USA Hockey Erin Matson, who retired at age 22
Hockey, The 23-year-old head coach of the UNC Tar Heels talks to Olympics.com about her choice to leave the national team, how she became the youngest head coach in NCAA history, and how she continues to support the USA Field Hockey programme.
Erin Matson is content with the choice she made. When the 2022 NCAA collegiate season came to a conclusion, Matson, a part of the American hockey team that took home bronze at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, decided to discontinue her playing career. She also left the national team.
The cause? In January 2023, at the age of just 22, she accepted a job offer to become one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA history, switching from the field to the bench for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Tar Heels. With the new Tar Heels commander already jumping into the deep end and preparing for the 2023 season with her team, Olympics.com manages to snag a few minutes with Matson, now 23 years old, on a video call from her car in the middle of a recruitment visit to a USA Hockey event.
Matson acknowledges that the scenario she finds herself in is very different from being a member of the national team, but she also suggests that things may have turned out differently if she had continued to play for Team USA while still working as a full-time college coach. It required a lot of consideration and similar conversations with my parents, coaches, and everyone else, she says. “I can work harder than anyone and prepare as well as I can. However, right now is the right time for me to direct my energy towards Carolina; that’s where I want it to go. It deserves all of my focus and effort, in my opinion.
“I came to the decision that if I wanted to be the best coach – and the team deserves that – it was just a decision that had to be made.” Matson did not rule out the possibility of wearing the red, white, and blue national colours once more in the future as she supports her old teammates at the 2023 Pan American Games.
“The door isn’t closed, but it’s also not open (to playing for Team USA). My athletic director is aware of our ability to make it happen, so if the stars align and there’s a chance for me to serve my nation one more in the future and the timing is right to do it with the proper people and resources, let’s go ahead and do it.”