News

After only six years as head coach of the Pride, Melissa (Rogers) Sharpe ’02, G ‘04, a native of Southwick, Mass., has continued the SC field hockey tradition of success, posting an impressive 106-33 record.

Earning NEWMAC Coach of the Year honors in 2008, Sharpe led the Pride to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight season as Springfield captured the NEWMAC Championship. The Pride advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling at Tufts. Under Sharpe's watch, the Pride had the first player in conference history to win back-to-back NEWMAC Field Hockey Player of the Year honors since 1991.

Before taking the helm, Sharpe served under long-time head coach Dottie Zenaty for two seasons while pursuing a master's degree in athletic administration. Prior to her tenure as a coach, Melissa enjoyed one of the most productive careers in SC field hockey history. She remains SC's second all-time leading scorer with 128 points (59 goals, 10 assists). As a senior team captain in 2001, she was an NFHCA/STX First-Team All-American after leading all of Division III in goals (28), while finishing second in points (62). She was also the NEWMAC Player of the Year and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Co-Player of the Year in 2001.

Melissa's playing career coincided with an incredibly successful era in the program's history. A four-year letter winner from 1998 to 2001, she sparked the Pride to an 80-22 record (an average of 20 wins per season), two trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and a pair of NEWMAC championships in 1999 and 2000. Sharpe helped the Pride to the Division III national semifinals as a sophomore in 1999. In her junior season, she helped propel SC to the 2000 national championship match, where the Pride dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to William Smith.

Sharpe was awarded a bachelor's degree in sport management in May of 2002. She also currently serves as an assistant professor in the physical education department.

This is her fourth year owning and directing the All Star Field Hockey Camp.  Prior to becoming the owner and director, Melissa worked the camp as a head coach for six years.