After years of involvement in developmental youth programs,  Jen Clements was approved as the next head field hockey coach for CHS at the February 16 board meeting. 

This past fall, the team finished with a 9-8-1 record, making the district playoffs for the first time in over a decade. After the loss to Lower Dauphin in the first round, head coach Lindsay Sensenig announced her resignation, paving the way for Dr. Jen Clements of Shippensburg University’s Social Work Department to take the helm. 

Along with being a professor at Shippensburg University, Clements is also the assistant women’s soccer coach there. Some of her other coaching experience stems from previously working in the Carlisle program as the middle school field hockey coach, running the Carlisle Sticks youth field hockey program, and coaching club hockey for PA Revs. 

Clements said, “It’s quite an adjustment to coach a college player and then work with a 6 year old in the same day but it’s a fun way to think about the sport and reminds me every day about the joy in hockey.” 

Ensuring her athletes have fun and continue to love the sport is a priority for her. 

“I remember to connect to two things: the love of the game and mental health,” said Clements. “I can break down any skill to teach it but if my players are not having fun, not loving their time on the field with their teammates, or hurting inside they will not be able to thrive in the skills.” 

It is around the high school level that athletes began to feel burnt out and tired with the sport or sports they grew to know and love, especially if a coach does not focus on the mental aspects of the game.

Although this would be her first year at the high school level, the intensity of the level is not new to her as she has club and college coaching experience. 

Clements said, “I think there is a great deal of talent in Carlisle and I think we can grow something really special.”

Due to Clements’s past experience within the district, she is familiar with most, if not all of the current members of the team. She has already worked with and helped mold them into the players that made the postseason this past fall. 

Not only does Clements hope to keep the passion for hockey alive within the Carlisle community, but she hopes to keep growing the sport and the passion for it as a whole.

“I think giving more opportunities to play at a higher level all year if people want [would be great] but also holding a space [for] players to have fun, connect with friends and enjoy those moments.”