Welty moves on from coaching field hockey after 19 years in program
Science teacher and field hockey coach Dan Welty decided to move on from coaching. Welty coached for 19 years in which he transformed the field hockey program and helped deliver their first CMASS finals appearance and championship title.
December 12, 2020
After 19 successful years, science teacher and field hockey coach Dan Welty has decided he will no longer coach the field hockey team. He spent five years coaching the JV team and 14 coaching varsity. Over his career, Welty amassed 175 total wins, 65 losses and 40 ties, and led his team to be three time Central Mass. D1 champions, two time finalists, five time semifinalists and four time Mid-Wach A League champions. Welty was able to end his coaching career as Pod 8 champions.
What will you miss most about Algonquin field hockey?
“I just have a lot of pride. I’ve coached for 19 years; five of those were JV and 14 varsity. It’s been a long time and I’m just proud of how the athletes have improved and gotten better. I think the thing that is big for this program is the opportunities that I was able to get and offer these girls when I first started varsity back in ‘07. They all took advantage of these opportunities, preseason clinics, club field hockey and any other little clinics they could do. When they took advantage of those opportunities, they got closer as teammates and as friends and their love of the sport really grew from there so I think that’s what I look back on most.”
What was your favorite part about coaching?
“The athletes. At practice, I can present all the work I did to learn the sport, skills and tactics but it’s up to the girls to do it. It’s up to them on the effort, the expectations and how committed they are. I think the athletes are the biggest thing that I owe the success of the program over these 14 years to.”
What kind of impact do you think you made on Algonquin field hockey?
“I think really putting Algonquin field hockey on the map. We went to our first CMASS finals in 2010 and we won, then we won the state semis, then we won the state finals. We did it again in 2011; we were in the finals again in 2013 but lost in overtime, 2017 we won, 2019 we lost in the finals. We’ve been in five of the last ten Central Mass finals and they had never been there before 2010. You could walk into the gym at Algonquin in 2009 and not even know field hockey was a sport here, so when that first banner went up in 2010 it was a really incredible moment and memory with that team. It’s just been huge to have that material impact from those championships. The biggest impact I’ve been hearing from a lot of former players this past season and even seasons further back has just been how their lives have been shaped by being in the program. That’s what really gets to you as a coach, when you hear that ‘I wouldn’t be the person I am if it had not been for the program’; those are things that matter the most.”
What do you hope for the future of the field hockey program?
“I hope that we can still be successful and to build on what has been done for the years I’ve been here. For me, it’s just starting my next chapter and seeing where the energy takes me in the next chapter of what I’m going to do in my life.”
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