Shannon Garden To Lead Severna Park Field Hockey

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Severna Park field hockey will enter a new era in the fall of 2018 with the recent hiring of Shannon Garden as varsity head coach.

The school announced the hiring on June 18 in a statement from Athletic Director Dave Lanham.

“Coach Garden is extremely knowledgeable and successful with coaching and refereeing field hockey over the years,” read the statement. “Her love for the game and expertise in the sport has always been on display throughout her coaching and refereeing career. Coach Garden is committed to the continued success of the SPHS field hockey program, building on our tradition of excellence.”

Garden had previously been an assistant coach with the Archbishop Spalding varsity field hockey program for the past eight years, helping the Cavaliers to the program’s first-ever Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship in 2013 and another IAAM A Conference title in 2015. She also served as an assistant coach in the Cavaliers’ girls lacrosse program.

A graduate of Arundel High School who currently lives in Davidsonville and works as a real estate agent with Keller Williams, Garden has coached and refereed field hockey at the club and varsity level for the past 18 years. Garden will bring on Kelly Shanahan, an assistant coach with the two-time defending 3A state-champion Chesapeake field hockey program, as an assistant coach at Severna Park.

Garden expressed excitement at the prospect of leading the Falcons.

“I am really, really excited,” said Garden on June 21. “I’ve met a lot of the girls, and they are super motivated and dedicated, and they had already organized so many things without a head coach, conditioning runs and summer league games and camps, that it has made it so much easier for me to step into. They are super dedicated and committed and excited, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to coach them.”

Garden said the level of field hockey in Anne Arundel County is the highest in the state, and the Falcons are looking forward to a challenging slate of competition this fall.

“I love coaching field hockey, and I think field hockey in Anne Arundel County is the best in the state of Maryland overall,” said Garden. “I’ve been wanting to get back to the league that I played in. I am ready for the new challenge.”

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