Team Player

Women’s lacrosse head coach tallies relationships alongside victories

by Michelle Simmons

April 6, 2010

Head Coach Carol Hatton (left) and Assistant Coach Anne Harrington watch closely during the women’s lacrosse season opener against Messiah College. Dickinson won, 10-6.

Carol Hatton, Dickinson’s new women’s lacrosse head coach, may have close ties to Centennial Conference (CC) rival McDaniel College, but she’s not letting that get in the way of her competitive spirit. Hatton earned a master’s in exercise science and physical education from McDaniel and is married to Matt Hatton, the men’s lacrosse head coach there.

“I have a closetful of clothes separated ‘Dickinson’ and ‘McDaniel,’ ” she says with a smile. “My husband and I certainly are each other’s biggest supporters, so we’re always rooting for each other.”

But when Dickinson’s women’s lacrosse team faces off against McDaniel on April 21, Hatton will launch an overwhelming offense. “If you look at our [scoring] stats, we’ve got six or seven people who all have roughly the same stats,” she says. “So when an opposing team looks at us and asks, ‘Who are we going to shut down?’ there will be seven people they have to worry about. That’s pretty threatening.”

Team matters

Hatton joined Dickinson’s athletics program in July 2009, and she brought with her a strong vision. “One thing that I’ve learned in my short time as a head coach is that you need talented athletes with a team mentality who can execute the coach’s vision,” she says. “You can be the best tactical coach in the world, but if you don’t have the right mix of talent and team play then you’ll only go so far. On the flip side, an average coach can look really great on game day with the right players on the field.”

She adds that although several top-notch players graduated last year, others have stepped up. “Team players are very important—those who instantly make the people around them better,” she says. “It’s about the success of the team, not the individual. It’s recognizing that when we all do our part, we’re all going to be successful.”

Hatton’s focus on getting the right mix, then building solid relationships, began as a student-athlete at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where she majored in human studies, an interdisciplinary blend of psychology and sociology.

“I decided I wanted to be in some sort of teaching profession, but not necessarily in the classroom,” she says. “The more I developed as a lacrosse player and as captain, I knew that I wanted to get into coaching. And pairing the human-studies major with [a master’s in] exercise science was a really great fit.”

After Hatton completed her master’s program, she returned to St. Mary’s as head coach. During her two seasons there, the team earned an overall record of 23-14, garnering a spot in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) finals and the NCAA Tournament in 2008. Hatton also holds the singular honor as the first person in the CAC to be named both Player of the Year (2004) and Coach of the Year (2008).

Stellar start

Dickinson’s record so far with Hatton at the helm is equally stellar, with a 5-2 overall record, 2-1 in the CC. The team won big over Bryn Mawr College, 16-4, and Washington College, 20-10.

“We’re in a great place right now,” she says. “Watching us against Washington, [I saw] our defense really starting to do some things that will propel us forward through the conference.”

Ultimately, though, Hatton’s highest priority is to ensure that her players have a meaningful experience as student-athletes—both on and off the field.

“We have an open-door policy, and I think that goes with the relationship aspect,” she says. “Being part of a Division III program isn’t all business. We certainly want to be a successful lacrosse team and for the girls to look back on their four years and be really proud, but we also want these years to be about friendships they’ll have the rest of their lives. That’s as important to me as the record.”

Read more about the women’s lacrosse program.