SUNY Geneseo field hockey coach Margaret McConnell (pictured above) is in year one of her tenure. The program is off to a 3-3 start this season with their most recent victory coming in a 5-2 game against Keuka College on Wednesday Sept. 19 (courtesy of SUNY Geneseo athletics).
The fall season has introduced Geneseo to some new faces on-campus. One of those is that of Margaret McConnell, the field hockey team’s new head coach. McConnell has the Knights off to a 3-3 start early in the season.
Before even arriving in Geneseo, McConnell spent many years around the game of field hockey both on the field and on the sidelines. She first began playing where she grew up in Louisville, Ky.
After her hometown experiences, McConnell moved to upstate New York to play college field hockey at the University of Rochester where she graduated in 2014 with a degree in psychology and women’s studies.
McConnell then transitioned to Ithaca College where she obtained her Master’s in sports psychology. At Ithaca, McConnell stayed involved with field hockey as she volunteered to assist the team there.
It was after her time at Ithaca that McConnell realized what she really wanted to do was coach. She enjoyed being able to make an impact in both academics and athletics for her players.
“I think that with coaching you have a really great avenue of being able to guide academics,” McConnell said. “You can help with supporting things that are happening during the college years and then also field hockey, which is kind of an added bonus and more of a complement to being a guiding force in a student athlete’s journey.”
Right before she came to Geneseo, McConnell was an assistant for the field hockey team at the University of Rochester for two years where she helped coach the team to their most successful two-year stretch in program history. Following this effective tenure, Geneseo offered her the head field hockey coach position.
McConnell brings her own style to the Knights’ program; a style that she feels has grown from her sports psychology experience.
“What made my coaching style evolve was my background in sports psychology,” McConnell said. “As a coach, I want my student athletes to have confidence in themselves and be okay with making mistakes and focusing on what’s next after a mistake happens.”
One of McConnell’s biggest points was that she wants her student athletes to make mistakes. She feels that mistakes, especially big ones, will lead to more growth and learning in the long term.
When it comes to the Geneseo field hockey program, McConnell has both short and long-term goals. In the short-term, she wants to get to know her players on a more personal level.
“You need to know your players, know what their wants are, know what their needs are, and be able to treat them accordingly because everyone’s a little different and responds differently,” McConnell said.
Her long-term goals for the program include creating a more consistently competitive team. McConnell hopes to push the team to compete to be one of the top two teams in the SUNYAC and to be a regular on the national stage.
It’s early in her tenure as the team’s head coach, but McConnell seems to have a set plan for where she wants to take the program and her coaching style should allow her to get there. It should be fun to watch the team in the years to come as they continue to grow under McConnell.