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  Beth Anders

Beth Anders

Player Profile

Hometown:
Norristown, Pa.

Last College:
Ursinus '73

Position:
Head Coach

Overall Record:
546-130-7 - 29 seasons

04/30/2012

Field Hockey Names Longacre and Nearhouse Captains for 2012

Rising senior back Christy Longacre and rising junior forward Kati Nearhouse have been selected as the 2012 ODU Field Hockey Captains

04/18/2012

Old Dominion to Host U.S. Field Hockey National Team vs. Argentina in June

Powhatan Sports Complex will feature a pair of exhibition field hockey games just before the 2012 London Olympics

03/30/2012

ODU Field Hockey Set to Host Spring Clinic on April 21

Legendary Head Coach Beth Anders and her staff will be on hand at the Powhatan Sports Complex to help improve field hockey skills

02/29/2012

Anders Honored at Portsmouth Sports Club Jamboree

ODU Field Hockey Coach Beth Anders was named the 2011 College Coach of the Year

01/17/2012

Anders' About-Face

Head coach Beth Anders, the first Division I coach to reach the 500 victory plateau, begins her 30th and final season at the helm of the Old Dominion field hockey program in 2012. After leading the Lady Monarchs to the 2011 CAA Championship and their 29th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Anders has cemented her status as one of the elite coaches throughout intercollegiate athletics.

Anders has consistently made contributions throughout her life to the game of field hockey. As a player, she has participated at every level possible, including World Cup and Olympic events. Her coaching achievements are nothing short of impressive, including nine national collegiate titles, a bronze medal at the Pan American World Cup Games, and the distinction of being the winningest Division I field hockey coach in the country. Considered by many to be a pioneer of her sport, her resume is dotted with a long list of incredible achievements and monumental firsts.

At Old Dominion, Anders has mentored the field hockey team for over 29 years and has led her teams to 27 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Under her tutelage, the Lady Monarchs have achieved more honors than any other field hockey program in NCAA history. Among the most prestigious, Anders and her teams have brought the NCAA Championship trophy back to Norfolk an unprecedented nine times. In addition, the Lady Monarchs have won the CAA crown 15 of 21 times since joining the league in 1991 and made 17 appearances in the NCAA "Final Four".

In national coaching records, Anders has coached more games than any other active Division I coach, having been on the sidelines of 676 games over her 29-year career. She became the first Division I coach to reach the 400-career victory mark, a milestone only reached by seven other coaches in the sport. Anders posts an amazing .808 winning percentage and her 546 overall wins are the most of any Division I coach in history. Anders' coaching experience has not been limited to the Old Dominion sidelines. Internationally, Anders guided the 1991 U.S. National Team to the bronze medal and masterminded the qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup. In the summer of 2003, Anders was asked to take over the U.S. National Team and prepare them for the Pan American games in the Dominican Republic, where the team finished second.

The love affair between Anders and field hockey, however, goes well beyond her immediate reign in the coaching ranks. In 1980, Anders made the first of two Olympic field hockey teams as co-captain, but was forced - because of the boycott in Moscow - to wait four more years to realize her dream of winning a medal. In 1984 though, nothing stood in the way of Anders and her teammates as they cashed in on a bronze medal at the Los Angeles games. Anders, whose strong penalty corner was consistently clocked in the 90 m.p.h. range, nearly single handedly lifted the US team to victory, scoring eight of her team's nine goals in its five-game performance for an Olympic record that still stands today.

Throughout her international playing career, Anders played in over 100 international matches, was a participant in every World Cup from 1971-84, was on the National team from 1969-1980, and was the high scorer for the United States every year she was on the team. Anders participated in the first World Cup field hockey event to have both men's and women's competition at the same venue. She was one of just 24 field hockey coaches from around the world to be in attendance for a clinic during the 1998 World Cup in Holland. After three NCAA titles as coach of Old Dominion and a bronze medal as a player and two-time captain with the Olympic team, Anders was named Olympic Athlete of the Year and Virginia Coach of the Year in 1984. Bringing the two realms of the sport together, Anders was recognized for her many contributions with an induction into the United States Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Most recently, Anders was inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

Anders' love for her sport is infectious, as many former Old Dominion student-athletes have grown into respectable players and coaches in and around the world's field hockey family. A total of 15 former Old Dominion players coached by Anders have participated in the last four Olympics, which include a bronze medalist in NCAA all-time leading scorer Marina DiGiacomo for Argentina and a silver medalist for Maacha van der Vaart of the Netherlands at the Olympics in Athens, Greece in the summer of 2004. The list grew in the summer of 2008 as four Lady Monarchs - Tiffany Snow, Angie Loy, Dana Sensenig, and Caroline Nichols - were named to the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Anders challenged her teams to not only excel on the field, but in the classroom as well. Since 1989, the Lady Monarch teams finished with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or better. In 2009, her team boasted the highest GPA among all Division I field hockey programs, compiling a team average of 3.51. During the fall of 2009 and 2010, the Lady Monarchs have had a total of 24 of its members named to the Dean's List while the 2011 team boasted the highest cumulative GPA of any Monarch squad at 3.34. Certainly the epitome of Anders' student-athletes is Samantha Salvia, the school's first ever Rhodes Scholar who graduated in 1996 with a 4.0 GPA in environmental and civil engineering.

The key to Anders success on and off the field hockey field has been her love for and dedication to the game. Her development of the Futures Program during her national coaching stint in 1993 and her active mentoring of the field hockey youth are just two examples of her will to succeed better than anyone in her vocation. A fine all-around athlete herself, Anders was a four-time All-College field hockey and lacrosse player before graduating from Ursinus College with a B.S. degree in health and physical education. The Norristown, Pennsylvania Native was also selected to the national collegiate basketball team and won the intercollegiate squash championship in 1970. She also has authored three books, "Field Hockey: Steps to Success", originally published in 1999 and updated in 2008 and "Lessons in Field Hockey", released in 1996.

Anders is the daughter of Stanley and the late Alice Anders. She has one brother and enjoys fitness, golf, tennis, reading, and creative teaching tools. An avid golfer, Anders resides in Norfolk.

Anders' Honors Year-by-Year

1975/'80All-World All-Star Team
1980U.S. Olympian (Co-Captain)
Sportswoman of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee (Field Hockey)
1981Sportswoman of the Year by the Olympic Committee (Field Hockey)
1984Southland Olympian Award
U.S. Olympian (Bronze Medal Winner - Co-captain)
Amateur Olympic Athlete of the Year (Field Hockey)
Philadelphia Sportswriters Amateur Athlete of the Year
Virginia Coach of the Year
Virginia Beach Sports Club Coach of the Year
Portsmouth Sports Club Coach of the Year
1988Ursinus College Hall of Fame
Portsmouth Sports Club Coach of the Year
Virginia Beach Sports Club Coach of the Year
1989United States Field Hockey Association Hall of Fame
1990Portsmouth Sports Club Coach of the Year
1991CAA Coach of the Year
Special Citation from Norfolk City Council and Mayor
1991CAA Coach of the Year
1992CAA Coach of the Year
1992/'93Norfolk Sports Club Coach of the Year
Honored by Virginia State Senate and House of Representatives
Old Dominion University Citation for Distinguished Services from Board of Visitors
Special Citation from Norfolk City Council and Mayor
1997CAA Coach of the Year
1998CAA Coach of the Year
NFHCA/Dita National Coach of the Year
Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
Norfolk City Council Citation
Norfolk Sports Club Coach of the Year
Portsmouth Sports Club Coach of the Year
Norfolk Sports Club MACE Award
1999CAA Coach of the Year
2000CAA Coach of the Year
NFHCA/Dita National Coach of the Year
Norfolk Sports Club Coach of the Year
Portsmouth Sports Club Coach of the Year
2001Dita/NFHCA South Region Coach of the Year
2002CAA Coach of the Year
2003/'04US National Team Coach
2005CAA Coach of the Year
2006CAA Coach of the Year
2007CAA Coach of the Year
2011Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame
CAA Coach of the Year
Virginia Coach of the Year

Anders' year-by-year record:

YEARRECORDHIGHLIGHTS
198018-4Fifth nationally - AIAW
198113-2-2NCAA Championship - Third place
198220-1NCAA National Champions
198319-1NCAA National Champions
198423-0NCAA National Champions
198717-5-1Fourth Nationally
198826-1NCAA National Champions
198924-2NCAA National Finalists
199023-2-1NCAA National Champions
199126-0NCAA and CAA Champions
199225-0NCAA and CAA Champions
199317-4-2Seventh Nationally/CAA Champions
199417-6-1Fourth Nationally/CAA Champions
199516-9Sixth Nationally
199619-5NCAA Semifinalists/CAA Champions
199722-3NCAA Finalists/CAA Champions
199823-2NCAA Champions/CAA Champions
199917-7NCAA Regionals/CAA Champions
200025-1NCAA Champions/CAA Champions
200118-5NCAA Regionals/CAA Champions
200221-4NCAA Semifinalists/CAA Champions
200413-8NCAA Regionals/12th Nationally
200519-6NCAA Semifinalists/CAA Champions
200619-4NCAA Regionals/Third Nationally
200712-10NCAA Regionals/10th Nationally
200810-13Eighth Nationally
20099-11
201013-11NCAA Regionals/ CAA Champions
201122-3NCAA Semifinalist/#2 NCAA seed/CAA Champions
TOTALS546-130 (29 seasons)