22-year-old field hockey star becomes youngest head coach in D1 college sports

[Music] heck winding up gets her own rebound the pop over the top and Riley heck with the balance act at Carolina's on the board that was all it took University of North Carolina's field hockey team last night beat Duke two nothing secur their seventh straight ACC Championship the latest title coming under the watchful eye of rookie coach and former Captain Aaron Matson she may not be North Carolina's best known athlete with the likes of Michael Jordan and Mia ham but Aon Manson is one of its most decorated at 16 she became the youngest player ever

named to the US Women's National field hockey team as a tarhill she was a four-time national champ three-time National Player of the Year and left as the NCAA leader in points scored but there's more this past January at 22 she was named the new head coach at her alma mater one of the top programs in the nation next week the newly crowned ACC Championship team will take its final steps in defending its National title not bad for the youngest head coach in D1 Sports who we caught up with just as the season started always be

ready PLO want it back for Aaron Matson field hockey season at North Carolina started a bit differently this year who's helping who's joining following 5 years of leading the team on the field she stepped up to lead the Tarheels Dynasty from the sidelines as head coach is it different yes um definitely you know you can sit and have the conversations and plan for it you know what's going to feel different be different what's going to look different you know and then it happens and it's still completely full of surprises but in a great way North

Carolina is sacred to Aaron her second home thanks in part to her mentor and predecessor Karen Shelton who retired after 42 seasons and a NCAA record 10 national championships do you feel that it's daunting to have to follow in those footsteps I've gotten that question like do you feel the pressure and it's like of course I do but I love it whether it's a national championship game or taking over the program from someone who has done it better than anybody you know I just have that mindset and it's like yeah let's bring it on like

let's let's go playing field hockey since she was six Aaron says she always envisioned a future in the sport I remember sitting in my bed and being like Dad I want to play in the Olympics one day and I think my dad at first was like what is my 9-year-old daughter saying right now but he also understood when you talk about being nine and thinking about that I guess at what age did you know you weren't just good at this sport that you were a lead I really never thought like that I knew I had

the confidence in myself that if I worked harder and I prepared more than others that I could do anything she credits her parents for laying that foundation for her success a standout from the start of her Collegiate playing days at Powerhouse North Carolina top of the circle Matson with a sweep shot Matson with a goal here's Matson with the delay with the strike and with the goal Aaron Matson against Ed Goan and Matson has the goal a three-year Captain she'd graduate as the most decorated field hockey player in school history 51 days later the program

was hers could you have imagined that when you graduated that you would then take over the program oh my gosh no uh not at all I tell people all the time I had the goal coming into Carolina coming into college of making some friends having a great college experience getting an awesome education and winning One National Championship and you won how many uh exactly four I was a part of four national championship teams three of which were undefeated and yes now I get to you know be here every day and and have an impact and

now yes I'm responsible for the future of these student athletes and the Carolina tels have completed the undefeated season some who last season were Aaron's teammates like team captain Rome Ricardo who shared a field with Aaron on and off since they were kids something that we always said was Aaron would do a great job coaching us on the field well there you go and now that she is we still have a part of her that's still bringing her Edge into the game it's just from a different position and that position is our coach now she's

able to help us so much differently in a way where on the field sometimes she was had to do her job and then she was trying to help people where now her job is to literally help us a natural transition but not without some adjustments including some unique to Aaron in her rookie role you played with people and now you're their coach yeah I am a big believer in those little things add up um little things with like getting a new cell phone so the team doesn't feel weird when their last text to me was

one thing and now they're asking another thing so you knew the relationship had to change somewhat 100% yeah there are new boundaries I'm not going to shy away from the sense that this is unique but my biggest thing to them was we don't need to make this weird we don't need to over complicate it and I try to explain it to people and they're always like where's the drama in this and there's not and I think this group just their attitude with it you know their support from the start with just let's do this let's

do something that's never been done before and that's allowed Aaron to learn all that encompasses being a head coach good Ry it's a job she admits she didn't think about when dreaming of Olympic Glory as a kid but one she's put those Olympic dreams on hold for in order to try it took a lot of thought but it was just kind of a feeling that I knew that this was what was right for me at the time and I've you know joked if the stars align and rainbow happens and there's a unicorn jumping towards hey

go play in the 2028 you know Olympics sure but for now Erin's singularly focused on her Tarheels team being able to interact with them every day and see them buy and do it and see them excel in the classroom and on the field and in the community it's just it's crazy it's I still have to pinch myself sometimes and I'm I'm really grateful for them setting the bar just as high for her players as she did for her team mates and herself I'm thinking you came in here as a student athlete saying one National Championship

as a coach I mean we'll see I mean 10 would be pretty great but then what are they going to do have to co-name the field if but we will see yeah we'll we'll start with one would be nice she's amazing one of my favorite things she told me too I mentioned the cell phone she had to change that number but they wanted to know what do we call you now do we call you coach do we call you Aon she wanted to be real she's like you call me Aaron you call me Aaron but

the new recruits coming in they'll call her coach coach Aaron I I like her so much but when I when I see people like that I want to know what makes a good leader and what was it that she was built with that gave her like these great leadership skills I think some a work ethic she talked about it you also you described her as an old soul right don't you think just listening to her there's something in her like it's just yeah she's got that are the best way yes oh yeah completely and she's

got great swag love what she was with