First-year Manchester Essex head field hockey coach Andrea Slaven is used to success as a player.
The 23-year-old former Bishop Fenwick High School star and Danvers native has experienced success in the sport of field hockey at just about every level.
Slaven will now get the chance to coach her own powerhouse program as she takes the reigns from Pam Grant, who left the Hornets after last season when her contract was not renewed.
The Hornets have qualified for the Division 2 North final in each of the last three seasons, compiling a record of 55-6-5 over that span. Slaven, however, is not intimidated by the team's past success, she's motivated by it.
"It fuels my fire coming into a successful program," Slaven said. "It's more motivation to help the team go far with my style of coaching. This is an amazing field hockey area, even the freshmen come in with a great understanding of the game."
The 2009 St. Michael's College graduate comes in with an impressive list of accolades as a player. Slaven was a four-year starter at St. Mike's and by the time she graduated, she was the school's all-time leading scorer. She was the Northeast 10 Conference regular season most valuable player in both her junior and senior seasons and was named the ECAC Division 2 Player of the Year as a junior in 2007. Slaven was also named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association's Division 2 All-American team in both her junior and senior years. St. Michael's made the playoffs in all four years that Slaven was on the team.
Slaven went right from St. Mike's to Assumption College after graduating, where she served as the team's assistant coach in 2009.
"Assumption was an awesome experience," Slaven said. "I have learned from a lot of great field hockey coaches and they have prepared me to take over my own team."
The first thing Slaven did as head coach of Manchester Essex was give the team a summer workout plan, the same type of workout plan that a college field hockey player would receive. Slaven put her own touches on the workout and she says the results were great, as the team came into training camp in great physical shape.
"They showed up Day 1 in incredible shape," Slaven said. "They were very motivated having received the workout ahead of time. I'm very excited about the team we have."
Slaven also brings a new style of play to the team, one that requires strong stick-handling and passing skills. In the past, the team relied on Amelia Cohen to drive the ball up the field, but with her gone, they are going to have to get more creative.
"One person isn't going to carry the ball up the field," Slaven said. "We are going to move the ball as a team, everybody is going to be on the same page and know what to do whether they have the ball or not. So far the girls are really eager to learn the system. It's not going to happen overnight but they have looked good in stick-handling drills so far this preseason."
The Hornets did lose some key players to graduation last season, but they also return several key players from last year's Cape Ann League Small champions and sectional finalists. Captains Kyle Marsh (forward), Olivia Dumont (midfield) and goalie Vicky Grimes will lead the team, as Dumont and Marsh are returning all-stars. The team also returns Cape Ann League All-Star defenseman Patty Wright and defensive starters Hannah Beardsley and Melissa Moore from last year's team.
While the Hornets are loaded with talent, Slaven says they will not take any team lightly.
"This is a brand new team and I'm a brand new coach so every game is going to be treated like a big game," Slaven said. "We will take it one game at a time and we won't take anybody lightly. We will come ready to play every day, practice and games."
