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A Lexington native who has achieved great success in playing and coaching lacrosse is continuing her coaching career at University of North Carolina.
Maiah Bartlett, an assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Division III school Denison University in Granville, Ohio for the past three years, has joined the staff at UNC i n Chapel Hill, N.C., legendary UNC head coach Jenny Levy announced July 24.
Bartlett, who has experience coaching at both the collegiate and international level, officially assumed her new role at the Division I school on Monday.
“We are excited about the addition of Maiah to our coaching staff,” said Levy, who started the Tar Heels’ women’s lacrosse program and is entering her 30th year as head coach. “She brings with her a unique experience. Although she played women’s lacrosse, she has coached on the men’s side for the past seven years. She is driven, incredibly passionate about the game and has demonstrated a tireless work ethic. Her experience with film, practice and game planning, and overall player development will be a great asset to our players and program as a whole. She is a great fit with our staff and we look forward to welcoming her to Carolina.”
Bartlett, 30, said the job at UNC appealed to her because of “the legacy of the lacrosse program and the tenure of the coach.” She said working with Levy appealed to her because “through her mentorship and what she’s done over her 30 years as a coach, it was a hard position not to want to pursue. And the coaching staff, from the top down, are all people I want to surround myself with, equal-minded.”
During her time at Denison, as one of the few female assistant coaches for a men’s lacrosse team, Bartlett served as the faceoff coach, offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
“I am so grateful for this incredible opportunity to join the coaching staff at UNC, and I am honored to become part of the tradition of excellence that is Carolina lacrosse,” said Bartlett. “I look forward to sharing my experiences with the team and getting to know the studentathletes as people and as players, in addition to gaining new perspective working alongside Jenny [and assistant coaches] Phil [Barnes] and Marie [McCool]. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together.”
Overseeing the faceoff specialists’ development by implementing a positionspecific training program, Bartlett coached her athletes to a .667 average faceoff winning percentage over three years. In 2022, Denison achieved its second-best faceoff percentage in program history at .708.
Additionally, Bartlett’s other duties at Denison included developing the offensive identity by creating play designs and set pieces, leading team film sessions, handling travel logistics, assisting in curating comprehensive game plans, spearheading recruiting efforts and organizing fundraising efforts, among other responsibilities.
With Bartlett on staff, the Big Red won three consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, advancing to at least the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament each year. She helped coach athletes to a combined six NCAC player-of-the-year awards, 37 All-NCAC honorees, three NCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player awards, 20 All-America selections, 12 Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Region picks, five United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Senior All-Stars and six Top-50 Scholar-Athletes.
Off the field, she also served as the advisor for Denison’s Diversity and Inclusion Athletic Advisory Group, acting as a liaison between the student organization and university administration by providing guidance and support for diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Prior to her time at Denison, Bartlett spent four years overseas as the head coach of SC 1880 Frankfurt e.V. where she ran six programs in the Frankfurt, Germany, area. She guided her team to the under-16 boys and girls German championships in 2019, as well as a third-place finish in the 2018 Men’s German Championship. She also facilitated the transition from under-20 men’s and women’s programs into the first league.
Bartlett was the assistant coach for the German Women’s National Team’s development program from 2017-18. Her primary role was helping in the growth of the development program by identifying talent. The national team competed in the 2018 European Lacrosse Federation Easter Tournament and the 2018 Berlin Open.
The first female head coach of a men’s national team, Bartlett joined the Luxembourg Men’s National Team as an assistant coach before being promoted to head coach in 2020, a position she held for two years. She was responsible for all aspects of the program, including practice planning, game preparation and recruitment, and ran training camps in preparation for international competition.
Bartlett experienced a standout career as a defender at University of Mary Washington, a Division III school in Fredericksburg, from 2013-17 and was named team captain as a senior. She was a three-time All-Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) selection, three-time Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-Chesapeake Region pick and three-time Virginia Sports Information Directors College Division All-State honoree. Also excelling in the classroom, she garnered CAC All-Academic praise all four years and was twice named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
She received her bachelor’s degree in geography from Mary Washington in May 2017. She recently earned her master’s of education degree in educational, school and counseling psychology, with an emphasis in positive coaching and athletic leadership from the University of Missouri.
Maiah is the daughter of Doug Bartlett, who was the head coach of Virginia Military Institute’s men’s lacrosse team for 21 years, from 1986-2006. In the spring, Doug joined Maiah as an assistant coach at Denison.
In her teenage years, Maiah spent her freshman year of high school and the first half of her sophomore year in China at the Shanghai American School, where her mother, Sarah, teaches. Although Maiah was raised in Lexington, she only played at Rockbridge County High School her sophomore season in 2010, so she could play with her older sister Kelsey, a 2011 RC graduate. Their older sister Jessie, a 2007 RC graduate, also played and coached lacrosse. For her junior and senior years, Maiah was a midfielder for St. Anne’s-Belfield School (STAB), a prestigious Charlottesville boarding school
