Karen Shelton - Field Hockey Coach - University of North Carolina Athletics

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

Karen Shelton

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
kcs@uncaa.unc.edu
Phone:
919-962-5230

In her 42 seasons in Chapel Hill, Karen Shelton built the country's finest field hockey programs at the University of North Carolina. Shelton took over as the Tar Heels' head coach in 1981 and led UNC to national prominence in the form of a record 10 NCAA Championships, 25 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and 40 winning seasons.

She announced her retirement as UNC's head coach on Dec. 7, 2022.

Her final season at the helm was stellar: UNC finished 21-0 for the fifth undefeated season in program history, winning a 10^th NCAA title and 25^th ACC title, both records. The national championship was UNC’s fourth in five years and the conference title was the program’s sixth in a row.

A nine-time national coach of the year, Shelton retired with a career record of 745-172-9 and ranks as the winningest coach in the sport’s history. She moved into that spot on Nov. 6, 2020, with her 701^st career win. She also leads all coaches in NCAA Tournament appearances, games played and victories.

The Tar Heels claimed three NCAA Championships in a row – including the delayed 2020 title, won in Chapel Hill on May 9. 2021 – in 2018, 2019, and 2020. After back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2018 and 2019, the Tar Heels went 19-1 in 2020 for a combined record of 65-1 over a three-year span. It marked the second time in program history the team had won three titles in a row, with the first three-peat coming from 1995-97.

Fourteen times in the past 16 seasons, Shelton has led Carolina to the NCAA final four, claiming national championships in 2007, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022, finishing as runner-up in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016, and reaching the semifinals in 2013, 2014 and 2017.

Prior to the 2018 season, the Tar Heels moved into Karen Shelton Stadium, the only UNC facility named for a female coach and Shelton is the only NCAA DI field hockey coach ever to coach in a facility named for her. In five seasons of coaching there, Shelton led her teams to a record of 49-2 on the KSS turf.

Following the 2022 season, Shelton and her staff were honored as the NFHCA National Coaching Staff of the Year for the fourth time in five years. Including those four honors, Shelton has been named the national coach of the year nine times. (The NFHCA staff honor replaced the head coach honor.) She is a 12-time ACC Coach of the Year, most recently in 2022, when she shared the honor.

In January of 2008, Shelton was inducted into the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame for her achievements as a coach. She was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 for her performance as a player.

Born Nov. 14, 1957, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Shelton spent the first 10 years of her life on Army bases across the country. She was in fifth grade when her father retired and the family - Shelton has four brothers and two sisters - moved to Pennsylvania, the cradle of field hockey. At West Chester State, Shelton played on three national championship field hockey teams and one national championship lacrosse team. Three times she was named field hockey's national player of the year, a streak that has never been equaled.

Shelton earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education in 1979, then spent one year as assistant coach at Franklin & Marshall College before coming to UNC.

She was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1977-84 and started for the squad that won a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Summer Games in 1984. Shelton was U.S. Field Hockey's Athlete of the Year in 1983. In 1999, she was named the Delaware County Field Hockey Athlete of the Millennium by the Delaware County Daily Times.

Throughout her career, Shelton has groomed her players for success after UNC. Carolina student-athletes are high achievers on the field and in the classroom, adding academic honors to All-America accolades. Tar Heels alums are successful in fields such as medicine, coaching, teaching, dentistry, business and finance.

Many of Shelton's players have gone on to represent the U.S. in international play. Five of the 16 players on the U.S. roster at the 2016 Summer Games were from UNC. Every U.S. National Team since 1989 has included at least one Tar Heel.

A very visible ambassador for North Carolina and its athletic programs, Shelton was inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece, a campus honor society, in March of 2002. In 2011, she received UNC's C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her longtime service and dedication to the University.

Shelton is married to Willie Scroggs, who retired as a senior associate athletic director at UNC. He coached the Carolina men's lacrosse team from 1979-90, a span that included three NCAA titles. Their son, William, is a 2013 Carolina graduate who played lacrosse for the Tar Heels. William and wife Julia have a daughter, Poppy, and a son, Boden.

North Carolina Under Karen Shelton
10 NCAA Championships: 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2007, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
25 ACC Tournament Championships: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
21 ACC Regular-Season Championships (including Co-Championships): 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022

Year-By-Year
1981: 8-9-1
1982: 11-8
1983: 13-4-3 (2-0) – NCAA First Round, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1984: 14-5 (3-0) – NCAA First Round, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Co-Champion
1985: 13-4 (2-1) – NCAA Second Round, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Co-Champion
1986: 19-3 (3-0) – NCAA Semifinals, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1987: 19-2 (2-1) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion
1988: 18-2 (3-0) – NCAA Second Round, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1989: 20-2 (3-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1990: 20-4 (2-1) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Co-Champion
1991: 15-6-1 (2-1) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion
1992: 14-7-1 (4-0) – NCAA Semifinals, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1993: 16-3-3 (3-1) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion
1994: 21-2 (8-0) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1995: 24-0 (8-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1996: 23-1 (8-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
1997: 20-3 (3-1) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion
1998: 13-8 (2-2) – NCAA Tournament Second Round
1999: 16-6 (2-2) – NCAA Tournament Second Round
2000: 20-4 (4-0) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2001: 14-7 (2-2) – NCAA Tournament First Round
2002: 9-11 (3-1)
2003: 16-6 (2-2) – NCAA Tournament First Round
2004: 21-2 (4-0) – NCAA Tournament Second Round, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2005: 14-7 (2-3) – NCAA Tournament First Round
2006: 13-9 (1-4) – NCAA Tournament First Round
2007: 24-0 (5-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2008: 14-6 (3-2) – NCAA Tournament First Round
2009: 20-2 (4-1) – NCAA Champion
2010: 22-3 (4-1) – NCAA Runner-Up
2011: 23-2 (5-0) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2012: 23-2 (5-0) – NCAA Runner-Up, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2013: 18-6 (3-3) – NCAA Semifinals
2014: 19-4 (4-2) – NCAA Semifinals, ACC Regular-Season Co-Champion
2015: 21-3 (4-2) – NCAA Semifinals, ACC Tournament Champion
2016: 20-6 (3-3) – NCAA Runner-Up
2017: 18-5 (3-3) – NCAA Semifinals, ACC Tournament Champion
2018: 23-0 (6-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2019: 23-0 (6-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2020: 19-1 (9-1) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion
2021: 13-7 (4-2) – NCAA First Round, ACC Tournament Champion
2022: 21-0 (6-0) – NCAA Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, ACC Regular-Season Champion

ACC record in parentheses