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Furm's Take:
Trapp Earns This H.O.F. Honor
Family and friends joined Trapp (holding plaque) at Saturday's Hall of Fame luncheon.
Hartford, CT — Before taking the podium at this weekend’s 2008 National Field Hockey Coaches Association convention, Messiah head field hockey coach Jan Trapp took a moment to reflect. After serving as the Falcons’ leader for the last 35 years, Trapp stood before a crowd of over 400 at the Connecticut Convention Center, prepared to give her acceptance speech as one of five 2008 inductees into the NFHCA Hall of Fame. Her mind kept rewinding to the beginning of a career that has since produced 465 wins, the third highest total of any collegiate field hockey coach at any level, ever. “The funny thing is, I never even thought about coaching field hockey back then,” Trapp said following Saturday’s Hall of Fame luncheon. “In 1972 I was a stay-at-home wife and mom. I went to a bible study on one particular evening and didn’t know many of the ladies. As I introduced myself, I let them know that I was a health and physical education major in college. Little did I know that one of the ladies at that bible study was married to the head of the health and human performance department at Messiah, and within a few weeks they had asked me to teach a few classes. Midway through the year they asked me to be the head junior varsity field hockey coach, and at the end of the year they called me in and asked me to be the head coach for the following year. “I can’t think of a more humble start to a career than that.” An admitted humble start has led to Hall of Fame numbers, as Trapp is first all-time in NCAA Division III wins and has coached more games — 662 — than any collegiate coach, past or present. She has been named NCAA Regional Coach of the Year four times and is a five-time MAC Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year, posting an overall record of 465-169-28 at Messiah. Trapp has guided Falcon teams to 21 NCAA National Tournament appearances since 1984, the first year Messiah competed in NCAA post-season play. Since then, Trapp has helped Messiah capture 11 NCAA Regional titles en route to 11 Final Four appearances, garnering 14 MAC Commonwealth titles during the last 23 seasons as well. “What Jan has accomplished as a Messiah head coach is incredible,” said Jerry Chaplin, Messiah director of athletics. “Not only have her teams competed well at the highest level of (NCAA) Division III play, but the field hockey program is highly respected for the type of student-athletes who represent Messiah so well.” Still, Trapp continues to think about that fateful bible study session in 1972, and the manner in which her career began. A 1963 graduate of Francis C. Hammond High School, Trapp never participated in field hockey as a player, as the large Alexandria, Virginia school did not offer girls’ sports. Hammond would merge with George Washington High School just two years later to form T.C. Williams High School — an event popularized by the 2000 blockbuster movie Remember The Titans — while Trapp remembers how different the times were. “To be honest, I didn’t even like field hockey then,” she said sheepishly. “I still get players at Messiah that want to know where I played in high school, in college. It’s not something I talk about a lot, and I get some pretty interesting reactions when I tell people that I’ve never played.” What Trapp did, however, was attend West Chester State College, being tutored by field hockey legend and fellow Hall of Famer Vonnie Gros. The head coach at West Chester, Gros offered a pair of field hockey classes during Trapp’s undergraduate tenure, classes that Trapp quickly enrolled in and soaked up knowledge. Trapp was also a regular at Gros’ coaching and officiating clinics, and still keeps notebooks from those sessions. “When Messiah first asked me to be their head field hockey coach, I think they didn’t care if I knew a lot about field hockey but they wanted a Christian woman,” Trapp said. “That’s really where Vonnie Gros came in. With the experience of having Vonnie as my instructor for two semesters at West Chester, I felt I could do it.” Fast-forward to Saturday’s luncheon, and it is clear that Trapp has done it extraordinarily well. In addition to her coaching and team accolades, Trapp has recruited and led 20 NCAA Division III First Team All-Americans, 14 Second Team All-Americans and six Third Team All-Americans, with 2005 graduate Danae Chambers and 2006 graduate Aftan Fisher being named NCAA Division III Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Trap has coached a remarkable 79 MAC Commonwealth Conference First Team All-Stars, while boasting seven MAC Commonwealth Players of the Year and six MAC Commonwealth Rookies of the Year. Thirty-one players have garnered MAC Commonwealth Second Team All-Star honors. “I know when I first accepted the job, I prayed to the Lord for help,” Trapp said. “I had one child and was pregnant during my third and seventh seasons, so I knew that recruiting would be extremely tough. The Lord has been very faithful in bringing top players into our program year in and year out. We’ve been very blessed.” During her tenure, all but two of Trapp’s assistant coaches have been Messiah graduates, while Trapp said she hopes her career is remembered most for the molding of great players into great teams. “That’s the biggest thing, trying to get players to buy in to playing as a team,” she said. “You’ll have some players that come in worried all about me, and the job is getting them worried all about us.” Trapp accepted her Hall of Fame ballot alongside Karen Shelton of the University of North Carolina, Nancy Stevens of the University of Connecticut, Nancy Williams of Shore Regional High School in New Jersey and Angela Tammaro of Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut. Trapp’s latest accolade accompanies her residence in the West Shore Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2002. “When I was nominated (for the NFHCA Hall of Fame), I really didn’t think anything of it,” Trapp said. “I didn’t even tell my husband, because I didn’t think it would ever happen. Now, I’m kind of blown away by it. It’s really hard to believe.” Trapp joins Neil W. Turner as Messiah’s only Hall of Fame coaches in college history. Turner earned a ballot into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame following a brilliant tenure at both Messiah and Lock Haven University. “Jan has entered the NFHCA Hall of Fame with a stellar class, and the honor is well-deserved,” Chaplin said. “We're grateful for Jan's leadership as her teams have shown consistent excellence on and off the field.” During her induction speech Saturday, Trapp quipped to the audience about how long she has been in coaching. Her “You Know You’ve Coached A Long Time” list included the teaching of her players to roll the ball in on the sidelines instead of a hit-in and coaching the daughter of a former player. “A player that played for you 11 years into your career!” she gasped, drawing hearty laughs. But Trapp still possesses a look in her eye and a tone in her voice that seems to yield no signs of letting up anytime soon. College’s most tenured field hockey coach doesn’t speak of retirement, and her passion and energy level is self-described as an all-time high. “I absolutely love the game and I love the players I’ve been blessed to coach,” she said. “No coach does this alone, and I’ve had excellent assistant coaches and players during my time. I’ve coached a lot of games, I guess more than any field hockey coach, and as Joe Paterno just said in his football hall of fame speech, I still know my name. I have asked my staff to let me know it’s time to retire when I forget my name.” Pausing, Trapp finished her speech poignantly. “How fortunate we are to be called coach, and even better, how fortunate we are to be called a field hockey coach.” With due respect, Coach Trapp, the honor has been ours.
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