Meet The New Field Hockey Coach: Ashley Bishop
The Bridgewater State Bears Athletics & Recreation department has hired Ashley Bishop as their new head coach for the Field Hockey team. Coach Bishop replaces Julia Mauro who resigned after the 2021 season after three years at the helm. Coach Bishop is the 12th Head Coach for the Field Hockey team since the team started in 1979.
Coach Bishop graduated from Barnstable High School in 2003 where she played field hockey for two seasons. In her senior season, she was a co-captain of the team and was named an Old Colony League All-star. She also played Girls basketball and softball during her time at Barnstable High.
Coach Bishop also played Field Hockey at NCAA D2 school Assumption College for all four years of her college career. After graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Art degree in English and Communications, she went on to coach Field Hockey at Barnstable High School for ten years. In her first year she was the freshman coach and then the next season she was the junior varsity (JV) coach and then became the varsity head coach for the next eight years. Bishop was also a teaching assistant at Barnstable High School and is a licensed English teacher.
Coach Bishop told The Comment that she has always wanted to coach a college field hockey team and she said that “I was excited to take an opportunity to coach this team.” She joined the Bears because the field hockey team has had a lot of success in their history and the current Bears team has lots of potential.
“Coach Bishop has extensive Field Hockey experience in developing strong field hockey players. In addition, as a former high school coach, she also knows how the recruiting process for strong high school players work,” Athletic Director Dr. Marybeth Lamb said on the new coach.
The Bears have eleven first-year players with nine returning players from last season, which Coach Bishop sees as a good balance of new and returning players. Coach Bishop is focusing on team culture and chemistry for this season, and the team is doing great in practices.
Coach Bishop registered her first win as a collegiate head coach when the Bears shutout the Dean College Bulldogs 3-0 on Tuesday, September 20th. This was after the Bears started the season on a 0-4 record. The Bears started their Little East Conference play on Saturday, September 17th with their MASCAC foe Westfield State Owls, where they lost 4-0.
