Mary Ann Harris would be a perfect fit for a field hockey marketing position.
The veteran coach, it seems, has been selling the sport to young athletes at Souderton for the past 18 years, and the results have been pretty amazing. Last Monday, Harris notched win number 300 of a stellar coaching career at Souderton when the Indians defeated Central Bucks South 2-0, but accumulating wins is just a small part of her story.
It’s the love of the sport that Harris instills in her players that sets her apart.
Just ask Sarah Hudak, a life-long soccer player who picked up a hockey stick for the first time at Harris Hockey Camp the summer before her ninth grade year.
“I could no longer play soccer in the fall because in high school - soccer was in the spring, so I had to find a fall sport,” she said. “I was thinking about volleyball and even went to two practices, but I didn’t like it, so I went to field hockey camp.
“I came out for hockey to make new friends and stay in shape for my primary sport of soccer in the spring.”
A funny thing happened to Hudak.
She fell in love with field hockey and went on to earn a full scholarship to Boston University where she had an outstanding career and also went on to obtain her master’s degree in occupational therapy.
The Souderton alum is now employed as an occupational therapist in Tampa, Fla., where not a day goes by that she doesn’t think about the opportunities Harris and field hockey afforded her.
“I truly would not have had the opportunities I have had in my life – and I tell myself this every day – without her guidance when I was 15,” Hudak said. “With my major, I graduated from the number one program in the country, and it helped me get a job wherever I wanted. One thing leads to another.
“I would never have been at BU without the background and the guidance of Mary Ann Harris.”
Harris, according to Hudak, goes the extra mile to teach her players the skills necessary to excel.
“She gave me the appropriate attention as an athlete to help me get better,” she said. “She wants to make her players better.
“She made an effort to talk to you one-on-one, to show you skills one-on-one and give you talks when days were horrible. That was a great coaching style that I reacted positively to, and even if you weren’t good at field hockey or if there was no hope for you as a player, she could still allow you to enjoy it and have fun and realize there’s just so much to the game you can embrace.”
Harris brings a wealth of hockey experience to her position. A 15-year member and captain of the U.S. National squad, she is a member of both the Temple University and the U.S. National Field Hockey Association Hall of Fame. She also has coached at the collegiate level.“She’s very passionate about hockey, and the kids see that,” said Souderton assistant coach Sarah Quintois, who also happens to be her daughter. “Her biggest line is ‘This is a great game. It’s a great sport to play.’
“She always says that’s why we’re here – we enjoy the sport.”
Adding to that enjoyment is the fact that Harris consistently produces winners.
During her 18 years at the helm at Souderton, her teams have won nine conference championships with a legitimate shot at another this season. Throw in four district titles and 10 state tournament appearances, and it’s easy to understand why field hockey is fun under Harris.
“I always say they like the game because they like to develop and they work very hard at it,” Harris said. “The harder you work to develop your skills, the better you become, and the more you’re going to enjoy the game.
“The big thing for me is it’s a team situation. You work together with your team, and you try to win. I’ll tell you – I like to win. I’ve always liked to win, no matter what I play.”
Harris has won at every stop.
She has compiled a record of 300-107-25 during a remarkable stint at Souderton. That record does not include the wins she accumulated during brief stops at Springfield (Montco) or Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. Not surprisingly, both Springfield and Sidwell – a team she coached during her late husband Bill’s three years in the U.S. Navy - won championships under Harris as well.
Close to 50 of Harris’ former Souderton players have gone on to play at the collegiate level, many scholarship recipients at big-name programs.
“I like it when they go on and play in college,” she said. “I like it whether it’s Division III, II or I – all of it.
“It’s fun to see them taking their hockey to the next level and enjoying it. I just really like that because I know how much I love hockey.”
Nicole (Dudek) Bauer, who is now the head coach at Methacton, earned a full scholarship to Duke where she was a two-time All-American for a Blue Devil squad that was a three-time NCAA Division I runner-up during her four years.
“She just has a love for the game that is contagious,” Bauer said of Harris. “She was always telling us about her trips to Holland and all the great experiences she had with the national team and playing in college.
“You wanted to follow and do the same thing.”
Bauer admits that Harris’ fingerprints are on her own practice sessions.
“We still do the (Constance) Applebee drill that she taught us – getting the ball and shooting it as quick as you can,” the Warriors’ coach said. “I find myself timing my corner shooters like she used to do, trying to get that mentality in their heads that when you’re in the circle you have to shoot.”
It’s hardly a secret that Harris – herself an attack player and corner striker for the national team – has an affinity for offense. Bauer was an eager student and developed into an elite offensive player at both the high school and collegiate levels.
“I remember staying after practice and just literally having to practice dribbling to the left hand side and doing a reverse flick into the goal,” the former Souderton standout said. “She made me practice that a 100 times before I left, and she made me practice strokes a hundred times before I left.“She really pushed the fine skills that I needed to succeed. Just like anything else – repetition was so great for those types of skills, and I thank her for that. I needed somebody to push me or I would have been a lazy junior and senior that didn’t want to work hard. It was nice I had somebody who consistently pushed me.”
Olivia Shoemaker is a member of this year’s squad, and while her hockey story is far from over, she admits it is a special privilege playing for Harris.
“She has a lot of respect for the game, and she makes people respect her,” the senior captain said. “You can see she loves it, and it encourages everyone else to love it.
“If you look at the people who come through our program and see how far they have gone and if you look at our coaches and see what they did and how amazing their careers were, you’re like ‘I want to experience that on my own time. I want to be good.’
“We have always had a good program, and how she has 300 wins is amazing.”
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