By Andy Walter

CAMDEN — Becky Handel knows how her players feel.

The seniors on this year’s Caesar Rodney High field hockey team are on their third head coach in four seasons.

But as an assistant coach during that span, Handel has had to deal with the same turnover.

“I’ve been with them since the beginning,” said Handel. “I understand the nerves, the ‘What do we do?’, ‘Are we going to have a coach?’ I’m right there with them half the time.”

This time, though, it is Handel who is stepping into the role of Riders’ head coach.

The 28-year-old Dover High grad was officially approved by the CR school board over the summer. A former head coach at St. Thomas More, Handel has been a field hockey assistant with the Riders for the past four seasons.

She and the Riders open preseason camp on Monday.

The head coaches who CR has had over the last several seasons have left for different reasons. Handel, though, hopes she can bring some stability to the program.

Handel thinks of herself as just building off of what the past coaches started.

“Nothing against anybody else, but I think the girls need it (stability) more than anything,” she said. “The seniors are on their third head coach in four years. That’s a lot to take in.

“I think it helps because I have a lot of the girls from lacrosse,” said Handel, who is also an assistant coach with CR’s girls’ lacrosse team. “So a lot of the girls already know how I am and how I coach. The parents already know me. They know they can come to me with any questions they have. It’s nice to be able to kind of roll with the girls through multiple programs to keep that connection.”

CR athletic director Bob Beron knows that Handel has paid her dues before getting this opportunity. She was a volunteer assistant when she started out with the program four years ago.

Handel is a special education biology teacher at the high school.

“She’s kind of worked her way through the ranks,” said Beron. “We’ve had four coaches over the last five years. We’ve got to find somebody that can re-establish our program and get us back on track.”

Former CR and Wesley College player Alexis Howerin along with Kristen Finley will be Handel’s assistants.

Victories have been difficult for the Riders to come by lately in the rugged Henlopen North. CR hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2013 — which is also the last time it made the DIAA state tournament.

The Riders went 3-8-1 last fall.

“I don’t like losing,” said Handel. “The girls know that. I get that somebody has to lose, that’s just the way life works.

“But if you don’t leave that field knowing that you tried your hardest, and you left everything out there that you could to help not only yourself but your teammates, then there’s an issue with losing. If you know that you tried your hardest, that you did your best, then that’s a different kind of loss.”

Handel said she and her assistants can’t wait to get started. She said they’ve had practice plans ready for weeks.

“It’s kind of like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning,” said Handel. “You’re just waiting for that first day.”