Then-junior midfielder Jeamie Deacon and Iowa midfielder Roz Ellis both go after the ball during the first half on Oct. 25, 2008 at Ralph Young Field.
Despite finishing up her NCAA eligibility last season, former MSU field hockey player Jeamie Deacon has stayed with the program.
Deacon is acting as a student-assistant coach while she finishes up her education. She plans to graduate in December with a civil engineering degree.
“I hadn’t finished my degree yet, so luckily, the academic and sports departments are awesome (and) let you finish your degree for one semester afterward, which is perfect for me,” Deacon said. “I wanted to help out the team and give back a little bit.”
The former All-American midfielder was one of the most prolific scorers in school history.
Deacon said the transition to being a coach was easier for her because team members have been encouraged to help coach each other for the past two years.
She doesn’t have plans to pursue coaching as a career; instead, she is focusing on her degree, but she didn’t dismiss the idea either.
Originally from Wexford, Ireland, Deacon said she was eager to travel abroad and play for an American team and experience a new culture altogether when she came to MSU in 2007.
“The sport culture in America is so different,” she said. “The support we get here is second to none, (and) it’s crazy how many people help our team.”
Despite beginning her Spartan career as a sophomore, Deacon is ranked seventh all-time in points and in goals, with 95 and 35, respectively.
Deacon helped lead the Spartans to the Big Ten Championship last year.
“It’s just been a crazy experience, and I never thought I would have been here,” she said.
With some of the current members of the No. 7 MSU field hockey team having experienced Deacon as a teammate and a coach, they said that her knowledge of the game is influential.
“Even though she’s not on the field, that wealth of knowledge is still available,” junior back Holly Sherman said. “She has a really good game sense and a good idea of how to read the play.
“I think that she’s been helping our forwards a lot in understanding that it’s not just about getting the ball and scoring, but it’s also about making a play out of it.”
Although her position has changed from the midfield to the sidelines, she adds energy to the team and is able to critique the players from her new view of the game, senior midfielder Angela Pagura said.
“She sees everything that we don’t, and she always just brings a new perspective to our play,” Pagura said.
“She always brings the energy. Even now that she’s not playing, she still reminds us to play as hard as we can and love the game.”
While she now is more of an authority figure on the team, Deacon said the bonds she formed with her teammates still remain strong. In addition to Pagura and Sherman, she mentioned several other teammates whom she considers to be her closest friends and said the team as a whole is a family.
“They’re my friends first, and (I’m their) coach second,” she said. “Maybe it should be the other way around, but I just get on with them so well.”
Supporting each other on and off the field, Deacon and the Spartans have been able to grow together as players and as friends.
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“Jeamie was in front of me for my first two years, and now it just seems like some crazy Irish person is missing from the voice of the middle of the field,” Sherman said. “I think she has taught the team so much.”
Pagura called Deacon one of her best friends and said she would be successful as a full-time coach someday.
“I respect her so much, and I think the players on the team respect her too (for) what she’s done for the program,” Pagura said. “If she ever wanted to coach anywhere, I think she’d be a great coach.”
