Deer Isle—Two years after returning home, 2003 Deer Isle-Stonington High School graduate and softball standout Hollan Oliver has taken charge of her former team as the Mariners’ new coach this softball season.
Oliver is co-coaching with Caroline Goddard, a California transplant with ties to the same college softball program as Oliver.
The two played at the University of Vermont, during different seasons and through different coaching staffs. The two met while Goddard was still playing for the Catamounts, as Oliver said her connection to the program never went away after she graduated.
“I always stayed really close,” she said. “Vermont softball is really a family.”
Along with former head coach Amber Jones, Oliver and Goddard are working to bring back the enthusiasm and excitement to the team that Oliver said was “highly present” during her years in high school.
“We were highly competitive; I wasn’t the only one who went on to play in college,” said Oliver. “We want to bring that back, to show these girls that there are opportunities, whether it’s softball or another sport, for them after they graduate.”
Goddard’s high school softball experience was different than Oliver’s.
“I come from somewhere where they treat softball like they do basketball here,” she said. “It was a big deal.”
Goddard played softball year round, played in national tournaments and was recruited by Vermont.
With their different experiences, Goddard said the two bring “complementary styles” of both play and coaching, and that the ultimate goal is to keep the game competitive while also reminding their players to have fun.
“This isn’t a Division 1 softball program, and we don’t want it to be that,” said Oliver. “But we do want them to stay focused and work hard, control the things they can control in game situations, and try to get the win every day out.”
The team has hardly had a chance to get out on the field early this season, something Oliver understands growing up on the island. For Goddard, though, it has been an adjustment.
“[Goddard] looked at me the other day and was like ‘how did you guys do this?’” Oliver said with a chuckle.
“It’s crazy to me. We never had to deal with the cold and the snow and the springs that there are over here, in California,” said Goddard.
Despite their differences, the co-coaches have the same goal.
“This game has taught both of us so much, things we still adhere to even though we aren’t playing anymore,” said Goddard. “That’s one of the main things we want to give these girls.”
