All CVA: Haws piloted Warriors to Region II title

By Ryan Yemen Daily Progress correspondent
Published: July 17, 2008

When Nancy Haws and her family moved to the area from Utah, she didn’t imagine she’d continue coaching lacrosse. Yet all it took for her to pick up the whistle was a simple poke in the arm from her daughter, Jordan.
“She said ‘Mom, I watched you coach for seven years. Now that I’m going to be in high school, it’s my turn to play for you,’” Haws said.
With her daughter in eighth grade, Haws got her foot in the door by becoming an assistant at Western Albemarle for the 2006 season.
She took over the head coaching job last year, and this year Haws led a group of talented young players to a
15-3 record. In doing so, Western won both the Region II and Jefferson District Championships before falling in a 10-9 overtime loss to Loudon Valley in the quarterfinals of the VHSL state tournament.
But strategy aside, Haws’ spunky positive attitude may have had the biggest impact on her team.
“With [Coach Haws] what you see is what you get,” said senior Mary Schwartz. “She’s so genuine, and just a good person. When you see her it changes your attitude. To be honest, it was nice to have that positive energy, because a lot of the times it’s is hard to get motivated, especially on a bad day.”
With Schwartz quarterbacking the offense, Haws’ greatest accomplishment was getting outstanding contributions from a pair of sophomores in key positions. With a group of seniors solidifying the defensive end, it was the youth that provided the spark on offense as three of the top four scorers on her team were sophomores.
Abby Wheeler led the team with 88 goals, Bridgett Lynn had 37 and Jordan Haws had 35 to go with a team-high 39 assists.
“She understands everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and led the way for us,” Schwartz said. “She knew how to get the most out of just about everyone on the team. Her love for the game and love of this team really showed. She was very persistent.”
However, Western’s postseason run may have been derailed early had Haws not overcome every girls lacrosse coach’s ultimate nightmare, the ever dreaded teenage drama.
Midway through the season her players became angry, organized, and unafraid to stand up for themselves. The team put together a protest when they felt betrayed during a conditioning run in a practice.
“They were miffed and it was intense,” Haws said. “They ran their own little boycott.”
It’s the kind of drama that often rips a team apart, but it wound up doing the complete opposite.
“That was a rough patch in the season, but that made us a lot stronger,” Schwartz said. “It was good talking with her afterwards. She understood us. It was a bonding experience.”
Rather than drilling her players into the ground being disobedient, Haws decided to simply apologize, over ice cream.
“It was a lesson in how to properly communicate,” Haws said. “We bring it up all the time now. They felt they had their trust betrayed and it was absolutely amazing to watch what they did. It was a great example of standing up for what they thought was right.”
Haws is more than happy to win games, but the
boycott reinforced her belief that coaching isn’t always X’s and O’s. There is a greater goal beyond working with a group young people.
“For me, I just hope that these girls see that playing lacrosse, or any sport, is a microcosm of life in general,” Haws said. “If it was just about winning we might as well go flip a coin and be done with it. We want these girls to grow up to be strong and confident women.”
The feud between the players and coach didn’t last long.
Her players responded by winning the JD tournament and then by taking out the team that took them out in the season before, Broad Run. The Warriors beat the Spartans 12-6 in the Region II championship.
“It was such a decisive win,” Haws said. “They beat us 14-3 last year, and to have that kind of turnaround was really just amazing.”
It was a turnaround that Haws’ most distinguished player, Schwartz, appreciated.
“It was definitely the way I wanted my senior year to go,” Schwartz said. “Coach deserves every award she’s ever got or will get.”