Last May, DePauw introduced a new field hockey head coach in Erica Dombkowski. While she brings an impressive track record in Division III Field Hockey to the Tigers program, it’s her life outside the sport that makes Dombkowski one of the busiest coaches on campus. Earlier this week, The DePauw had a chance to sit down with Dombkowski and learn more about her.
The DePauw (TDP): How did you come across DePauw?
Erica Dombkowski (ED): It was basically in my job search. Being a head coach was the whole goal the whole time. In the job search I just came across DePauw and knew of their success in the past. I was very open to any type of location at the time and basically got an interview pretty quickly. When I came on campus, I fell in love with the school so I was just like, “man, if I got this offer, this is where I’d really want to be.” I thought it was just a great fit.
TDP: What have been your overall thoughts of DePauw so far?
ED: I’ve been here a month. I tried to get here a little early to settle in and get acquainted with everything. It’s a beautiful campus. It’s definitely a much different school than I’ve been at before… I think the Greek life aspect here is very intriguing. It’s very different for me, but I’m very excited to learn more about it. I love that our students are involved in so many different things, because I like to be that way too.
TDP: Can you talk about your involvement in Springfield’s program?
ED: I had a lot of jobs at Springfield. Like I just said, I liked to be involved immensely. I’m going to be teaching a fitness class, I’m going to be director of intermural sports because I like to be visible to more than just my team. At Springfield, I was a wellness supervisor, I taught yoga in the physical education department, I was the assistant coach / interim head coach, and then I also did an internship at the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).
TDP: What was your job at the NESCAC?
ED: I basically worked in everything there. I worked mainly under The Director of Media Relations doing lots of weekly releases, voting on player of the week, attending championships and things like that. It’s a very powerful field hockey conference, so I definitely wanted to be involved in that.
TDP: You said you’re starting a new fitness class here?
ED: I’m teaching a bodypump (full-body conditioning) type class so we’re going to try to introduce it to the fitness population here… It’ll be on Fridays and it’s a low-weight, high rep class and it’s choreographed music, so it should be a lot of fun. Each muscle group is choreographed to a song. It’s just like a fun weightlifting class. If people are savvy on weightlifting or if they’re nervous to try out, bodypump is usually a really good introduction.
TDP: During your time at Springfield, you established a service-like project, “Empower With Pride.” Can you go into more depth about it?
ED: Springfield [last winter] was going through a lot of changes with a new president. We got a Vice President of Diversity. So I though it’d be something good to go along with their philosophy to do something to show where athletics stood in that capacity. I rounded up 25 student athletes from seven different teams, and we went to a local elementary school to basically talk about the power of language and how to demonstrate safe and positive language, and how our language can hurt people without us even thinking about it. It’s something that I really value. That two hours that the team has with me a day is the time I want my team to feel the most safe and the most comfortable and to gain the most confidence, and part of that is using the right pronouns when referring to people or being open to people’s orientation or gender identity—all of those things. I think it’s really important as coaches that we be aware of those things and support it. We’re here for our athletes.
TDP: You played field hockey at SUNY Oneonta, a Division III school, and now you’ve coached multiple teams at the D3 level. What’s been your favorite thing about D3 programs?
ED: I really appreciate the Division III philosophy of the entire student and developing the whole student. I definitely like that you can kind of have your cake and eat it too, and just be involved in everything. Athletics is a part of your life, not your entire life. Because, at the end, you’re here to have a lot of experiences.
TDP: Coming onto a new team fresh can be challenging. What’s been your way in immersing yourself in a program?
ED: It’s a lot more than just status quo. We obviously have a very successful program here that was wonderfully set up by the last coach. The first thing to do was to get to know the team and share my philosophy with them on being a coach, and getting to know them the most and see what stresses them out, see what they respond to. That really set the foundation for what I’m planning to do this season.