All in the family: How Palmyra field hockey built a culture of success
Each team is responsible for its own success, through hard work, performance and cohesiveness. But when a program enjoys success year after year after year, it’s the result of coaching consistently and creating a culture that puts players in a position to succeed.
It is a symbiotic relationship that tugs at the lifeline of all athletic endeavors.
The Palmyra field hockey program knows a little something about the essential relationship that exists between coach and player, as well as stability, consistency and excellence. Not only do the Cougars embrace that relationship every day, they proliferate it.
Palmyra recently completed a 2022 field hockey season that simply couldn’t have happened without the support of a caring and knowledgeable coaching staff. While the players deserve the vast majority of the credit, they couldn’t have advanced as far as they did without "buying into" what the Cougar coaching staff was peddling.
The Cougars’ magical run to the PIAA Class AA championship game came to an end on Nov. 19 at Cumberland Valley High School, where they dropped a gut-wrenching 1-0 overtime decision to Mechanicsburg. Along the way, Palmyra collected seven straight playoff victories, another District 3 Class AA title and an overall mark of 21-3-2.
“I think part of the success came from how close they (the players) were as a team, and how close they were with the coaching staff,” said Palmyra assistant coach Kristi Costello, who was the head coach between 2009-2017 and whose dad, Kent Harshman, is the current head coach. “Some of us are blood family, and some of us are just family. We trust each other as a staff. We all bring our own sets of skills to the table, but we all have the same core values.”
Through the years: Palmyra's field hockey tradition of state title game appearances
Palmyra’s eight-member coaching staff – which includes assistants Costello, sister Kayla Harshman-Ricker, Amy Bonenberger-Kelly, Caroline Lehman, Katie Dembrowski, Megan Miller and Erin Huffman – is one of the largest in Pennsylvania. But more importantly, they’re all Palmyra graduates who enjoyed large levels of scholastic success before going on to play at higher levels in college.
Known for his development of on-field Xs and Os, Harshman’s greatest strength as a head coach may be his ability to deploy and delegate to his experienced assistant coaches.
“I think the fact that they’re all Palmyra alums is huge,” said senior midfielder Olivia Kirkpatrick, who serves as Palmyra’s coach on the field. “We can see that they went out and then came back to the program. I think the number of coaches who come back to help says something about our program. They just love being around our team.”
In their own words: Palmyra field hockey program is about more than the sport, it's a family
This season Palmyra captured the program's 14th District 3 championship. The Cougars’ appearance in a state championship game was their ninth over the last 19 seasons.
For Palmyra’s current assistants, those past experiences played such a profound role in the people they have become that they were compelled to give back.
“I think they would say that it’s an opportunity to give back to a program that gave them a lot,” said Costello of her fellow assistants. “It’s really important to me that each person involved with the program feels value, that they know we care about them beyond how good they are at field hockey. I always want them to know that every decision being made is what’s best for the team.”
If experience is the best teacher, then the Cougar assistant coaches are well-equipped for passing on their technical knowledge of the game. But the Palmyra coaching staff’s big-picture message transcends that.
Freshman phenom: 'Unbelievable what he accomplished': What's next for Cedar Crest's Dylan Ramsey?
“We couldn’t have gotten where we got without their support,” said Kirkpatrick, of the coaching staff. “I think one of their biggest messages is that if you make one mistake, it’s about how you react to it. It’s true in life as well. They’re teaching life skills as well. We love our coaching staff like family.”
Not unlike their coaches before them, eight members of this year’s Palmyra field hockey team have verbally committed to continue their athletic and academic careers in college.
“When I was in high school (head coach) Mrs. (Wendy) Reichenbach taught me so much more about the sport than life skills,” said Costello. “Everybody on our team was someone. That was so cool to me. Everybody had a role. Those relationships go beyond just teaching field hockey, and the friendships don’t die. That confidence you gained as a young woman carried over to Wake (Forest).”
How Lebanon County field hockey teams have fared in PIAA title games
2022 - Class AA, Mechanicsburg 1, Palmyra 0, OT
2020 - Class AA, Palmyra 2, Archbishop Carroll 1, OT
2019 - Class AA, Wyoming Valley West 2, Palmyra 1
2018 - Class AA, Donegal 1, Palmyra 0, OT
2016 - Class AAA, Emmaus 5, Palmyra 1
2015 - Class AAA, Emmaus 1, Palmyra 0, OT
2014 - Class AAA, Palmyra 1, Penn Manor 1, OT
2007 - Class AA, Mifflinburg 2, Palmyra 1, OT
2005 - Class AA, Palmyra 4, Oley Valley 0
1994 - Class AA, Villa Maria Academy 1, Elco 0, OT
1992 - Class AA, Upper Moreland 1, Elco 0, 2 OTs
1979 - Class AAA, Great Valley 2, Northern Lebanon 1
1978 - Class AAA, Delaware Valley 3, Cedar Crest 0
1977 - Class AAA, Cedar Crest 3, Southern Columbia 0
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Palmyra graduates return to help continue field hockey success
