Photo by Kevin Hinchey,
UNH Human Resources

There is a phrase sometimes used in athletics that goes "Those who can, do. Those who can't, coach." That phrase doesn't apply to Erin Whitten. She does both, and does both very, very well.

For the past four years, Erin has been an Assistant Coach for the University of New Hampshire Women's Ice Hockey team. Her love for skating and hockey began at the age of five, in her hometown of Glens Falls, NY. By age 8, she was already playing Co-Ed Youth Hockey and holding her own with "the boys". After being recruited by UNH while in high school, Erin immediately stepped into the position of starting goaltender upon her arrival in Durham in 1989 and she shut out Dartmouth College with 19 saves in her collegiate debut. "To be honest," she says, "I didn't even remember that until I saw it much later in the record books. But winning the ECAC title was a big deal to me." In her four seasons at New Hampshire, the Wildcats won the ECAC championship twice -- her freshman and sophomore years -- and were the runner-up twice. In 1994, Erin was named the Women's Player of the Year by USA Hockey.

Upon graduating from UNH with a B.A. in Psychology in 1993, Erin played on the U.S. Women's National Ice Hockey team until 1997 and rejoined the Team in the 1999-2000 seasons. She says "I was offered a tryout in 1990 and didn't bother. Then I tried out in Finland in 1992 and I made the team. Playing on the National Team allowed me to travel and play in Finland, China, Norway, Sweden, and throughout Canada and the United States. Much of what we did during that time was groundbreaking as not many people were aware of women's hockey." During that time Erin also became the first woman to record a victory in a professional hockey game as she led the Toledo Storm (East Coach Hockey League) to a 6-2 victory against the Dayton Bombers. "Playing in the men's league (for three years) gave me the opportunity to keep my skills sharp for women's hockey since our season wasn't year-round," she states.

After taking the role of player as far as possible, Erin returned to UNH in 2000 as an Assistant Coach. "Coaching was never a goal of mine, or even a thought, until I played on the National Team," she admits. "Honestly, I wanted to become a lawyer. I knew I wanted to work with people but I didn't know for sure what I wanted to do until I became a coach."

In her position as assistant coach, Erin is responsible for recruiting, travel planning, video breakdown, and setting up community service participation for the hockey team. "Recruiting has changed dramatically recently," she says. "Younger and younger kids are verbally committing to colleges sooner than they have in the past. We're now contacting them via e-mail after their freshman and sophomore years in high school." And who better to recruit a student athlete to commit to UNH than a former alumni standout? "I went here!" Erin enthuses. "I can sell the athletes relationships with professors, the coaching staff, and the community service opportunities. I love the school and the location and the people that I work with and under. We're also very lucky to have the Whittemore Center, because it's an incredible facility - probably the best in the East."

When asked what she enjoys most about working at UNH, Erin's response was "Our office and team chemistry. We have fun!" She credits Brian McCloskey (Head Coach) as having a positive impact "because of his ability to motivate and his knowledge of the game. He is a true teacher. I also really enjoy coming to work every day because Brian, Colette (Bredin, Assistant Coach) and Yvette (Auger, Administrative Assistant) and I all work so well together and do such a great job of balancing each other off. We all constantly learn from each other."

A large part of the time Erin puts in "behind the scenes" is spent involving the team with community service participation. "We work with girl scouts, we have a girls' and women's skate day, we run clinics with youth hockey associations, we talk to high school students about becoming student athletes, and we're looking into volunteering in local hospitals," Erin explains.

Erin resides in Hampton, NH with her husband of five years, Tim. Together they enjoy traveling (they've been to Key West, Aruba and Hawaii, and are planning on visiting France and Costa Rica within the next two years), golf ("I don't get to play nearly enough") and running ("I'll be running the Boston Marathon for the second time this year.")