Beth Van Parys was hired by Norwich University as the Head Coach for women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse prior to the 2009-10 academic year. During her time in Northfield, Van Parys has racked up more than 100 victories across both sports and has mentored over 35 All-Conference selections.
With the Norwich women’s lacrosse team, Van Parys became only the second Head Coach in program history and immediately made an impact on the program. Under her direction, the squad won three-straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference titles (2010, 2011, 2012) and was voted by her peers as the league’s Coach of the Year following a 10-3 season in 2010.
Additionally, the team competed in the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse tournament after earning the conference’s automatic qualifying bid. In those three seasons, the Cadets faced-off against national lacrosse powers from Cortland St., Colby and Middlebury.
In her first three years alone working with the Cadet stickers, Van Parys coached 17 All-Conference selections, two Defensive Players of the Year and one Rookie of the Year. She also coached Norwich’s second-ever GNAC Player of the Year, Grace Fitzpatrick ’14. To date, the Cadets boast 25 All-Conference selections under her tutelage.
On the women’s soccer pitch, Van Parys has racked up 47 wins across eight seasons and has directed eight GNAC All-Conference selections since the 2009 season. Under Van Parys, the Cadets saw Brittany Casey ’13 break the program record for career goals in 2012 as, during her junior season, she tied for the conference lead in goal scoring (22).
Van Parys has also established an impressive coaching tree as several of her assistant coaches have gone on to secure head positions at NCAA institutions. Julia Steese currently serves as the Head Coach of women’s lacrosse at Mount St. Mary (N.Y.) College while Erica Adams was named head women’s lacrosse coach at Bridgewater State in 2015. Most recently, Meaghan Smith was hired to direct the women’s lacrosse squad at Queens (N.Y.) College prior to the 2017 season.
Prior to joining the Cadets in 2009, Van Parys was an assistant coach at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. where her primary responsibilities were scouting and evaluating opponents, recruiting high school students and working with the team’s goalkeepers. During her time at Wagner, Van Parys earned her master’s degree in Adolescent Education.
Prior to her two-year stint at NCAA Division I Wagner, Van Parys completed a one-year term at her alma mater, Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., where she graduated in 2006 with a degree in Biology.
As a student-athlete at Allegheny, Van Parys was a four-year member of both the women’s soccer and women’s basketball programs. On the soccer pitch, she appeared in 69 career games played as a goalkeeper and posted a miniscule 0.73 career goals-against average and completed 15 shutouts, the third-most by a student-athlete in the program’s history.
On the hardwood, Van Parys fell only one game short of 100 games played across her career. A key reserve for the Gators, she served as a team captain during her senior season and finished with 200 career rebounds, 123 steals and 112 assists despite averaging only 13.4 minutes played per game.
Van Parys holds coaching diplomas through the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in Level One, Level Two and Level Three goalkeeping. Additionally, she has attained an NSCAA National Diploma and a United States Soccer Federation “E” License.
