"What an Incredible Legacy She Leaves!"

Karen Doxey, you see, has never sought the spotlight. She’s always been much more comfortable giving credit than receiving it. As successful as she’s been as a coach and administrator, her reward has always been more the process than the results, although the results have been nonpareil.

 

In her way of thinking, she’s simply upholding her end of the contract she was hired to fulfill as well as honoring the sacred covenant of trust and respect between her and the communities which she has served with all her heart.

 

So, no, when Collegiate’s athletic director and varsity field hockey coach retires in June after 43 years in education, the last 35 on North Mooreland and Blair Roads, she won’t step away unnoticed because icons simply don’t have that luxury.

 

Settle back, then, Dox, and allow your legion of admirers to celebrate you and your legacy of competitive spirit, loyalty, humility, collegiality, equanimity, and, in all that you do, integrity.

 

“Karen’s dedication to and advocacy for students, coaches, and volunteers, building on Collegiate’s long-standing emphasis on sportsmanship and character, is palpable,” said Penny Evins, Head of School.  “Karen has long understood that success is measured more by the quality of each athlete’s experience than by simply tallying wins in a record book. She serves as an invaluable guide to her colleagues, embodying the teacher-coach-mentor model and designing systems with excellence and intelligence.”

 

A native of Ridley Park, PA, Karen Shisler was a hockey and lacrosse standout at Ridley High School. She would have run indoor track too, she said, but girls, to her amazement, weren’t allowed to compete.

 

She went on to West Chester State College where she played both sports for the Golden Rams and also (finally) ran indoor track, mostly as a miler and two-miler.

Though teaching and coaching were always in her plan, she worked as a waitress after graduation, first in Wildwood, NJ, later in Virginia Beach.

 

The move south (following a brief stint subbing at her old high school) would prove serendipitous. In the spring of 1979, John Tucker, the head of Norfolk Academy, called her out of the blue to gauge her interest in coaching the Bulldogs’ JV lacrosse team.

 

She jumped at the opportunity, and so began her long, productive, and meaningful career.

 

She joined the NA faculty full time the following fall, coached field hockey and lacrosse, and taught physical education. Four years later, she became the girls athletic director and worked closely with Dave Trickler, who oversaw the boys program.

 

Along the way she met Jeff Doxey, who was in the commercial real estate business. As their relationship was developing, he accepted a position in Richmond in 1987. In a planets-are-aligning-perfectly sequence of events, Collegiate was seeking a varsity field hockey and lacrosse coach and health and PE teacher at the same time, Karen interviewed and was hired, and she and Jeff married December 18, 1988.

 

In 1990, Karen resumed her journey as an athletic administrator, this time partnering with Charlie McFall, first as assistant AD, later associate AD, and beginning in 1999 co-AD. When McFall retired in 2013, she assumed the mantle of leadership of the athletic department.

 

“Karen is a great coach and a great athletic director,” said McFall, who coached varsity football and baseball for long stints during his 43 years at Collegiate.  “She knows field hockey and lacrosse as well as anybody. I definitely learned a lot about coaching from her. I was so fortunate to work with her (in administration) for 20-plus years. Any time I had issues to deal with or questions, I could ask her, and she’d give me the right answer. She always did things the right way. She never cut corners. She always put the kids first.”

 

Dox’s coaching achievements are extraordinary. Her field hockey and lacrosse teams at Norfolk Academy and Collegiate amassed a record of 882-239-40.

 

Her 43-year field hockey record stands at 641-179-38, including 544-137-24 at Collegiate. Her victory total is third on the National Federation of State High School Associations all-time list. During her tenure, the Cougars won 19 League of Independent Schools and eight Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association championships.

Her 19 lacrosse teams compiled a 241-60-2 ledger including 161-53-2 and three LIS titles from 1988-1999 and in 2007 at Collegiate. She was voted LIS coach of the year multiple times and in 2018 earned induction into the VISAA Hall of Fame.

 

So how does one achieve such success? Talented athletes, she’ll humbly tell you, but there’s more. Much more.

 

Karen is the consummate teacher. She’s an excellent manager of both time and people. Her preparation is meticulous. Her practice plans, all kept in notebooks organized by years, are detailed almost to the minute.

 

She stresses fundamental skills and cohesive team play. She was never afraid to schedule the best teams in the state to challenge her athletes to be the best they could be. She’s an intuitive motivator whose goal is to make each player, starter or backup, feel valued and empowered.

 

She conveys life lessons, not the least of which is to win with humility and accept defeat with grace. As she expects players, coaches, and the Collegiate community to conduct themselves with poise and sportsmanship, she models those noble attributes without exception.

 

Times and methods change, of course, but sports as a revealer of character and a means to an end, not the end in itself, is a concept that endures. Indeed, Karen, through her leadership and mentorship, has perpetuated a culture of excellence and humility that has been, from the beginning, the bedrock of Collegiate athletics.

 

“I always had a safe harbor at Collegiate in the environment Coach Doxey created,” said Jamie Whitten Montgomery ’03, who went on to play at Wake Forest and later for the US National team and now coaches field hockey at the University of Richmond. “It was always competitive but always fun. She set the tone, and she did it with such ease. I’m so glad to have been witness to it.”

 

Karen’s close friend M.H. Bartzen served as her assistant and sounding board for 25 years.

 

“Karen had this mission with every kid she coached,” M.H. said. “They came out on the field and started at a certain level. At the end of their experience with her, she had made them better players. No matter what their role, they felt a connection and grew and accomplished things they never thought they could. She pushed kids to the brink to get better. All of them learned something about life from that experience. That’s probably the greatest gift she gave to the team every day.”

 

Through her level-headed, thoughtful demeanor, Karen has commanded the respect of the people with whom she matched wits on playing fields around the state.  Truly, she views them not just as opponents but as friends. The feeling is mutual.

 

“Karen has always been the mentor to every coach who’s played against her,” said Mary Werkheiser, field hockey coach at Norfolk Academy.  “She’s always the coach you want to beat, but you know when you don’t win, you’ve lost to a team with class. Sportsmanship is her first and foremost priority. Class is the one word I use to describe Karen.”

 

As Collegiate’s program evolved, Karen played a pivotal role in the expansion of the on-field offerings at the Robins Campus. She assisted in facilities planning both on North Mooreland and Blair Roads.  She championed continuing education for coaches. She created a master plan that allowed athletes to remain engaged during the spring 2020 Covid shutdown, then return in person the following fall and flourish despite strict protocols.

 

And perhaps as a result of her high school indoor track revelation or simply because it was the right thing to do, she has unwaveringly advocated for equality among the boys and girls athletic programs both at Collegiate and throughout the Commonwealth.

 

“I never had the sense growing up that there was ever an inequity between women’s and men’s sports,” said Ellen Ashton Smith Jackson ’95, head field hockey coach at Towson University. “Once I hit the real world, I realized how much of a difference there is in other spaces between how women’s and men’s programs are treated. Coach Doxey had this tremendous capacity for letting everyone feel and know that they were equally supported regardless of what sport they played or what gender they were. Coach Doxey is a very special person.”

 

Diplomatic and self-disciplined, Karen has served on numerous league and state committees and, among many initiatives, advocated in the organization’s early years for an expanded slate of championship competitions in girls sports.  Among her peers, she’s viewed as a voice of reason, moral compass, and transformational thinker. Simply put, when Karen Doxey speaks, people listen.

 

“Karen is a very principled leader,” said Julie Dayton, athletic director at St. Catherine’s. “What does Karen think? is almost a requirement for every important decision in athletic administration around the state. Her influence is far and wide and respected. She couldn’t be nicer or more humble or more ready to help. What an incredible legacy she leaves!”

 

During her career at Collegiate, Karen coached six athletes honored by the Richmond Times-Dispatch as the Central Virginia field hockey player of the year: Jamie Whitten (2001), Blair Northen (2003), Kate Hanley (2004), Tori O’Shea (2006, 2007), Hillary Zell (2008, 2009), and Brooks Doxey, her daughter, in 2013.

 

“I loved having my mom as my coach,” said Brooks, who went on to play at Wake Forest and now works as an ICU nurse at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. “Not everyone gets to experience that. She cares so much about Collegiate and every single player and every single team.

 

“When she told me about her retirement, she said, ‘I’m just really going to miss all the amazing people that I work with day in and day out.’ For her, it’s not really about wins and losses. It’s about all the lasting relationships she’s created during the years she’s been at Collegiate. I’m so proud of her.”

~Weldon Bradshaw