Osprey Teammates Coaching at Scholastic Level This Fall

Under normal circumstances, Kassidy Wentzell (Hammonton/St. Joseph’s) and Madison Dancisin (Little Egg Harbor/Pinelands) would have been in the starting lineup for the Stockton University field hockey team this semester. The pair of midfielders would have been trying to help Stockton to its fourth consecutive season with a double-digit win total.

But 2020 has been anything but normal. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of fall sports at the NCAA Division III level, leaving Wentzell and Dancisin without a field hockey season to play. Despite the setback, the two Ospreys found a way to stay involved in their sport by joining the scholastic coaching ranks.

Wentzell is serving as the head varsity coach at her alma mater, the newly rebranded St. Joseph Academy. She originally inquired about being a substitute teacher at St. Joseph and was asked by the athletic director if she would be interested in coaching the team. Wentzell inherited a squad that won just three times last year and matched that win total in her first seven games.

Dancisin is the head junior varsity/assistant varsity coach at Colts Neck High School. She learned of the opening after the Stockton fall season was canceled, and as an aspiring high school teacher and coach she viewed the position at as a great opportunity to gain experience. Dancisin has helped the Cougars to an undefeated 7-0 record thus far.

Dancisin says that she has wanted to coach since her sophomore year of high school and cites her Pinelands coach Liz Law as her first influence. “I loved how she always emphasized the importance of being a strong woman, not just a strong field hockey player,” Dancisin said. 

She also counts Stockton coaches Sarah Elleman, Linda Decker, Shari Grinceri and Alexandra Piekarz and Colts Neck head varsity coach Maria Merlucci as role models. “All of these women are the reason why I want to continue coaching,” Dancisin said. “They are all great role models and I hope that one day I can be a great role model for other young women athletes.”

Wentzell and Dancisin both are experiencing their sport from a different perspective with their move to the sidelines. “Now I can see everything happening rather that just what is in front of me on the field, and that has allowed me to look at the game in a completely different way,” Wentzell said.

Dancisin has thrown herself into the mental aspect of the game. “I think about field hockey inside and out all day long. I find myself jotting down concepts that I need to touch on and drills that I should implement practically all day,” she stated. “I come home from practice mentally exhausted. I am just as emotionally invested as a coach as I am as a player.”

Both Ospreys are bringing what they learned as Stockton players to their new roles as coaches. Wentzell tries to implement different drills, techniques and approaches from her Stockton career to practice each day. Dancisin is seeking to impart much more than just the skills of her sport and says that the strategies and knowledge that she gained from playing at Stockton is a model for what she teaches.

“The utmost important thing that I have passed down is a quote Coach Sarah has used as part of her philosophy: You don’t rise to an occasion, you fall back on preparation,” Dancisin stated. “I follow in a lot of the same footsteps as Coach Sarah as I develop my coaching philosophy, but especially because we both value good work ethic.”

First game jitters? Yes, they had them. “I was very nervous, but more importantly, I am excited to take on this new challenge in my field hockey career,” Wentzell said about her coaching debut. “To my surprise, I was just as nervous for my first game coaching as I would have been playing,” Dancisin added. “As it got closer to game time, I became more confident in my ability as a coach.”

Wentzell and Dancisin both made a big impact on the Stockton program as players. Wentzell played in 53 games and started 37 of them over the past three years, totaling seven goals and six assists for 20 points. The midfielder led the team and tied for ninth in the NJAC in assists (6) in 2018. Last fall, she and Dancisin tied for third on the team with four goals apiece.

Wentzell, who qualified for the NFHCA National Academic Squad in all three seasons, is slated to graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in Health Science and a minor in Public Health. She helped Stockton to its most prosperous stretch in program history, with the Ospreys posting a 40-19 record over the past three seasons and winning the 2018 ECAC championship.

Dancisin played in 38 of Stockton’s 39 games over the last two years. After coming off the bench in 2018, she started all 18 matches a season ago. The midfielder has contributed six goals and one assist for 13 points in her Stockton career. 

Dancisin has shown a knack for scoring important goals for the Ospreys. Four of her six career tallies have been game-winners, with three snapping 1-1 ties and resulting in 2-1 triumphs while another was the lone goal in a 1-0 victory. Off the field, she is a two-time NFHCA National Academic Squad qualifier.

Dancisin has eligibility remaining and plans to participate in the spring if tentative designs to play an NJAC schedule come to fruition as well as playing during the Fall 2021 season before she graduates in Spring 2022. Having already made one transition from playing to coaching, hopefully she will get a chance to go from coaching back to playing before making a second move into the coaching profession after college.