New Dedham High field hockey coach Emma Peck addresses her team before a recent scrimmage with Attleboro. / Photo by Dedham Sports Digest
For a Dedham High field hockey program coming off a season of upheaval, Emma Peck may be exactly what the Marauders need to start a new chapter.
Peck, a former star player at Natick, was hired as head coach in May. At 21-years old, the recent UMass graduate will not only bring a youthful lens to the program, but also a unique background.
“I’m so excited,” said Peck. “This is my first coaching job so it’s definitely a big step for me, and I think for the girls, too, just as a fresh start and rebuilding the program.”
It was a chaotic campaign for the Marauders in 2024. Head coach Erin MacDonald resigned midway through the season after being put on leave following a parent complaint to the MIAA. Assistants Sam Girard, Jenny Boudrow and Caroline Mitchell stepped in to guide Dedham to a 14-4-2 mark that included a first-round win in the Division 3 tournament.
Peck can certainly relate to her players as far having their careers upended by a volatile coaching situation.
A two-time Bay State All-Star with the Redhawks, Peck committed to play at UMass for the fall of 2022 but had a short and rocky tenure with the Minutemen. Coach Barb Weinberg urged her to alter the terms of the partial scholarship she was offered before even suiting up, pressured her to transfer or quit during her freshman campaign, then cut her from the team after the season.
Peck and her parents brought their complaints about Weinberg to UMass AD Ryan Bamford, but he sided with the Minuteman coach.
“It definitely gave me an outlook on the good and bad sides of sports in college and beyond high school, so I think it will give me a lot of different perspectives for them,” said Peck. “And when some of my girls are thinking about going to college, knowing the nitty, gritty things, I can have a positive impact on them.”
New Dedham High field hockey coach Emma Peck watches her team in action during a preseason scrimmage with Attleboro. / Photo by Dedham Sports Digest
Peck never resumed her field hockey career but remained at UMass, graduating in just three years, and is now a special education teacher at Westwood High.
It’s that type of drive that impressed Dedham athletic director Steve Traister when making his choice for the next leader of the Marauder program.
“She is young and very dynamic, and the girls have had a good response to her,” said Traister. “She just seems like a go-getter and very focused. She is inexperienced as a head coach, but everyone is inexperienced at some point. She was very organized. Her presentation had all the practices laid out and her philosophy. It was very thorough.”
Peck, who will be assisted by Girard and Kristen Hawes this season. hopes to strike a balance in her coaching style as she embarks on her maiden voyage with the Marauders.
“I try to come in with a very positive outlook, but I am also very hard on the girls because I can see their potential and I’m trying to push them to be their best,” said Peck. “But we also have a lot of fun and do a lot of bonding activities, because we are all raising players and we are all raising students.
“I want to build a good foundation. It’s definitely been a trial-and-error type start to the season just because I am new to this, and the girls have been great with that just helping get into the swing of things,” added Peck. “The goal is just to play good hockey, really strong hockey. It’s always a goal to win but it is also my first year so I just want to start off strong.”