For Janney, Spring Is A Time for Experimenting

By Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - This time last year, everything about Indiana field hockey was new for head coach Amanda Janney.

Hired not even two months before spring practice began, Janney spent the majority of April focused on getting acclimated to a new team and surroundings. She prioritized laying the foundation for the future all while not wanting to immediately overstep her boundaries as a new face to the program.

Now jumping into her second season at Indiana, the spring is significantly different for Janney and her Hoosiers heading into their first weekend of exhibition play. After seeing her team play for a full season, Janney said she's prepared to take more risks and make changes this month that she thinks will prompt growth next fall.

"This is absolutely an opportunity for us to test out some new systems that might work for us in the fall, and if they don't then we learn that, too," Janney said. "That's kind of the beauty of coaching is to be able to try different things to get better and try to stay innovated with the game."

The most notable change Janney is experimenting with is the formational shift from having three forwards and four midfielders to having two forwards and five midfielders. The hopes are that the change will put more bodies in the middle of the field capable of being the all-around field hockey players Janney values so much.

Janney also said she wants to see her players taking risks in tournaments like this weekend's at Trager Stadium at Louisville, where IU will play Miami (Ohio), Louisville and Ohio in both 11 v 11 and 7 v 7 matches.

Just as she was last season, Janney is open to positional changes as they develop. At this point, she'd rather see individuals playing well together and making strides than necessarily seeing wins on the board.

"The games matter, but they don't count in the record books," she said. "So it's great for them to be able to play and take risks and not worry about the final score."

Indiana is looking to build on its 9-10 campaign from a year ago that includes a 5-3 record in the Big Ten, the program's best conference mark since going 4-2 in 2009. Without last year's senior class, Janney said she's already looking to see what players will step up into larger roles early on in the spring that might carry over into the fall.

One player who may already be at an advantage in that regard is Samantha Scire, a to-be freshman who joined the program at the semester and is already practicing with the Hoosiers after wrapping up a decorated prep career last fall.

Janney said younger players like Scire will have an opportunity to establish themselves in the upcoming games and help her develop a strategy to work with at the start of next season.

"For the younger players, this is really an important time," Janney said. "It's just a huge advantage for us to be able to go out there and play real games and be able to see what we're doing great and what we need to continue to work on."

More than anything else, Janney said she's looking for her team to establish a chemistry early on, particularly in the upcoming games. She said the relationship her players need to have in order to compete at a championship level doesn't develop overnight, but a strong spring could go a long way in priming the Hoosiers for next season.

"I think you look for teamwork," she said. "It's something intangible and it's hard to describe, but you know when you see it and you know when you don't see it. But with the players at new positions and all that we're doing, it'll be good just to see it and start to work with it."

Indiana University Athletics

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