JMUSB Exclusive: Interview with Field Hockey Head Coach Antoinette Lucas

 JMUSB is extremely proud to bring you an interview with Field Hockey’s Head Coach Antoinette Lucas.  We were fortunate to catch up with Coach Lucas last week as her team is in the midst of taking on one of the country’s toughest schedules.  Winners of four of their last five, don’t let the early bumps along the way fool you, this team will be battle-tested when tourney time comes in a way few have been before as they attempt to recapture the magic of the ’94 National Championship team (I believe the first ever NC for a team sport at JMU; JMUSB special shout-out to Karen Z!).

HUGE thanks to Coach Lucas for sharing some great insights on Dukes’ Field Hockey and her own career and being such a good sport as we harangued answers out of her!  Her quiet, good-natured manner would never allow her to toot her own horn but we certainly will.  In addition to returning the Hockey program to prominence on the sidelines, it’s also very possible Coach Lucas is the single best athlete on campus today.  Whether on a bike, an epic trail run, or a with a golf club in hand, we have no doubt she has no equal in the Valley.  And we’re not the only ones, check out what the Virginia Tourism Board thinks about Coach L:

The Woman, The Myth, The Legend (Coach, please don't kill us for the picture but it's just too cool not to reuse!)

1) What are your public expectations for your team this year?
     To take a young team to the CAA tournament and Win.  We may not have the success we have been accustomed to in September due to our strength of schedule but the games will make us stronger and better prepared for CAA play.  Winning the CAA tournament offers an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.   Competing in the NCAA tournament every year is an ultimate goal for our program.  If you dont make it to the NCAA tournament then it is impossible to win a second National Championship for JMU Field Hockey.
 
2) Can you give us a few players we should really watch out for?
    Amy Daniel should really be playing well this season.  She competed in a US High Performance event over the summer and was really playing well.  Amy is very versatile and just loves to play.
 
3) Who is Field Hockey’s biggest rival?  If different, who do you think will be your toughest CAA competition this year?
Our biggest rival is usually ourselves.  (laugh)  ODU always shows up to compete.  They always give a great fight and I expect them to be quite good this year. 
 
4) Any word on Kelsey Cutchin’s nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year award?
     Kelsey has been selected as one of the top 30 finalists that will attend an awards ceremony in Indianapolis on the weekend of Oct. 15th/16th.  
 
5) Field Hockey has quite a few international players at the college level, right?  How in the world do you go about recruiting them to Harrisonburg?
We constantly work to make connections with international coaches.  They are the ones that can help us to recruit international athletes to our program.  Once international athletes realize what Division One athletes have to offer vs. what they typically receive in their home countries…it is often an “easy sell”. 
 
6) What was it like to play in the Olympics?
      I competed in 4 World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002) and found the World Cup to be a better event for our sport itself. (meaning- bigger crowd,better fans etc…) However, the attention and the hype of the Olympics  is absolutely phenomenal.   There is nothing better than competing in the Olympic games in your home country!!!
 
7) Have to ask, were you around when the bomb went off in Atlanta (’96 Olympics)?
     My family was in the vicinity.  I was in the Athletes Village (where we were supposed to be at night..lol..).  It was a very frightening moment for all of the athletes in the Village.  (Georgia Tech was the site of the Athletes Village)  We all wanted to make sure that our friends and family were ok.  Security was incredible in the Village (picture security guards in the man holes in the streets) but when the bomb went off it made me feel very vulnerable and aware of how high profile an event the Olympics are.  Our buses to and from our games began to take different routes after the bomb and we always had a helicopter flying over head.  Wild stuff.
 
8) I think you’ve traveled all over with hockey and I’m just wondering is there some place that is crazy about Field Hockey (like hockey in Canada or rugby in New Zealand or speed skating in Holland)?  What was your favorite place hockey ever took you to?
The Dutch, Germans and Australians are fanatical about their hockey.  Spain, England and Argentina are huge hockey countries as well.  It is so cool to play in those countries because both Men and Women play.. They have club houses for field hockey like we have golf clubs in the US.  It is a very social sport.
South Africa, Australia,  and New Zealand are my favorite countries by far!
 
9) Can you give us another sport(s) at JMU, other than Field Hockey and Football, we should look out for big things from this year?  Lacrosse and baseball
 
10) Coach Matthews claims you hustled him on the golf course.  True?  How bad was it?
       Never believe Coach Matthews (LOL) but I did hustle him pretty good. 
 
11) Anything else we should know about the Field Hockey season?
      Admission is free?

On behalf of JMUSB, we’d encourage anyone who can make it to go support Dukes Field Hockey, preferably loudly and obnoxiously!