The field hockey team’s head coach has been around all levels of the game as both a player and a coach, with experience all over the country and beyond. And Princeton, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation at 8-1, is reaping the benefits of her wisdom.
Holmes-Winn took the reins for her first collegiate head coaching position before the 2003 season. She piloted Princeton to a 12-6 record and an NCAA berth in her first year but then struggled through a disappointing sophomore campaign. Despite returning all but two players, the Tigers finished just 7-10 and — thanks to a last-second loss to Penn in the final game — placed third in the Ivy League, ending a streak of 10 consecutive conference championships.
“We had a very talented team [in 2004], but it was a tough season,” Holmes-Winn said. “I definitely blame myself. I was young and didn’t really realize that we didn’t have our foundation in place. If I had that team now I would have been able to do really great things with it.”
The next season, the Tigers finished on top of the Ancient Eight and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, where they dropped a 2-1, double-overtime heartbreaker to Duke. A year later, Holmes-Winn earned her first postseason victory, a 3-2 overtime win over Old Dominion. Princeton has won the Ivy League every year since 2005.
The Tigers will need to be perfect for the rest of the season to keep the streak going, as last year’s 16-3 campaign left little room for improvement. A 3-2 home loss to No. 10 American University on Sunday snapped an eight-game win streak for previously unbeaten Princeton, which has matches with No. 4 Virginia and No. 8 Louisville this week.
Regardless of the Tigers’ regular-season record, most fans will have one eye looking ahead to the postseason. Holmes-Winn led the Orange and Black to the quarterfinals in 2006 and 2008 and took the team even further last season, culminating in a 7-5 loss to eventual runner up Maryland in the semifinals. After losing only two players to graduation, expectations are high for Princeton, which reached the national finals in 1996 and 1998 but lost both times.
“In order to win a national championship, we have to be completely absorbed in what we’re doing on a daily basis,” Holmes-Winn said.
Holmes-Winn was born in North Adams, Mass., but took a long route to Princeton. After moving often as a child — primarily living in Massachusetts and Maine — she was heavily recruited as a field hockey player and decided to attend the University of Iowa.
After receiving second-team All-Big Ten honors in her first season, Holmes-Winn was named to the first team three times, earned first-team All-America accolades twice and was the Big Ten Most Valuable Player in her senior season. That winter, she put her athletic ability to use on a different surface, playing for the Big Ten-winning Hawkeyes basketball team.
Her collegiate field hockey career ended in the 1996 quarterfinals with a 5-4 defeat — coming at the hands of finals-bound Princeton — but her playing days were far from over. Holmes-Winn competed for the U.S. national team from 1994 to 1998 and was an alternate to the 1996 team that placed fifth in the Olympics. Holmes-Winn represented her country in the qualifiers for the 2000 Olympics, but the American squad failed to make it to the big stage.
“[Failing to qualify] was traumatic,” Holmes-Winn said. “I kind of thought of it as my last shot, because I was getting married and my life was changing a little bit. ”
As it turned out, that would not be her last shot to compete on an international stage. After fellow coaches watched her instruct younger American players, she was called out of retirement in 2005 for one last stint with the national team, which included the World Cup qualifiers in Canada.
Holmes-Winn finished her national career with 47 caps. But by that point, Holmes-Winn had largely dedicated herself to coaching. She served as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 1997 to 1999, helping the Hawkeyes reach the national semifinals in her final season.
Prompted largely by the American team’s failure to qualify for the 2000 Olympics, Holmes-Winn founded Champions Edge, which aims to give middle- and high-school field hockey players the opportunity to receive instruction and recognition from top coaches.
She also became heavily involved in the national program. Holmes-Winn was named USA Field Hockey’s Developmental Coach of the Year in 2003, after serving as head coach of the Under-16 team and assistant coach for the Under-21 squad. This February, she accompanied the senior national team to Argentina as an assistant coach.
In 2003, Holmes-Winn was living in Maine as a newlywed when she was contacted by Princeton. She and her husband Matt Winn, who were in the process of building a house when she received the coaching offer, moved south, and Holmes-Winn is glad they did.
“I don’t have to go to work; I get to go to work. I feel really privileged to have this job, and I absolutely love every part of it.”
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