Photo courtesy of Bob Blanchard.
Dr. Jodi Canfield is the new director of athletics and chair of physical education at Mount Holyoke.
By Emily Tarinelli ’25
Sports Editor
After almost a year and a half without a permanent director of athletics and chair of physical education, Mount Holyoke College named Dr. Jodi Canfield to the role in June 2022. She officially stepped into the position on Aug. 1, 2022.
Canfield succeeded Lori Hendricks ’92, who retired from the position on Feb. 28, 2021 after 14 years with the College. From March 2021 through July 2022, Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator Erica Lemm served as interim director of athletics, while Mount Holyoke Lacrosse Head Coach Miriam Esber served as interim chair of physical education.
Originally from Canton, N.Y., Canfield grew up surrounded by sports. Her mother was a physical education instructor, and her father was a collegiate skiing coach. She later attended St. Lawrence University — where she played lacrosse and tennis — and graduated cum laude with her bachelor’s degree.
From there, she entered the business industry at a ski and sporting goods company. However, when a lacrosse coaching position opened up at St. Lawrence, she knew she had to take the role.
“It was the best thing I had ever done,” Canfield said.
She remained the St. Lawrence lacrosse coach for 15 years, and was involved in several campus committees including the Diversity Commission, the Middle States Review, the Insititutional Strategies and Assessment Committee, the Sexual Violence Advisory Board and the Academic Advising Team. Additionally, she participated in several National Collegiate Athletic Association organizations, such as the Empire All-Region and All-America Committee and the Regional Ranking Committee. During this time, she obtained her master’s degree in counseling from St. Lawrence and her doctorate in child and family studies from Syracuse University.
After coaching at St. Lawrence, Canfield transitioned to athletics administration and served another five years as the University’s assistant athletics director. When the position of athletics director became available at Sweet Briar College, a small historically women’s college in central Virginia, she decided to pursue the opportunity.
“I’d never be the [athletics director] of St. Lawrence,” Canfield said. “[The current St. Lawrence athletics director] was going to stay. He’s still there. So I made a significant decision to leave and become the A.D. at Sweet Briar College.”
At Sweet Briar, Canfield was a member of the president’s cabinet and directed seven NCAA Division III varsity teams, in addition to an equestrian program.
Canfield said that while she embraced the single-gender sports program at Sweet Briar, “the gender diversity, inclusivity and … holistic viewpoint of gender” at Mount Holyoke was “much more appealing.”
“It was a no-brainer,” Canfield said. “I love the people at Sweet Briar, … but this [position at Mount Holyoke] was an opportunity to step into a very similar role, [with] more sports, more students [and] more going on.”
One of Canfield’s goals for this academic year is to understand the culture of Mount Holyoke and its athletics department. She has already started getting to know the student-athletes and coaches by learning about their visions and motivations in sports.
“I’m really focused on what I call the ‘student-athlete experience,’” Canfield said, noting her interest in expanding programs available to student-athletes. She stated that this year, she aims to continue building up the strength and conditioning program, which started in April 2022 with the hiring of strength coach Jay Mendoza. Additionally, she revealed that the department is in the process of hiring a third athletic trainer.
Canfield also emphasized that interacting with student-athletes and coaches is highly important to her.
“I have a very open door policy,” Canfield said. “If a coach has something that is of concern to them, they don’t need to make an appointment. If the door is open, I can multitask. … I really want to …[be] a coach’s coach, versus this A.D. administrator.” She added that because her office is somewhat detached from the main sections of Kendall Sports and Dance Complex, she makes concerted efforts to visit coaches down the hallway to say hello or congratulate them on their games.
“So far, I have not missed a home contest, [and] I won’t be able to keep that streak up forever, but it’s something that’s really important to me early on in the season,” Canfield said. “[It’s important] to just make sure the coaches know that I’m there.”
“[The students] who know me are now coming in and saying hey,” Canfield said. “Mount Holyoke has been such a welcoming community. I can’t express gratitude enough.”