A new era is underway on Comm. Ave.
It was clear that there would be big shoes to fill after Boston University coaching legend Brian Durocher (Longmeadow, Mass.) announced his retirement plans in mid-February. After a six-week deliberation period, a new face was selected to command the bench of BU women’s hockey.
After building the Stonehill College women’s program from scratch, Tara Watchorn has returned to Walter Brown Arena for her third tour with the Scarlet and White. Watchorn sported the Terrier colors first as a star defender, then later dipped her toe into the coaching world serving behind Durocher as an assistant.
“I think it’s about the right fit,” Watchorn said. “Whether it’s going through the recruiting process or deciding where you want to work, it’s about finding that right fit for you at the time in your career.”
She was formally introduced at a ceremony inside Walter Brown Arena on April 19. Watchorn immediately jumped into the fray and led her players through their last round of spring workouts as the semester came to a close.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Watchorn said. “I’m happy about it, that I kind of dove in and really integrated myself with the girls … really well worth it, got to meet with the girls individually.”
April and May were hectic months for Watchorn, who was busy getting to know her players and adjusting back to life at BU, as well as rounding out the rest of her coaching staff for the 2023-24 season.
Watchorn will be joined by Courtney Kessel and Megan Myers, both of whom have worked with Watchorn at various times throughout their respective careers.
After being teammates for three years with the Boston Blades of the CWHL, Myers worked alongside Watchorn as an assistant to build the Stonehill women’s program.
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“(Myers) was the first person that came to my mind when I thought about building Stonehill,” Watchorn said. “I think she brings an amazing knowledge of the game, but then just a doer mentality, all the ins and outs of running a program. She is my right-hand woman.”
Kessel, who will be serving as Watchorn’s associate head coach, coached with Watchorn at Hockey Canada. The two have crossed paths multiple times at the international level.
“I think our values as teammates really brought us together,” Watchorn said. “(Coaching for Hockey Canada) kind of brought us full circle … also really lucky to have her.”
Watchorn wasted no time getting into coaching, as she joined Durocher’s staff the season after her final professional stint with the Blades. Her assistant coaching stint on Comm. Ave focused initially on skill development.
Even though greater responsibilities have now been bestowed upon the newly appointed head coach, that area of importance has not been lost on Watchorn.
“We really tailor (skill development) to each individual when you can. There’s only so much time in the day,” Watchorn said. “For me, I’ll go into a progression lined up in my mind of drills of maybe five, depending on how much time. What I love about developing and teaching skills is that you never get through all five … you isolate it with zero stress around the skill, and then you build an intellectual awareness.”
If a first-time head coaching stint for a novel program wasn’t difficult enough, Watchorn made the already-turbulent jump in the midst of one of the most chaotic years in all of college hockey.
Watchorn, though, used time as an ally at Stonehill. With no students on campus in the fall of 2021, the first-year head coach was able to focus on the many nuances of commanding a Division 1 program.
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“It’s really what drew me in, building a program from scratch,” Watchorn said. “I have this vision in my mind in terms of the environment and experience that I want to create, but then it’s really putting it to work. I think I’m grateful in a lot of ways as a new head coach, that year of not having students on campus allowed me to get my feet wet with the administrative side of things and all the nuances of a program and how it operates.”
After ramping up Stonehill, Watchorn saw the opportunity to return to her alma mater and become just the second head coach in program history. Watchorn emerged from a field with many qualified applicants, many of whom were the coaching disciples of Durocher himself.
With the Terriers’ season ending in late February, the soon-to-be-retired Durocher could only sit back and hope for the best for his many former assistants.
“It would be real hard for me to say, ‘I’ve got to pick this one or that one,’ you know,” Durocher said. “It’s like picking your favorite child. In a lot of ways I was at a distance. I’ve since talked to her after the hire because I was super excited for her.”
Despite being forced into neutrality during the application process, Durocher had no quibbles about offering his congratulations to his former player and coach once her appointment was official.
“It’s onward and upward for Tara and her new staff when she gets here,” Durocher said. “My task, I told her, was to make sure all the ducks were in line when it came to recruits, scholarship money, items that had nothing to do with hockey, but more for the well-being of the student-athletes. I hope I left her in a good place that way.”
Watchorn’s appointment sparked tremendous excitement within the Terriers’ locker room. Her introduction to the team fueled a standing ovation, much to the surprise of Watchorn and to the inspiration of her players.
“I think a lot of us really needed that belief in us. I feel like the past couple of years that we’ve had, maybe we’ve lost that,” Lacey Martin, a junior forward, said. “Having someone come in and tell us that they think this group can make it to the national championship because we all know it, but we want someone to push us there.”
Watchorn exists as the first piece in a program trying to re-establish itself following two sub-.500 seasons. There is a lot of work to be done, but if the reaction from her players is any indication, things are headed in the right direction.
“The focus is going to be taking a step back, really breaking it down and simplifying how we want to be,” Watchorn said. “It will translate on the ice, it will translate in who we are and I think just building the culture that we’re proud of, and I think the wins will come.”
