After serving nearly two years in a newly created position, Peel Hawthorne ’80 has returned to her role as Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator.
As W&M’s field hockey coach from 1987-2012, Hawthorne won a school-record 275 games and earned the Tribe’s first at-large bids to the NCAA Championship. Counting her four years as a player, she has been a part of 318 of the program’s 581 victories.
Just prior to the 2013 season, Hawthorne stepped away from coaching to become Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator. During a department restructure in 2019, she assumed the role of Senior Advisor to Athletics. But as of January 2021, she is back in her former position.
As SWA, a title designated by the NCAA in 1981, Hawthorne has leadership responsibilities across several areas of the athletics department and is the liaison to NCAA and conference offices. She is a member of the Senior Leadership Team, shares oversight duties of all varsity programs, and directly oversees Student Services — which includes NCAA Compliance, Academic Support and Gender Equity.
Hawthorne has served on numerous campus committees. She was appointed to the President’s Task Force on Prevention of Sexual Assault and co-chaired the Exhibits Committee for the 100th Anniversary of Coeducation.
While still coaching, she was elected to the Professionals & Professional Faculty Assembly (PPFA) and served three terms. She advanced from chair of Academic Issues to Secretary to President in her final year of service.
Hawthorne re-envisioned the Tribe’s “Women in Action” signature event, the annual “Celebration of Women's Athletics,” to include professional networking with alumnae athletes. She also assisted in major fundraising and planning for the recently completed Tribe Field Hockey Center.
A member of many professional organizations, Hawthorne was named to the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Committee and served three terms as the Division I Representative for the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. From 1987-1993, she was a member of the United States Women’s Lacrosse Association (USLWA) Executive Board. As Chair of USWLA Sports Medicine, she joined the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) and spearheaded the development of ASTM standards for protective eyewear for lacrosse, resulting in a shift away from helmets in the women’s game.
A member of the 25th class of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy, Hawthorne received from her classmates the “Judy Sweet Award,” which recognizes those “whose spirit and dedication to their own and to others’ personal and professional success has made an impact on their peers.” Hawthorne was inducted into the inaugural class of the St. Catherine's School Hall of Fame and was named to the 2020 class of the W&M Athletics Hall of Fame.
A field hockey and lacrosse standout at W&M, Hawthorne graduated with a B.S. in physical education in 1980. In her career, the Tribe field hockey team posted a record of 52-13-7 and made two trips to the AIAW Nationals, finishing fifth in 1979. A defender, she helped the team allow just 0.92 goals per game during her career, while scoring five goals.
The Tribe totaled 37 shutouts in her career, the most in any four-year period in school history. She also captained the Lacrosse team that finished 5th in the USWLA National Championship in her senior season. Hawthorne is former NATA certified athletic trainer and has an M.Ed. in the field from the University of Virginia.
A licensed pilot and avid boater, she has also performed with multiple music groups as an instrumentalist and lead vocalist.
