Coach's Corner: Peg Scofield

COURTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY OFFICE

Scofield conducted herself modestly after her 250th victory, and she has exhibited the same unassuming and unpretentious mien during her entire 14-year career with the Bulldogs. Having never demanded the same amount of attention for her team that high-profile sports such as football receive, Scofield has quietly built one of the one of most solid volleyball programs in the Ivy League. Under her leadership, the Elis have had 10 straight winning seasons, averaging 20 wins per year in six of these campaigns.

Scofield keeps churning out powerful teams by teaching her players more than just setting and spiking. For Scofield, good coaching involves cultivating aggressiveness on the court and in life. "I try to develop individual confidence," she said. "I want my players to be strong women. The prototype of my favorite player is one who might have begun her freshman year quiet and a little girlish, but who leaves my program four years later with confidence on and off the court."

Outside hitter Lesley Coben, BK '00, has seen players develop under Scofield's guidance. "Everyone who goes through the program means something to her," Coben said. "She tries to instill you with values and strength that will remain important after you leave the program. I remember a horrendous road trip we took to Penn and Princeton my freshman year. At our first practice after that weekend, [Scofield] gave us a two-hour speech. She told us that we had to play out of love for the game, that we had to find the strength to play on our own."

Scofield developed her coach-ing philosophy after years of playing sports herself. In junior high school, she was a self-described "seven or eight sport athlete," but in high school she focused on volleyball, basketball, and track. A standout in all three sports at Westville High in Stamford, Conn., Scofield was the first female athlete from her school to have her number retired. She continued her athletic career at Rutgers, where she earned All-Conference honors in volleyball four times and was named team Most Valuable Player her senior year.

Since college, Scofield has not allowed her volleyball skills to atrophy. Scofield continues to play on club teams and remains active in the volleyball world by serving as an editor of Coaching Volleyball magazine.

If Scofield's coaching regime continues as successfully as it has been, she can look forward to another 250 wins.

—Kate Moran

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