What started as help with the summer clinic landed former forward Ming Doherty an assistant coaching position with the Hofstra field hockey team. It all began on a Sunday morning over the summer as she was taking a lap around the Hofstra field hockey field. It just so happened that Hofstra head coach Courtney Veinotte and assistant coach Caitlin Bennett had been conducting a field hockey clinic and asked for Doherty’s assistance.
“I had nothing to do on a Sunday, so I said, ‘Sure, why not,’” Doherty said.
While discussing with Coach Bennett how Doherty’s initial job plans had fallen through, Bennett took that as an opportunity to observe Doherty throughout the clinic. Ultimately, she knew her work ethic.
“I didn’t know, but she was watching me during that to see how I was doing,” Doherty said. “She knew me from being a player here for four years and my work ethic, so in the middle of that clinic, she offered me a job.”
After a four-year playing career at Hofstra from 2018 to 2021, Doherty alternated as a forward and midfielder and played 42 games throughout her career with the Pride, starting ten times and scoring one goal as a sophomore in 2019. In addition, she served as the field hockey representative on the Hofstra Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the 2020-2021 academic year. She also represented Hofstra on the NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad three times (2019, 2020 and 2021).
In contrast to playing, coaching hasn’t been too difficult, according to Doherty. Her background equips her to delve into that transition.
Despite adapting to her new work without much difficulty, the number of new team members has been the most significant change for her.
“We have 11 freshmen and an overall large group of underclassmen that didn’t get to play with me,” she added.
Being friends with many team members added to that ease, but as a coach, another level of boundaries is now in place.
“Yes, they were my friends first, but I am now their coach, so that boundary comes first,” Doherty said. “That doesn’t mean I won’t be friendly. But coaching is my job now, so that’s what I set as the priority.” The deep level of respect from her former teammates and now players stems from good communication. Not everyone learns at the same pace or communicates the same, which Doherty learned in her coaching role.
“There are some people that [you] can push a little bit harder than others, and then other people you want to make sure you’re saying it in a way that’s responsive to them,” Doherty said.
Doherty graduated from Hofstra in the spring of 2022 with a degree in health science, which she plans to utilize while continuing to be a coach.
“I get about eight hours a week working at a physical therapy spot where I’m a physical therapy aide,” Doherty said. “It helps me as a coach because I understand what it means when someone has a particular injury and how to help the athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach with that.” Ultimately, Doherty would like to attend physical therapy school and become a physical therapist.
She also noted that being a coach has made her reflect on her past self.
“I’m getting all aspects of the athlete I was,” Doherty said. “I was a Division I athlete, I’m coaching Division I athletes and then I would like to be a PT for athletes in the future.”
The expectations of being a coach differ from being a player, but Doherty says some haven’t changed.
“Expectations like work ethic, and mentality [are the same], except the responsibilities have changed,” she said. “So, for example, I have to set up the drill now, not just participate in it or bring the best version of myself to do the drill.”
The field hockey program is no stranger to having former players turn into coaches – former defender Frankie O’Brien spent a season as a coach before Doherty filled the role.
Senior goalie Merlijn van der Vegt has been on the team with Doherty since 2019.
“I think the transition was very smooth because we’ve also had players turn coaches before, so I think it was easy for those who returned to make that switch again,” van der Vegt said. “There was an eightmonth period when we didn’t see each other. Our schedules weren’t aligned, and the team had been working really hard in the off-season, and then Ming was introduced to the newer players.”
Van der Vegt also spoke about their respect for Doherty as a player and a coach. They added that, having been on the team with her, they knew Doherty’s abilities.
“As Ming said, we all respect her because we know her abilities and being able to coach us as a player, so why would we go against that?” van der Vegt said.
On a more lighthearted note, van der Vegt briefly reflected on their favorite moments with Doherty before coaching. One, in particular, was when the team traveled to do a polar ice plunge located on the north shore.
“On the way back from the polar ice plunge, we were filling up gas, and someone said we had a flat tire,” van der Vegt said. “So we were stuck with five other girls on the team, on the side of the road, soaking wet, freezing.”
Doherty and van der Vegt reminisced as they piggybacked off each other and how much fun they had on the trip. The memory van der Vegt shared was just a tiny glimpse of the bond the field hockey program shares with each other.
What turned out to be the job Doherty wasn’t exactly looking for turned into the opportunity she needed and a chance to help the field hockey team continue to grow. So, as the story stands, “I went for a run at 7 a.m. on a Sunday, and now I’m a coach.”
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
