UNC field hockey head coach Karen Shelton, who has won 10 NCAA championships with the program and four in the last five years, is retiring. The program announced Shelton’s retirement on social media Wednesday afternoon.
4⃣2⃣ years worth of gratitude for a Tar Heel 💎 and a giant in our game as she announces her retirement 🏑
We love you @CoachSheltonUNC 💙
🔗: https://t.co/Bhn5fjUMJE#GoHeels | #GDTBATH pic.twitter.com/ZaeluBucx2
— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) December 7, 2022
“I don’t have the words for what it has meant to represent the University of North Carolina for the past 42 years,” Shelton said in a release. “The decision to retire is an extremely difficult one, but I feel like it’s the right time, on the heels of an outstanding season. I’m so grateful for this opportunity, to [former athletic director] John Swofford, who took a chance on hiring me, to [former athletic director] Dick Baddour and now Bubba Cunningham and Chancellor Guskiewicz and all of the other administrators and colleagues I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”
During her 42-year tenure with the Tar Heels which began in 1981, Shelton compiled a record of 745-172-9. Forty of those 42 seasons ended with winning records. She is the winningest coach in the sport’s history. Her 25 ACC Tournament championships, 10 national championships, 39 NCAA Tournament appearances, 77 NCAA Tournament wins and 106 NCAA Tournament games coached are also national records. She is the only head coach the UNC field hockey program has ever had.
“Karen Shelton is, quite simply, an icon of Carolina Athletics,” said UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. “Her legacy is more than her phenomenal 10 national championships and 745 victories – it’s about the hundreds of women who have gone on to successful lives and careers, and continued to credit her influence many years after playing for her. She has served as a mentor, teacher, champion and role model not only to her field hockey student-athletes, but also to her fellow coaches and staff members. Thank you, Karen, for 42 years of representing the Carolina family with integrity and excellence.”
The last years of Shelton’s tenure are defined by an unprecedented run of success: six consecutive ACC Tournament titles, four national championships in five seasons, three undefeated seasons and a 99-8 record in five years. Her last game as head coach saw Carolina defeat Northwestern in the 2022 national championship, which broke a tie with Old Dominion for the most NCAA titles in field hockey. Shelton and UNC women’s soccer head coach Anson Dorrance are the only Carolina head coaches to win 10 or more NCAA titles at the school.
Shelton also saw the construction of a new field hockey facility on campus, which now bears her name: Karen Shelton Stadium. Since it opened in 2018, the Tar Heels are 49-2 at the facility, including the 2020 national championship against Michigan.
“Karen is a legend of UNC athletics, setting records across every level of collegiate sports,” UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said. “For 42 years, she has led her players to victory after victory, with record-breaking seasons including this year’s national championship and fifth undefeated season. Her character, commitment to her players and passion for Carolina have made her an example for our entire campus community. Karen, thank you for your life-changing career as a teacher, mentor and champion for our student-athletes.”
Shelton retires as a member of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame for achievements both as a coach and a player. She won three field hockey national championships and a lacrosse national championship during her collegiate playing career at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She also won a bronze medal with the U.S. National Field Hockey Team in the 1984 Summer Olympics, which is still the team’s best-ever finish.
Shelton was inducted into UNC’s Order of the Golden Fleece, a campus honor society, in March of 2002. She also received the school’s C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award in 2011.
According to Carolina Athletics, “a national search for the program’s next coach will begin immediately and Shelton will remain the program’s head coach until a successor is named.”
Featured image via Dakota Moyer
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines