Miami Head Coach Jill Reeve is responsible for turning around a RedHawk team that went just 1-17 the year prior to her taking over.
In 2003, if asked whether or not the Miami women's field hockey team would make it to the finals of the MAC tournament, the answer would have been no. Just two seasons later in 2005, with second year Head Coach Jill Reeve at the helm, Miami made it to the final game of the MAC Tournament.
Reeve came to Miami in 2004. Though it was her first head coaching job, Reeve wasn't new to the coaching world. From 1993 to 2002, Reeve worked as an assistant coach at Dartmouth, Penn State and William and Mary.
"At first I was like unsure of her because I knew she was an Olympian so I didn't know what level she was going to expect from us," junior midfield Laura Seidel said. "She was a down-to-earth coach and her experience let us know where we could go with our future."
Even before getting into coaching, Reeve knew it was her calling.
"I knew I would be a teacher, and coaching comes very natural to me," Reeve said. "My want to pursue coaching comes from my dad, he is a football coach."
Before her coaching career, Reeve worked to learn as much as she could as a player.
"I used every opportunity I had to ask questions," Reeve said.
Prior to her coaching career at Miami, the 'Hawks head coach reached the pinnacle of field hockey play.
A defensive player, Reeve was an All-American at Old Dominion, where she graduated in 1993. She was a captain on the U.S. national team, competed in three World Cups and in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
"I once heard someone suggest that I was the best defensive player in the world; that's when I thought, that's it I can retire," Reeve said.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
The squad has taken a lot from Reeve's experience in the Olympics by watching video of her games.
"We've watched some of the Olympic game tapes of her and analyzed them and what we could take from them," Seidel said. "We took some plays from them and we've incorporated them into our play."
Her personality and impact influences her Miami team daily.
"Someone with such a high credibility has really helped the program," junior back Courtney Furia said. "She's been through all the same stuff that we've been through."
Reeve sees that her experience as a player has impacted the team.
"My experience with field hockey has been at the highest level and all that had a pretty big impact on the girls right away," Reeve said.
Along with impacting the team with her experience, Reeve changed the team in other aspects.
"I tried to change the team's mentality," Reeve said. "I have the girls do this thing called the one-inch-zone."
In the one-inch-zone, Reeve has the girls reach as high as they can. Then she makes them try to reach higher.
"You can usually go one inch higher than you thought you could," Reeve said. "It's important to reach high and be out of your comfort zone and out of balance to be able to achieve more."
Furia explains how Reeve's coaching has really helped the team.
"There has been a dramatic difference because of her," Furia said. "We have accomplished a lot of goals and have a lot of respect for the program."
Since joining the Miami coaching staff, the RedHawks turned in a completely different direction.
In 2003, before Reeve's arrival, the team was 1-17.
In 2004, Reeve's first year, the team went 7-14.
In 2005, the team went 10-12 and made it to the final game of the MAC Tournament, falling 3-1 to Central Michigan, one game shy of the NCAA Tournament.
And this past fall in 2006, the team went 10-12 once again, losing in the MAC Tournament semifinals to Ball State.
Seidel noted that the increased work ethic during the spring season as well as learning from their games the previous season enabled Miami to improve its record so quickly.
"The games that were close we studied and learned what we needed to do in order to have success," Seidel said.
The presence of Reeve on the sideline appeared to be the catalyst Miami needed.
"Having Coach Reeve has definitely been a positive, and the team has been progressing a lot," Furia said.
Though improving mentality and the team's record, Reeve is not a softy coach.
"She is a very tough coach, and that is what has made us stronger," Furia said. "You can't have a soft coach and get better; you need to be pushed to make it to the next level."
While working hard on the field, Reeve and the girls are also very close off the field.
"We are probably one of the tightest teams on campus," Furia said.
Through all of the fun and games as well as the hard times, the Miami women's field hockey team remains a family.
"It is a family style team, we tell each other what we need to do when we need to do it," Furia said.
Reeve tries to relate it all to life.
"Life parallels the game, and I coach like that," she said.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.