Before the start of the 2021 regular season, UNC Field Hockey star and three-time national champion Erin Matson sat down with 97.9 The Hill over Zoom. Here are some the answers she had about various topics.
On the new world of Name, Image and Likeness in college athletics: It’s definitely a crazy, wild time because I think everyone’s still trying to figure out what works, and also what’s allowed. There’s still so many questions and the rules are changing week by week. But it’s super exciting. In my mind, it’s an opportunity for me to get out there, make some money on my name, image and likeness and everything. But also, I’m a Tar Heel. So to me, it means a lot to be able to say that and represent Carolina, and also to be able to bring those partnerships and everything into the Carolina family, if that makes sense.
So it’s just really exciting. I think July 1 is when it got passed. And the week and a half after that was just a ton of phone calls, a ton of figuring out stuff, and what I want to do. I have some awesome people that I’m working with. Longstreth and TK are my equipment side, and Chapel Hill Tire yesterday was awesome. Or I guess two days ago I was there. That was super fun. Marc [Pons] is the owner and he’s great. Art [Chansky] at the station is awesome. And I think it’s just really cool to see how many people support not only Carolina but UNC field hockey and watch our games. Everyone I’ve talked to so far says, ‘Oh my gosh, we were at the national championship game!’ or, ‘Oh, we watched you guys on TV, my daughter loves you guys and looks up to you!’ It’s just really cool and neat in that regard. And it’s super exciting for not only me but the program and the school, to just see where it goes in the next couple of months and years.
Erin Matson (1) dribbles the ball between a pair of Iowa defenders as UNC field hockey faces off against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill on November 17, 2019.
On creating a field hockey culture at Carolina: My goal was to win a national championship. And then we did that. Undefeated. And then again. And then it just kind of turned into this whole thing. But I don’t necessarily think that I would say my goal is to make this dynasty, and do all this stuff. And I don’t think Coach [Karen Shelton’s] goal is that either. I think it’s really season by season. How good can we be? OK, the undefeated season, we won, and it might seem perfect, but we have stuff to work on. So, let’s come together again and just try to do better than the year before, whether that’s on the stat sheet or just as a team in general.
Obviously we want to create a good culture, and we focus on that a lot. Practices, we want to make them competitive and hard. Coaches ask what we need from them and what they need from us. Lots of communication going on. And I think from all of those things working together and us just putting in the work every day, the national championships roll in. The wins roll in. And that’s what we can thrive off of. So I guess while it seems like, ‘Oh, we wanted to do this, and create this whole story, three-peat thing,’ that’s just been the byproduct of us staying focused, working hard, being a family and just taking it game by game, season by season.
Head coach Karen Shelton breaks the huddle with the UNC field hockey team for the final time this season after the national championship win over Michigan at Karen Shelton Stadium on Sunday, May 9, 2021.
On the team at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creating yearly documentaries about the team: It’s awesome. I think that’s what makes Carolina really special. Over the summer when I came down [to Chapel Hill], I actually linked up with Dr. T [Hussman Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies Charlie Tuggle]. And he was like, ‘Yeah, come on in! See behind the scenes, what everyone’s working on.’ So I got to meet a lot of the kids working on the documentary and the team behind it. I got to see what they had done, what they still had to do. I saw their whole plan on the whiteboard, and who was assigned what part. All of the work that goes into it, you always talk about ‘behind the scenes stuff, people put in so much work.’ That can be said for anywhere, but it’s just really awesome to be able to have that documentary and watch it here with your team, and re-live those moments. But also to be so close and connected with all the people who really do care and put a lot of time in to make sure that you can feel that way and that other people appreciate what’s going on.
So we’re super grateful for them. Dr. Tuggle’s amazing. He has a really close relationship with us now. Obviously he did before, and now three years in a row he’s been working with us closely. We’re just really lucky that the university backs us and that we have those close-knit groups of people who really support us and are ready to show it.
our team’s private premiere last night was another memorable one! nothing like feeling the emotions from last season all over again. always an emotional night – and a motivational one as we wrap up preseason!!
UNC Hussman students and Dr. T know what’s up😍 amazing work team!! https://t.co/MeTEtAXRLF
— Erin Matson (@erinmatsonn) August 16, 2021
On if this is a championship-or-bust season: For the whole team, the goal is the national championship. That’s our goal. Coach always says we have a good year if we make it to the Final Four, and that’s it. It’s not like our program is happy with just making it to the Final Four or being a runner-up. I guess Coach and I share the same characteristics with that, where it’s a ‘never settle’ type thing. I want the end goal to be the best that it can be. So I guess I would have to say I wouldn’t be happy if we didn’t do it. But again, it’s all about not getting ahead of yourself, and staying in the moment. So while the end goal is [the national championship], there’s all the little goals. All the games, all the practices that lead up to it. And it might sound repetitive, but that’s just how we do things here. You have your end goal, but it’s all about the journey and how we get there together, not being complacent throughout the season. Yeah, we might win against one team 10-0, and there’s 20 things we have to work on, because we’re not ready to say that was good enough. And then on the flip side, [if] we lose a game, there’s a lot to learn from. So I think the whole team has really bought into that and not getting ahead of ourselves.
And I guess in the end, yeah, we hope to do it again. But I don’t think we think about the end goal as much as each little part of it.
UNC field hockey players celebrate after defeating Iowa and advancing to their third straight national championship appearance at Karen Shelton Stadium on Friday, May 8, 2021.
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