Raymond is entering her second season at Monty Tech field hockey, her first at the university level
An official rule book can be a valuable aid for a new coach.
This is especially true for a new head coach who has never coached or played the sport he is now responsible for before the last year.
That’s the reality for Liz Raymond, the new head coach of the Monty Tech hockey team. Raymond is relying on her playbook for this unfamiliar role and is excited to see where it takes her and the team this season.
Raymond, a 2013 Monty Tech graduate, was first introduced to the sport of field hockey for the 2023 season. After starting her new job as a math teacher at the school, she was asked by Monty Tech athletic director Dave Reid to fill one of two positions – junior field hockey or volleyball.
Knowing she had the skills needed in the field hockey world, she accepted the position as the junior field hockey coach. From then on, she made sure to study the rule book and bring it to every game and practice.
“I made a name for myself as a rulebook carrier,” Raymond said. “I watched some YouTube videos and basically read the rulebook from cover to cover because I had to know everything and anything.”
She also thanks Bay Path hockey coach Joanna Gogan, who taught her many of the fundamentals of the sport. Raymond previously worked at Bay Path and was a soccer coach there.
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As she began her freshman year on JV, Raymond slowly settled into her role and learned from the people around her, like Gogan and former Monty Tech coach Cassie Skinner.
“I’m very grateful to have had experience this year to learn the game, learn a lot about the girls and develop my coaching style,” Raymond said.
After Skinner retired, Raymond made the natural progression from the junior team to the varsity team. Now at the junior level is Jill St. Jean, a 2024 graduate of Monty Tech.
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The duo works hand-in-hand to run the program, allowing the JV girls to take reps with the varsity team to help them progress and develop faster. They lean on each other’s strengths – while St. Jean knows the sport a bit better, Raymond is a more experienced coach.
St. Jean is also excited to get a new perspective on the sport and recognizes the differences between playing and coaching.
“When you’re in the thick of it, you don’t get to see everything that’s happening and all the planning that goes into it. When I’m on that side, I really see everything that goes into practices and games and all the thought that goes into it,” St. Jean said.
Raymond and St. Jean have enjoyed the build-up to the season. Coming off a successful year, the team is coming off a big graduating class and is still trying to figure out where new recruits can fill the empty spots while still having to work out some issues as new coaches. But as long as they have this set of rules in place, they are confident they can get through it.
