TEACHING MOMENT: New Princeton Day School field hockey head coach Tracey Arndt makes a point during a practice session last week. Arndt, a former Penn State field hockey All-American and a five-year member of the U.S. National team, is replacing MC Heller at the helm of the program. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

As a three-sport star at Pennsbury High in the mid-1990s, Tracey Arndt, nee Larson, figured that soccer would ultimately be her path to college athletics.

“As I went through high school, I thought I was going to play soccer in college if I had a chance,” said Arndt. “That was where there was a little more feedback.”

But after getting some positive feedback from legendary Penn State field hockey head coach Char Morett, Arndt changed her focus.

“I was fortunate to go to a camp that Char Morett was coaching,” said Arndt, who ran track at Pennsbury in addition to playing field hockey and soccer.

“My high school team went to the camp for three years so she got to see some development in me. My skill level was raw but I did have fitness and I had some game sense.”

Arndt ended up getting recruited to the Penn State field hockey program and never looked back. She played in three Big 10 title games for the Nittany Lions and earned a slew of honors including All-American, Academic All-American, Big 10 Freshman of the Year (1996), and Big 10 Player of the Year (1999). She went on to play five years for the U.S. National Team, earning a silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.

After her career with the U.S. national program, Arndt got into coaching, working as an assistant at Columbia University and Moorestown High before serving as head coach at Pennsbury from 2006-2009.

Taking a hiatus from high school coaching as she gave birth to son Jack (3) and daughter Camryn (1), Arndt is getting back into the fray, taking over as the new head coach of the Princeton Day School field hockey team.

Upon meeting with the PDS players this past spring, it didn’t take Arndt long to feel a bond with the squad.

“They seemed like they had focused goals,” said Arndt, 34, who teaches middle school in the Pennsbury system and has juggled athletic, academic, and family responsibilities with her husband Jeff, a former football head coach and current middle school teacher.

“The older group and the younger group knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to have a successful year, whatever that meant. They were taking the right steps, going to camps, doing the leagues, and doing what they needed to do. They were ready for someone to come in and get them going.”

For Arndt, going around the world with the U.S. team gave her a broader perspective on team and the game.

“Some of my best friends are my teammates from the national team,” said Arndt.

“I got to travel the world for free. I don’t know what my life would have been like without doing that. It has really taken me to a world I would not have known otherwise. The games were amazing but the experience, the traveling, the friendships we have made; I think that is one of the best things about the sport.”

Going to Penn State turned out to be one of the best moves Arndt has made in her life.

“I really have to credit Char and the other coaches at Penn Sate for turning me into a hockey player,” said Arndt, noting that Morett and assistant Jill Reeve had played for the national team.

“It was basically we have one more spot, you won’t get a lot of money but you can be on the team basically and then I just took it as OK, here is my opportunity to play for a really great school and a really great program. If I don’t get to play my freshman year at least I will have learned a lot. In the  meantime, one of the top recruited players, a freshman got really hurt and another senior got very hurt and down the line here I am playing in the first game against the national champions North Carolina and I was very freaked out. Opportunities came my way; I knew I wasn’t going to be the best player on the team but if I could be the hardest worker I could go as far as I could.”

Arndt’s first coaching opportunity resulted from her Penn State ties as she joined the Columbia staff in 2004, working under college teammate Katie Beach.

“I have an education background, that is where my degree was,” said Arndt, noting that both of her parents are teachers and coaches.

“I always wanted to give back in some way, whether it was at the youth level or at the high school level. Honestly at the time I was going though college I didn’t think that college coaching was going to be what I wanted to do. I got an opportunity after the 2004 Olympics to coach at Columbia with one of my great friends and teammates. That was a really great experience. I have the utmost respect for college coaches; it is a huge time commitment but it is super worth it. I loved every second of it.”

After a year at Columbia, Arndt moved to the high school ranks, taking a job as an assistant at Moorestown High. She then took the helm at her alma mater, leading Pennsbury to a state tournament berth in her first season in 2006 and a league title in 2009.

With her husband Jeff also involved in coaching and teaching, Arndt took a back seat from the high school game, focusing on her young children. She kept in field hockey by coaching the Mystx club program in Feasterville, Pa.

When Arndt learned that PDS was looking for a new head coach to replace MC Heller, she was ready to take on the challenge.

“We heard about this opportunity and Jeff said let’s go for it,” said Arndt. “It is definitely a team effort when you have a family. I am very thankful that this opportunity came up where I can get back into coaching and I am very thankful that we were able to compromise and work this out.”

When it comes to her coaching approach, Arndt isn’t one to compromise. “I have high expectations for them as people first,” asserted Arndt.

“I also try to be as positive as I can, meaning I will give them energy through positive feedback. We will certainly focus on things we need to work on. We try to pull out the best and fix what we need to fix.”

Arndt brings a clear focus to each practice. “I need to be high energy and I think it needs to be efficient,” added Arndt.

“If we are only here for two and a half hours, you are bringing your water bottles with you. I need to be very prepared; I need to have a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C. I think if they see that I am prepared and I am always thinking about what the next thing is, then they will see that I am doing whatever I can to get this team better. Hopefully they will jump in and do whatever they can to get themselves better.”

A week into preseason, Arndt likes the way the PDS players have jumped into things.

“I have been impressed from what I have seen,” said Arndt. “They have been great; I haven’t heard one complaint or even a begrudging voice. I ask them to jump, they ask how high so that has been really exciting to see. They are diving right into the things that I am asking them to do; I am really thrilled about that.”