U S A before she moved on to coaching. And in her first season as an NCAA head coach, she led the St. Joseph's Hawks to the round. Eight before losing to the eventual national champion, the North Carolina Tar Heels. Hannah Prince, welcome into Raising a Champion. How are you?

[00:00:34] Hannah Prince: I'm great, John. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:35] John Boruk: Yeah, thanks for coming in. In fact that was just a few weeks ago was the NCAA tournament, and just talk about that whole experience because you came from the University of Louis. But this is your first head coaching experience and just to go through the process and to be so close to be on that doorstep before losing to a team that I think a lot of people knew that was the prohibitive favorite going into the tournament.

[00:00:59] Hannah Prince: Yeah, [00:01:00] it was an incredible experience, really. Definitely dove in head first with the program, but the team. From, day one told me they wanted to advance beyond the first round of NCAAs. So that was a focus for us all season, in the back of our minds as we trained hard every day.

And yeah, drawing Wake Forest down at UNC for that first round, I think the team was excited and confident and knew that we definitely had it. And we played a great first round game. And then yeah, like you said, losing to UNC in the quarter finals was a battle, but they are a very talented team and we had, previously lost them in the regular season.

So it was a great way though. Great first season for me and yeah. Made program history. 

[00:01:44] John Boruk: Yeah. Tell me a little bit about that and what did you learn about yourself and the responsibility of being a head. For the first time because you were hired last July, so this is really now your first full off season getting into it, recruiting, getting to know the [00:02:00] players more on a personal level, but take, take me through that because you're trying to earn their trust and the players are, you gotta earn their trust and vice versa.

And just talk about that whole experience of being a head coach for the first time.

[00:02:13] Hannah Prince: I was very fortunate to have worked at St. Joe's in 2017 and 2018 under Head Coach Lynn Farco. When the position came open, it was something I was very interested in. My time at Louisville was amazing, but I knew that taking over a program such as St. Joe's who had been Top 15 for many years would be a great opportunity for my first head position. And the captains were actually part of the committee that selected myself. And that meant a lot to me, knowing that they were on board with my mission for the program and just my style and who I am as a person amongst some other administrators and athletic directors.

But that was really special to me. Paved the way for like you mentioned, that trust building that I had with them and then the [00:03:00] rest of the team. So it's been a huge learning process and I think it will continue to be for many years. 

[00:03:07] John Boruk: And you're already learning the time commitment that's involved.

Prior to us getting on air, you're discussing how part of this boom you're done. And now you're off to this big tournament down in Tampa during Thanksgiving. So you, a lot of people spending Thanksgiving with family, you're already, it's back into it less than a month later recruiting. Trying to find some, who's gonna be some some future talent on your team.

[00:03:29] Hannah Prince: Yeah. So that's pretty typical for our sport is either the shooting stars or the festival tournament. So if you end up making the National Championship final four weekend, you have just two or three days before you head on the recruiting trail. So I had a week before that given that we lost in the quarterfinals.

But yeah, I was excited to get down and look for some future hawks and start to, identify players who I think could fit the playing style that we're trying to achieve. 

[00:03:57] John Boruk: Is there a couple of tournaments every year that [00:04:00] you now circle or coaches in this area circle and say, these are the ones that we have to be at in order to try to recruit and lure the top talent?

[00:04:10] Hannah Prince: Definitely. That is one of them. The National Indoor Tournament As well as National Club Championship and the Nexus Championship. Those are the largest ones that I think the majority of coaches go to. But the beauty of being back in the Northeast, in the Philly area is how huge the sport is. Within a couple hour radius, I can see the top talent in the country, so I can head down to a high school game.

A random Wednesday night or go watch a club practice in the off season. So I'm very fortunate now to be, again, back in this area and it's really makes recruiting a bit easier. And it's just at my fingertips. 

[00:04:48] John Boruk: So yeah, for those who may be listening and not familiar with everything that pertains to field hockey, this truly is I feel like this istThe heart of field hockey and field hockey talent.

When you look at some of the schools, you [00:05:00] have St. Joe's, Delaware Advanced, the NCAA tournament Penn State was there, Drexel, Princeton, Penn, Villanova. These are all top 30, top 40 schools. Just in this area alone. Is that a challenge in the sense that you're fighting battling all these schools to acquire talent?

Or is it just, is it more advantageous because you don't have to travel as far?  

[00:05:22] Hannah Prince: Yeah, I think it's actually a really nice benefit. And a school like St. Joe's, we do attract a variety of potential student athletes, but from my experience as an assistant and then looking at the 2024 high school graduating.

That I've recruited so far. It definitely seems to be a lot of Pennsylvania student athletes, which I love. But of course I do wanna have diversity within my team and recruit players from all over the country and all over the world. But to your point, yes, it is very, there's tons of schools that are within a couple miles, a couple hours.

So it definitely is competitive within the region. . [00:06:00] Yeah. 

[00:06:00] John Boruk: Discussing recruiting. And I know that there's a lot of parents out there who would like to get some insight from somebody like you or head coaches. What is it that you look for? Obviously the kid has, they have to be good, they have to be a talented player.

But aside from that, when you're talking to some of these girls, these high school girls, really good. What is it that you're really looking for that would make them the person that you want to, to coach? For the next four years. 

[00:06:27] Hannah Prince: Yeah. Outside of the, on fields technical or tactical abilities, just looking for players who are driven who can speak about their passion, about their goals.

Who can give good eye contact, who are, strong students. The classroom people who really just love the game. And become part of something bigger than them. And I recruit players that are gonna come in and make my starting lineup that much more competitive and have players off the bench who don't, who ensure that the level does not go down despite, not being a starter.

So I [00:07:00] want players who are driven who wanna be a part of that. 

[00:07:03] John Boruk: Now you personally, you grew up in Maine, right? Yes. And it a small, it was, it's a small, it was a small, I think suburb outside of Portland. Yes. 

[00:07:09] Hannah Prince: Correct. Correct. 

[00:07:10] John Boruk: Did you grow up learning to play the game. Were you a multi-sport star up there in Maine and how did you really gravitate towards field hockey?

[00:07:18] Hannah Prince: Yeah, I started field hockey in a, in first grade my high school had a youth program, like a, your typical Saturday morning. The high school team runs the program, first through eighth grade attend, and I just really. Fell in love early. I loved that it was competitive and physical. I also really looked up to some of the high school players and they became role models for me.

And once I saw them having success within their high school careers and then go on to playing college, I from grade school thought that's definitely what I wanna do. , but I also grew up running track, doing gymnastics, lacrosse, basketball when I was really little. So I was definitely a very [00:08:00] active kid, but knew from a pretty early age that field hockey was my true love.

Yeah, 

[00:08:05] John Boruk: but you continue to play different sports and be involved year round. And we talk about that a lot during this podcast. How important it is for these athletes to not just focus on one, don't get caught up in sports specialization, get out there, branch out play several sports because a lot of it blends in from one sport to the next. Did you? 

[00:08:27] Hannah Prince: Yes, I definitely did. And as I got late into my last, like two years of high school, I mostly ran track to stay in shape for field hockey. But that was when I had already committed to verbally committed to play at the University of Massachusetts. But until then, I was doing everything I could.

And I loved it and it was fun. It was. A way to, work on being a good teammate, being a good leader. Different parts of my body could get stronger in different ways. Agility, speed, change of direction. And I think that you can get very stuck doing one thing and that's not gonna [00:09:00] help you in the long term with even that one sport that you love.

[00:09:04] John Boruk: Is there a sport that really works well with field hockey, a spring sport that you'd like to see? Middle school kids, high school kids participate in, because some of those characteristics of that sport really flow and really blend over into playing field hockey. 

[00:09:18] Hannah Prince: I've seen a lot of crossover with women's lacrosse. Okay. I think. Really great footwork and cutting that happens in lacrosse. There's not a ton of similarities other than being 11 V 11 and putting a ball in the back of the net. I do feel like that is definitely one that requires really great endurance and. Speed and all of that. But the other one that I actually have found some really great field hockey players in is basketball.

I think relating to how you play defense ex, especially just that low body position, boxing out, that physicality, keeping your eye on the ball and physically like touching the player that you're marking. And that's something that excites me. So I have one junior right now, Lily [00:10:00] Santi. She had an outstanding year.

This past fall. But she was a basketball player and I can definitely see some of that in her defense as well as her offense. 

[00:10:10] John Boruk: That's good. One thing that I did wanna mention, I was introduced to St. Joe's field hockey. I was happened to catch. , and I don't watch very much of it anymore, but ESPN and they did their top 10 and there was a play from your team that was in there, and it was a really athletic play where I think they hit it, they passed it, knocked it out of the air and made a goal.

And I, so I'm sure that's something that you guys were talking about. I said hey, do you notice, because they don't take field hockey on ESPN or SportsCenter that often.  

[00:10:38] Hannah Prince:. Yeah, that was really fun. That was from our five zero win over Ruckers opening weekend. And yeah, Lilly batted it down into the cage at the far post up into the net.Yeah, which was really cool. It was fun. It was great energy and the girls loved seeing each other be successful. So it was a team victory for sure. Yeah. 

[00:10:57] John Boruk: I want to get in a little bit more now [00:11:00] into you, cuz I'm sure you talked to, to, to families and I'm sure you talked to some of these kids and how they can get noticed and how they can get the exposure that they're looking for.

And one of the things that, that, that seems to come up when I'm reading some of their comments and stuff on group chats and Facebook is the expenses. Associated and look this runs the gamut of any sport. My son plays hockey and you're easily every year breaking out, six to $7,000 once you factor in tournaments and hotels and meals and all that good stuff.

But some of these families talk about the expense of doing. And showcases is that just exponentially also grown from the time that you were a kid, and going through this process? 

[00:11:42] Hannah Prince: Yeah, it definitely has. There are so many companies that have came up in the last five years that host some really great events.

But it makes it so that almost every weekend in the summer there is an event. And college coaches can't be everywhere. So if you're going to some of these extra I'll [00:12:00] column 'EM events. Outside of the larger ones I already mentioned, you definitely wanna be selective for keeping an eye on what college coaches are attending so that you're not going to a showcase that's mostly Ivy League coaches, but you're interested in more.

P Patriot League, so it's just a, something to think about. But yes, from when I was younger, there has been a huge uptick in different events. But as you mentioned, clinics, I think that if you're at a point in your search that you have. Even a list of 10 schools that are realistic for you as a student athlete.

I would say get to their camps or clinics and work with the coaches, cuz that's gonna help you figure out if that's someone you'd wanna play for. Get a feel for the campus, the facilities, all of that as part of the camper clinic. And then on the flip side, for the coaches to be able to see you up close and personal and not from 50 yards away.

Sitting on a sideline on an iPad. Like I was in Tampa, I'd much rather work with someone, speak to [00:13:00] them, see how they respond to my feedback and just be more up close and personal. So that's definitely a great way to get a quality evaluation on both ends. Yeah. 

[00:13:08] John Boruk: Do you, I guess during this off season is this a good time for players and parents to have that one, one-on-one contact with coaches or assistant coaches and to just get their name out there?

[00:13:20] Hannah Prince: Definitely the one thing for field hockey is the contact date from NCAA rules. So we cannot, as college coaches speak to prospective student athletes until June 15th going into their junior year.

Okay. But that does not mean we cannot work with them at camps and clinics and go watch them play and receive emails from them so student athletes can email. Freshman, sophomore. Sophomore year, give us information on who they are as a person, as a student, and then what events they're attending.

And we can also, we can answer general questions pertaining to a camp or clinic and give them general correspondence [00:14:00] about our school. But it cannot be anything recruiting related until after June 15th. But again, to your question, absolutely, this is the time to get in coaches, inboxes, get on, their mailing.

And get to a camper clinic if they are offered in the winter. Okay, 

[00:14:14] John Boruk: We're talking with Hannah Prince. She is the head coach of the St. Joseph Hawks field hockey team, a team that advanced to the round of eight in the NCAA field hockey tournament. Back to moving back here because you were what an associate coach with the Hawks.

So how do you like Philadelphia? How do you like being here?  

[00:14:29] Hannah Prince: I love it. It's, it feels so nice to honestly be back in this region. Many, for many reasons. My family's in Maine, so now it's a drive. I really love how big the sport is here, and as I mentioned, it's amazing to be able to go watch a really high level, high school game.

20 minutes down the road at many different schools. And yeah, it's just, you can feel the competitiveness in the sport. And then even just thinking about our home games, we've had incredible crowds and fans that have been [00:15:00] able to come out. And that means a lot to me and to my program.

Yeah, 

[00:15:03] John Boruk: It's good facilities. Right there on, on City Ave. It's a very good school and a lot of good schools around here, so you get a lot of good competition that you can plug in on your schedule. And you don't have to travel that far, whereas I think when you're at Louisville, it's probably a little bit different.

When it came to traveling and trying to. Just to compose your schedule and trying to get some good teams on there. 

[00:15:23] Hannah Prince: Yeah, definitely. I've have formulated our schedule for next year. I just wrapped it up about a week or two ago. We get to open up, we're actually lucky. We have University of Connecticut and University of Massachusetts, Lowell both coming in for opening weekend.

So that'll be fun. But we can play Penn and Villanova and Drexel. As in Rutgers is less than two hours down the road, Princeton all very close by. So even for our off season, being able to compete at a super high level to get us ready for next season is also something that's important to our success, our future success.

[00:15:58] John Boruk: Being a first [00:16:00] year head coach under the NCAA and some of their guidelines, is it is it difficult in terms of trying to be in compliance, just knowing what you can do, what you can't do? You're talking about what you can say, what you can't say. It is just all these little intricacies that come with being that, and you do, you need, you wanna be very aware that you don't.

Up and you don't do something that that obviously goes against, but there, there is, there's a lot of little things out there that I'm sure that you have had to learn over the past year. 

[00:16:28] Hannah Prince: Absolutely. And compliance is a huge part of our job. And at every school that I've worked for, you have.

Compliance meetings usually at least once a month, where we're constantly getting updated on new legislation and new rules that are voted in. So being up to date with all of that definitely is crucial. But I think the biggest thing just to remember is just ask if you don't know. And coaches can even help educate you if you have questions.

There's nothing that says we. Inform you of a rule. And then that's pretty much the [00:17:00] end of the correspondence. Yeah. 

[00:17:01] John Boruk: We were discussing the expense of doing clinics and showcases how some families find it a financial strain that sort of thing. It's part of it. A number another Topic that also came up was the pay-to-play.

Now that's something I think that's also evolved recently over the years. You see it in other sports as well, but where do you stand when it comes to the whole pay-to-play issue? 

[00:17:23] Hannah Prince: Yeah. The NIL has been very interesting When I was at the University of Louisville, They were fortunate enough to be able to hire a full-time staff member who was there to help the student athletes to help the department to make sure that the NIL deals were being processed.

Compliant legally and really help the student athletes grow their brand. Where St. Joe's doesn't have a full-time staff member, we do have lots of resources and our staff members are, educated to know what we are allowed to do, not allowed to do. I haven't seen a huge increase with that in field hockey.

But it's, I think, [00:18:00] each season it's gonna become more and more I think the biggest example would be. Sporting equipment, so players can be sponsored with a stick company or nutrition. Maybe there is like a protein powder that they're sponsored by a brand. So that's what I've seen so far. But yeah, I think it'll continue to grow and help student athletes to have their own brand and have some income. 

[00:18:22] John Boruk: Yeah. And that's something that we're seeing across all sports. I was at an event that Jay Wright was speaking to, probably don't have this much of an issue, but it's maybe something that is out there.But is the whole transfer portal now, right? Yeah. Is that something as coaches that they're tapping into? 

[00:18:39] Hannah Prince: Yes. The transfer portal this year has been, actually very surprising how crazy it has been, honestly, from right after the selection show. So some seasons were over, it's only the top teams that got selected for the tournament.

I've probably gotten three emails a day pretty much since then, [00:19:00] for a couple weeks now. So it has been absolutely huge. The transfer portal. . 

[00:19:04] John Boruk: There’s pluses and minuses to it all. And I know that some coaches may like it, some of 'em probably don't. Because you're trying to build something, you're trying to build a program and you're trying to build like an in a family, a community, and some the, I think some with within the transfer portal that can break that.

Continuity, where you are trying to build something and look, it gives athletes a way out as opposed to if they don't like something, it's e and it's really easy. It's easy for us. Say I'm not getting the playing time, or I don't feel like this coach likes me, whatever the case.

And so it just gives them that free pass out.

[00:19:40] Hannah Prince: Yeah, I definitely do see both sides of. I, I, as a coach, I want my student athletes to be completely invested and bought in, and regardless of their role, whether they're a starter or they don't get any minutes, in that current season, I want them invested and to be team first and to help [00:20:00] us achieve our mission of, making a final four.

That's our goal. But yeah, to your point, it does give an easier way to jump ship a little bit and find something new. But the other piece is if they're not happy and it's not for them, then you know, then I'll be supportive of my student athletes entering the portal if that's what they feel is best for them.

But it definitely makes it easier and there's been a huge uptick in student athletes in the portal. Yeah, 

[00:20:28] John Boruk: I liked what you said though, when it comes to, Teaching. Every player on your team has a role. Now, they not, may not be a starter, but you all have a role. And I'm a big fan of Gino Ama, the Uni Connecticut head basketball coach talks about body language and if your body language isn't good, you'll never see the court or the playing field.

And is that something that that you try to stress as a coach to your players? Is. Everybody's got a role. Everybody is important in their own way, [00:21:00] and body language is a big deal, or character is a big. 

[00:21:04] Hannah Prince: Definitely, it's something we talked about from right when I got to St. Joe's and revisited multiple times throughout the season.

We do have a large squad compared to some programs, and I think most programs, squad sizes have increased with. The COVID fifth year and as well, the transfer portal too. So yes, definitely making sure that student athletes are, they have a realistic idea of where they stand, but also that each of their roles is incredibly crucial to the success of our team.

If you know my, let's call 'em non-starters. Don't perform at practice and don't challenge the starters. We are never going to improve at the rate we need to, we're facing Yukon or UNC or Maryland over the weekend. We can't be training at, a high school level and I, it sounds dramatic, but we have to be pushing each other and showing every day what it's like to train against a [00:22:00] top opponent so that come game day, it.

The prize. And the only way we're capable of doing that is if every member of the team, gives a hundred percent effort every day and challenges themselves, which challenges each other. And yeah, I think that's super important. And yet, to your point, body language too, or reactions to mistakes, reactions to umpiring within practice.

We have to train as we're gonna play. So in training, if we're, if we're not sharp, then it's gonna show on game day. Yeah. 

[00:22:26] John Boruk: Something else, and this is, unless you're really heavily involved in the sport, I don't think this is something that you're even remotely aware of, but access to water-based turfs.

 In, in other sports, you just think, oh, playing surface. But this is in field hockey. This is a big deal. And this is a big determining factor for a lot of these tournament teams because it's on these turfs where you learn how to run better. You pass with speed and it really opens up the game.

But some of the younger, these kids and programs don't necessarily have. To that how can we open it up to where more [00:23:00] people have access to these water-based turfs. 

[00:23:03] Hannah Prince: It is a challenge for sure. There are very few high schools around the country that have water-based astro. Not every Division one program even has water-based astro.

So you know, that is the surface that you'll play your games on in college if you're playing at a high level. So it's important to take advantage of opportunities. Showcases, clinics, camps, where you can go train on that surface cuz it'll help your transition to college be that much better.

For sure. 

[00:23:33] John Boruk: Tell me how the game is different on a water-based turf as opposed to one that's not 

[00:23:36] Hannah Prince: faster. Yeah, just a heck of a lot 

[00:23:38] John Boruk: faster. Okay. Yeah. And so decisions have to be that much quicker. You just, it's the speed of the ball I guess, travels that much faster. 

[00:23:48] Hannah Prince: Yes, for sure. My old head coach from University of New Hampshire that I worked for, she always described.

People would always ask, why do you water your turf? And she would always say it's a big ice hockey area up in New England, [00:24:00] as you might know. And sure, she'd also, she'd always say, it's similar to a Zamboni on an ice rink. It just helps smooth o smooth it over and helps it be faster.

So I always thought that was a good comparison for people who are a little bit unfamiliar. The other thing is we play with a dimple ball. It's actually has a cork in the middle. The, it's very hard plastic and that rolls better on the water-based astro. So not only are you going from potentially field turf, and then we call 'em smooth balls to water-based astro and dimple balls.

But yeah the pace of the game is significantly faster. So all of the decision making even some of the skills that you would use, on a field turf, I recommend more hitting Lifted passes because the turf can be slow. Where on, AstroTurf, it can be more of as we call it, a sweep.

And more, you can be a bit more dynamic on the ground, but 3D skills lifted skills are definitely part of both games. 

[00:24:53] John Boruk: Kids who do have skills do you notice that when they transition to the faster [00:25:00] surface that they're caught up a little bit or it takes time? There's an adjustment period that comes with that?

[00:25:05] Hannah Prince: Yeah, it definitely takes time and you can usually tell players who throughout the year go back and forth between the two surfaces. And those who, it's very new to them, especially some of the youth clinics that we've hosted. Even this fall at St. Joe's, we did a free youth clinic and they they tend to lose control of the ball a little bit because they're not, they're definitely not used to it.

 [00:25:27] John Boruk: Another aspect that I think is something that that parents are interested in is the importance of Nexus for kids that can't afford programs or they can't, so they can attend some of these clinics and camps. W tell me the role of Nexus and how important is it that it's part of this integration for kids so that they can get involved.

[00:25:47] Hannah Prince: Nexus used to be known as futures, if anyone has heard of that, but nexus is through the USA field hockey pipeline and. Used to be said if you wanted to play on the national team, you have to do Nexus. That [00:26:00] is the path that you need to stay on. But I think even if you do not aspire to play on the national team, the Nexus program is still a good program to do if you're at a competitive level within your region of the country.

And you can. Did to the regional tournaments and then to the national tournament and the Nexus championship. The national Tournament is down in Virginia Beach in the summer, and that is one of the largest recruiting events and especially for division one. You will see the best players in the country at events such as that.

And I had a great experience through what was next? Futures. I have done it since seventh grade through 12th grade and was fortunate enough to be selected through that for the U 16 national team and then in college, the U 20 ones and so on. So I had a really great experience.

And I, I hope to be able to give back and, potentially host some of the programming at St. Joe's. I know there's some in Philly and I wanna definitely give back. So I think it's a great program. 

[00:26:59] John Boruk: [00:27:00] You were hired last July, so you got here at the tail end of recruiting. Right?

Is it, did you feel like that last season you were playing catch up or had some of the assistants or some of the people that were already involved in the program. Get got, they got the ball going for you. And then on the flip side of that, how much are you embracing the recruiting process this time around just because you've had a full season.

And now that you can get in there and really see what it's all about. And you have now, they've seen you first year, St. Joe's, they've seen your success to see how they gravitate towards St. Joe's field.  

[00:27:36] Hannah Prince: I think there was about a five week lag time from when Coach Fark departed till my official hire date.

So that definitely did not help the recruiting, given that the contact date of June 15th for that rising junior class was about the same week that she stepped away. So that was a bit challenging knowing there was not much communication. I think my assistant, Alexa Hoover, did an [00:28:00] excellent job.

Keeping in communication, but she wasn't going to proceed with any, scholarship offers or anything like that since there was not a head coach named. But as soon as I accepted the position, I was able to get on the calls with some. Recruits that I knew of, that I knew would be great fits for St. Joe's from what I knew. So I had to play catch up very quickly. And the process was a bit slower for me once I got the job because my number one priority was taking care of our current team and making sure everything was ready to go for preseason. So focusing on them was number one. And recruiting did, it was definitely a top three for me.

But I was trying to, like I said, make sure we were ready to go for this upcoming season. And then I've, I have verbally committed a handful of players that I'm really excited about. I think they're I actually knew all of them before taking the job at St. Joe's through my connections and when I was here as an assistant.

I go back a few years with some of them. Which is really special to me. And as much as I want [00:29:00] to have a super competitive environment, I also wanna have a family environment for my program that, really welcomes people in. And it's about building relationships. And so I'm fortunate to have committed a few that I'm looking forward to continuing to build with.

Yeah. 

[00:29:14] John Boruk: Recruiting overseas, how much of it do you do? Because when you, if you take a look at a roster, you'll some you'll see six to 10 international players that are on NCAA teams and is the programs over there, and maybe they come over here because they want to be recruited by colleges.

But how are international players different and why do we see a good number of them on these college rosters? 

[00:29:37] Hannah Prince: Field hockey is a huge sport worldwide, as you probably know. Yep. So a lot of these countries, the European countries, some South American countries, really all over the world they play at a very high level.

And so therefore their youth programs are typically. Stronger than ours here in the US and whether they're being coached by international level players from a young [00:30:00] age or they're just exposed to the game younger and they also. The other thing too is, here we only have a national team.

In many other countries, most other countries they have, adult leagues and professional leagues. So you really are encouraged to play into your twenties, thirties, forties. I think that just helps the strength of the sport. . But yeah, I think the international players that, that we've had, or I've had at other schools have really just brought a different flavor to the game.

Really smart hockey players definitely specialize in some different skills that can be very helpful within our game. And I do believe that having international student athletes helps elevate our country's field hockey as well. 

[00:30:40] John Boruk: Are they already over here by the time they're in high school? Nope, they're, no, they're overseas.

So do you ha how do you see that is, is it do you got film on these players and do you take, will you be taking any trips over there to see 'em? 

[00:30:51] Hannah Prince: Yeah, so I definitely will plan on getting over somewhere I haven't decided where, whether it's in Europe or potentially [00:31:00] somewhere else south America, Argentina potentially to see some players.

But typically yeah, they'll send a highlight video. They'll have a recruiting coordinator that. Potentially runs an agency that will help get their profile, their name out there. So it'll be test scores, transcripts, video recommendation letters from coaches. And then if it's a player, you feel like you like their video and it could be a good fit, you'll, I'll set up a zoom call with them, their coach, their parent and get to know them.

And that's really important too. You can't do the face-to-face when they're, across the ocean. But you can spend some quality time getting to know them as people to make sure that they understand what the commitment is like coming to the US to play. And of course, making sure that their values are similar to those of, members of my team.

[00:31:49] John Boruk: Yeah. So you're gonna be spending a lot of time obviously recruiting Getting, your name out there, trying to just just collect those lot of information as possible. How much do you spend time just working on a [00:32:00] grassroots level some of those young clinics that, that you see for some of the younger girls and really more than anything, just helping build the sport up because it really has, I think over the last 10, 15 years truly exploded in terms of popularity and participation.

[00:32:17] Hannah Prince: Definitely I, as I mentioned, I had a free youth clinic after our Harvard game on a Sunday afternoon this past season, which was awesome. My players volunteer their time. They typically end up loving it. It was down pouring rain, but we had a great win against Harvard, so I joked with them that.

being out in the rain was a hell of a lot sweeter after a win, a great, a top 20 win. And I think doing things such as that are very important. I'd love to host, more free youth clinics whether it's at St. Joe's or even traveling to elementary schools in the city or outside of the city to help grow the game.

I have another clinic out in Lancaster in January with a youth program, and I love doing things like that. I do [00:33:00] believe it's because I was so fortunate to have such great role models and people who inspired me. So it's important, my philosophy as a person and a coach to, to be exposed to not just, the top level high school athletes, but to be around the game with the youth as well.

[00:33:16] John Boruk: Yeah. I'd mentioned off the top too, you were part of Team usa. Did the women's national team if, and correct me if I'm wrong, did they not train in Lancaster? Yep. Out in that area? 

[00:33:25] Hannah Prince: Yes. Yeah. So I after graduating from UMass, played on the women's team 20 14, 20 15 out in Lancasters. At the Spooky Nook.

Yeah. They've since relocated down to Charlotte, but it was so incredible being up in Pennsylvania again, where it is the home of hockey. So when we would host Argentina or Ireland to come and play the games would sell out. We would have such an incredible crowd. Lot of young fans and I'm, I am envious of some of the young fans that got to watch such high level field hockey at.

As a five year old, as a 10 year old, I never was exposed to that, but I think it [00:34:00] was really cool. 

[00:34:00] John Boruk: Yeah, I've been to several basketball tournaments at Spooky Nook. Yes. During my time. A tremendous facility right out there. Yes. Huge. Yeah. They've got hotels and baseball, softball basket, you name it.

They've always got something going on there. In terms of the equipment over the last 10, 15 years, how much better has it gotten? I know, I, I. As it pertains to, to hockey sticks you're looking at now the kid wants to get the 200 or $300 hockey stick. Is, are have we really seen that area, that aspect of field hockey explode as it pertains to the equipment, better equipment and where the advantage in some of these sticks are.

[00:34:38] Hannah Prince: Yeah, the number of brands that make sticks has definitely increased a lot for sure. I think that there are some sticks that are severely overpriced and and parents, I know that it is not easy, having to purchase sticks every year, two years for your. Daughters or sons.

. But yeah, I believe that the gear has [00:35:00] gotten so much better. The turf shoes are more protective. They help you cut better. They're more durable, especially on the water turf. It tends to eat away at your shoes a bit more. Yeah, but I think the sticks. I was sponsored by a company for many years.

It was very good to me, and I used them in high school and on national team. And now I think I let my players pick what brand they want. I'm not picky about it. And if there's a stick they like, we'll make it happen for them. 

[00:35:24] John Boruk: Really, it, so they have the supplies and anything that they need is right there at their fingertips.

[00:35:31] Hannah Prince: Yeah, long Stress Sporting goods is about an hour north of St. Joe's and they cover, they carry many brands. So I think anyone who can, is unsure, you can go try them out there, which is great. Instead of having to just order and hope for the best. Yeah. 

[00:35:45] John Boruk: So you get to the round of eight, you lose the North Carolina five, two game hard fought game.

How much after that game was over, what was. Your instant reaction, did you just want to get right back at it or did you need to decompress a 

[00:35:59] Hannah Prince: little [00:36:00] bit? Oh, I wanted to get back at it , but that's just me. I've definitely I always joke with my old boss from Louisville, I was like, I wish we could be in season all year.

And she thinks I'm crazy for that. But I do, I really love season. I love competing and seeing my team be successful. Yeah I wanted to get back out there. I think there was a couple things early on we maybe could have done different, but unfortunately let them get in a couple early goals that caused us to have to change our game plan a little bit.

All good though. I think the girls battled. Putting in two goals against unc was definitely a. Thing we could walk away knowing we really fought for the full 60 minutes and didn't, roll over. We really gave him a full game. Despite losing five two, you, 

[00:36:44] John Boruk: I'm sure you have a vision of taking this program and elevating it into, to where you're considered or you're just talked about with.

North Carolina, Maryland, Penn State, whatever, tho those top tier programs, what does it take and now that you've had that one year [00:37:00] is it just, is it getting the athletes, is it just buying into the program? What does it take to take that next step? 

[00:37:07] Hannah Prince: Definitely a combination.

I think number one thing is having really strong team culture and also student athletes who are not afraid to really put in the work. Cuz it does not happen by chance. You have to put in the work in the off season, the preparation. And that's not just physically, that's also the mental side.

So I think getting really talented athletes, the better we do as a program, the more exposure we'll get and hopefully, even higher caliber perspective student athletes coming on visits, being excited about St. Joe's and hopefully committing the play for the program. So between the recruiting, the mentality with the team culture having quality coaches around me to help teach the players Yeah, and really just continue to get buzz around St.

Joe's field hockey so that we can compete on the national stage. Continue to compete on the national 

[00:37:55] John Boruk: stage, I think. Yeah, I think when the season started you were outside the top 10, but I think after [00:38:00] a few weeks you were consistently in that top 10. That top 10 range. So you put 'em there and congratulations to you on coming in, creating that environment, having a successful season.

And I think it's gonna be pretty exciting to see where it goes from here. 

[00:38:14] Hannah Prince: I think so too. Thank you. 

[00:38:15] John Boruk: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Hannah Prince, thank Joe's Field hockey head coach. We like to end the show obviously every every week with our phrase. Words of wisdom and this week, all it takes is one negative comment in the car or at the dinner table to plant a seed in your kid's head that they don't have to listen to their coach.

And from there, your kid can be become uncoachable, a bad teammate, or even both. It doesn't take much to sabotage a team's chemistry. With that in mind, thanks to all of you for listening. Keep in mind we love to have your subscription to our show. You can follow us on Spotify, apple Podcast, Google Podcast Amazon Music.

Just do a search for raising a champion. And that is where you find us. Thanks to Hannah for coming on [00:39:00] and thanks to you for.