Jess Coffman is known for being a coach for Hudson Field Hockey’s JV and coordinator for “Field Hockey Life” Club in Cleveland. Most importantly, she’s a friend, mother and an incredible person that her players look up to everyday.
Whether she is coaching on the turf at practice or watching her players during games, she will always make sure that her players feel like they learned something before they go home. Admired by many, she is driven to lead her team in order to achieve greatness and success.
“Jess always comes to practice with a plan designated to fit the areas we need to work on,” says Sarah Ackerman, sophomore for Hudson JV. “That’s what makes her a great coach. She’s always willing to improve certain things she knows we can do better on.”
From her hometown in Hamilton, New Zealand all the way to playing in college at Kent State, she has always loved field hockey. Just in her senior collegiate year, she received the Academic All – MAC and First Team All – MAC honor, along with scoring 12 goals and assisting another 12 more throughout the season.
“I’ve played since I was four years old, and I felt like it was my time to give back to this sport and be involved in a different capacity,” says Coffman.
She says that her favorite coach she’s had as a player and looked up to the most was Larry Amar, former assistant coach for Kent State Field Hockey. “His level of strategic understanding of the game is beyond anything that I’ve played with and I think he taught skill very well.”
Today, Jess executes her coaching style similar to Amar’s. For example, she makes sure her players understand their positioning on the field and discusses solutions to change what her players can do next time in order to execute a play successfully. These strategies ensure that her players understand the next level components of the game. This is her second season being a coach for Hudson Field Hockey alongside assistant coach, Nancy Martinez. Coffman’s favorite part about coaching for Hudson Field Hockey is seeing things click in games that the team has practiced for a long time. She is passionate about her players understanding the fundamentals of the sport, along with movement and space in field hockey tactics.
Martinez at a scrimmage against Hathaway Brown this
season. The players took home a win, with a final score
of 2-1. (Margaret Brown)
“It’s always really rewarding when we hear that we’ve done something really well from her because you know she truly means it,” says Ackerman. It is evident that her players care about not only making their coach proud, but themselves.
“If we’re having a bad practice and we’re struggling you can see her frustration because you know that she knows we can do much better.”
Being a coach often comes with struggles you have to face daily. Coffman says, “I struggle with my competitiveness, along with having to coach different levels of players specifically that are in the same group or position and recognizing that I need to taper it back sometimes.”
There’s no doubt that Jess is a competitive coach. But in effect, her players visibly improve because they are moved by her level of confidence for her team. Freshman Charlie Wanders on JV says, “My favorite thing about her as a coach is that she’s really inspirational and wants us to try our hardest. Another factor that makes her unique is her ability to connect and grow with her players. Her knowledge of the game shows when she introduces new drills for the team.
“She’s a great coach because she knows a lot about the sport and she has fun teaching us new drills,” says Amelia Baughman, freshman on JV. “My favorite drill is when we practice full- field and corners”.
Jess Coffman is a key contributor to the Hudson Field Hockey organization because of her outwardly displayed leadership. She is an exceptional coach to her players, and it is evident because she makes sure that each one of her players learn something while having fun at the same time. You can tell that her radiant personality and sense of humor stands out due to the amount of players that look up to her.
Without Jess Coffman as a coach, Hudson Field Hockey would be missing a huge part of itself.
