Lydia Mitchell became the Occidental women’s soccer team’s fifth head coach Jan. 20. Mitchell had formerly been an assistant coach for the Oberlin College women’s soccer team. She succeeds Colm McFeely, who had been the women’s soccer head coach for 32 years before his retirement.
Mitchell said she was drawn to Occidental because of her love of Division III college sports.
“I really believe in the student athlete experience […] It doesn’t matter what level you play at, all that matters is that you are in a place that you love and want to be at,” Mitchell said. “Eventually your soccer career ends, whether it ends in 20 years or after your four years at college. You want to have really loved your experience at whatever institution you choose.”
According to Mitchell, there are three things she looks for in every athlete: sportsmanship, hard work and a willingness to learn and be coached.
“I’m very big about authenticity and honesty […] with recruits and current players,” Mitchell said. “They have to be self-motivated. They have to want to do the hard stuff. They [have to] want to work hard every day at practice.”
Mitchell said as a coach, her philosophy comes from her love of the game and a focus on camaraderie.
“My goal is to create scenarios where we’re competing –– [where] we’re challenging each other to be better and […] holding each other accountable,” Mitchell said. “By doing that [the players] get closer. You become vulnerable with your teammates, you build trust with your teammates and you have a really great community.”
According to Mitchell, her time at Oberlin provided lots of opportunities for personal and professional growth.
“One of the great things about Oberlin is they really invest in every single person on their campus, including myself,” Mitchell said. “I was able to do a lot of professional development.”
Mitchell said she started playing soccer around the age of 6. She said her father, Jonathan Mitchell, served as her first coach. Mitchell also said that living in Maryville, Missouri, her father founded the Maryville Soccer Club, which allowed her to compete with community members of various ages and skill levels.
“We got to have really big games and I got to compete against a lot of different people at that age, and I just love the community of that,” Mitchell said. “In a place where there’s no club soccer, you have to make your own opportunities to compete.”
Mitchell said she faced challenges in soccer growing up, as her skill level was often far behind that of her teammates due to her family moving frequently.
“The classic new kid challenges: trying to fit in with all the different people and trying to find your place or your role,” Mitchell said. “My senior year of high school [my mom] set me up with some private [soccer] lessons, because I was nervous about getting into college and being behind.”
Mitchell said she studied Environmental Science and Political Science at Knox College, where she played soccer, ran track and field and worked in the admissions office.
“You really have to be good at time management and it’s hard to be present for both [soccer and track],” Mitchell said. “I was mostly a recruiting coordinator at Knox. It’s a tough job. It requires a lot of focus, it’s never ending.”
Mitchell said she became an assistant coach of the Oberlin College women’s soccer team after head coach Taylor Houck, a previous mentor, recommended she join her.
“After Knox, Taylor called me and said, ‘I know you’re coaching track. I know you love soccer more. Come over here, I think you’ll love it,’’’ Mitchell said. “I had never been to Oberlin. I had never lived in Ohio, but she’s pretty convincing.”
Mitchell said when she met the Occidental team for the first time last week, they seemed competitive and full of laughs.
“I’m so excited to get to work — I can tell that they’re eager to work hard and do hard things,” Mitchell said.
According to Kara Ovenell (senior), having a coach with a student-athlete background should allow Mitchell to build trust quickly with the team.
“Having someone who’s been in our shoes and understands what it’s like to play [a sport] [while] also [balancing] your social life and school is important,” Ovenell said. “She’s also just a very kind person. It seems like she’s not just having conversations [with us] about the team and soccer. She’s [also] curious about our lives and wanting to get to know us.”
Logan Morris (senior) said she is excited to see a fresh coach take on the role.
“It’s cool because she’s younger, and she’s a woman,” Morris said. “It’s nice to be able to connect with her on a more interpersonal level.”
Morris, a recent alumna of the women’s soccer team, said she advised Mitchell to start fresh and not let the results of past seasons impact her mindset while coaching.
“I think the beautiful part about having a new coach for some of the players is [the ability] to start fresh [and] turn over a new leaf.”
Contact Shea Salcedo at ssalcedo@oxy.edu
