Meredith Kirkpatrick, Coach KP, is our returning HTC Director for Indoor Field Hockey. She will be the Head Coach for the U16, and U19 for the Tolland site while also playing an instrumental role in designing a consistent curriculum that is progressive and tailored for each age group. Meredith has a wealth of field hockey knowledge as both a player and coach. Her leadership as head coach is evident when she advanced South Windsor to the semi-finals of CT state championship, and she transformed the Somers High School program from consecutive winless seasons to qualifying for states in under 4 years. Coach KP also gained collegiate coaching experience while working under Nancy Stevens as UConn’s assistant coach for a year. Meredith played at UConn as a starting center midfield and full scholarship athlete who earned academic accolades as a Big East Academic All Star, while also earning honors such as Most Improved Player, the Strength and Conditioning Award, and Mid East Regional All American. Coach KP extended her playing experience as a U23 outdoor National Team player competing in Vancouver and Holland for international competition. She also returned to indoor field hockey when she was pursuing her 2nd Masters degree at Harvard University, and she solidified a starting position as left back for the Women’s U.S. Indoor National Field Hockey Team, in which she was a team member for 7 years. Coach KP competed in 3 Pan American Games in Canada, Argentina, and Venezuela, earning 2 silvers and one bronze medal while being named a Captain for her final Pan American competition. In 2023, she returned to elite field hockey as a member of the U.S. Masters Indoor Field Hockey team, and she plans to bring cutting edge drills back to HTC along with innovative tactics. Most recently Coach KP competed at the World Cup in Nottingham England in April 2024 with the US Masters Team to earn the bronze medal.

Kaeley DeNegre played four years of field hockey before earning her bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from Western Connecticut State University in 2016. The Colonials reached the Little East Conference Semifinals her junior year in 2015.

Prior to WestConn, DeNegre was a First Team All-State and First Team All-Shoreline Conference selection for field hockey at North Branford High School in North Branford, Conn. NBHS made the 2011 CIAC Field Hockey Class S State Semifinals, before falling 1-0 to Lauralton Hall. Denegre was also a member of the fencing, lacrosse, and track and field teams for the Thunderbirds. 

DeNegre also coaches in the USA Field Hockey Olympic Development Pathway with the Nexus program.

Mika Black is currently serving as the California Regional Director for the organization. She joined HTC Field Hockey Club as a coach in 2016 and has been working with all levels and age groups. Black grew up in Massachusetts and played at UMass Amherst where she earned honors such as Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. She also participated in USAFH High Performance and played in the Junior High-Performance Tournament. She also has served as an Assistant Coach at Elms College for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. During her high school playing career, she was selected to Junior National Camp and attended the National Futures Championship, Junior Olympics and Futures Elite programs. Black was a standout at The Williston Northampton School and earned Regional All American and NEPSAC and tournament honors. She is looking forward to helping continue to develop hockey out on the West Coast with HTC.

Anika is currently the Head Coach of UMass Dartmouth. She has coached with HTC since 2013 and in Fall 2019 accepted the position of HTC Massachusetts Regional Director, heading up the Western Mass sites. She was recently the Assistant Coach of Williams College and prior was the Grad Assistant at Smith College and the Head Coach of Elms College. In her first year she led the Blazers to the top of the conference rankings. She also served as the assistant field hockey coach at Connecticut College for two years.

Anika graduated from Smith College with a Bachelors in Psychology and Minor in Exercise and Sport Sciences. She was a highly versatile player for the Pioneers, capable of leading offensive, defensive, and midfield lines at any given point. She recorded 5 goals, 18 assists, and 1 defensive save in her career at Smith while captaining the team her senior year. In addition, Anika has played internationally in four countries outside the United States, including a six month stay in Australia where she was an influential player for the University of Melbourne Hockey Club. Following Smith, Anika coached at Mount Anthony Union High School for four years, helping lead them to four Vermont State semifinal appearances. She also assisted at Westfield State for two years during their spring season. Before moving to Connecticut, Anika founded Evolution Field Hockey Club. While primarily focusing on youth development, she also created opportunities for adults to play after graduation and developed a young-coaches program to mentor high school athletes who were interested in coaching.

Trent Randall has more than 30 years of coaching and playing experience around the world including England, Australia, and the United States. He is a Level 2 certified field hockey coach in Australia and the United States. He is also a Level 1 certified baseball coach in Australia.

Randall’s playing experience includes 20 seasons with the Redcliff Field Hockey Club in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia where he won Premierships as a junior player representing Brisbane in state titles, winning gold medals for U15 and U17. He also represented Brisbane Senior Teams in indoor state titles. Randall continued on to win Premierships for Redcliff Division 2 Men and top four finishes in Division 1. He played two seasons for Wallsall Field Hockey Club in England before moving to the United States to play indoor in the North American Premier League for the Minutemen from 2003-2007.

Randall has more than two decades of coaching experience. He was the Junior Development Coach for the Wallsall Field Hockey Club in England and managed a U19 co-ed junior development camp for South Australia. He also coached U14-19 for the Cape Ann Coalition from 2004-2009 qualifying teams for the National Indoor Field Hockey Tournament with top three finishes for all age groups including the 2007 Gold Medal winner at the NIT for U19. He won Premierships for U15 girls for Redcliff Field Hockey Club.

Randall also owns and operates Next Step Field Hockey, providing team coaching, high school summer field hockey camps, and field hockey coach consulting. Randall specializes in training and coaching collegiate athletes with field hockey scholarships. He coached field hockey camps at the University of Connecticut and Four Goals Field Hockey Camp at Brown University in Rhode Island.

Randall also has extensive experience with kids as a camp counselor in a variety of sports and activities.

Heather Miller originally hails from Virginia Beach, VA where she played field hockey for 13 years. She played Division 1 field hockey at Longwood University.

Miller has extensive coaching experience as well- she has coached 8 years of high school varsity field hockey, 4 years of club coaching (she coached at Richmond Panthers for 2 years prior to arriving at HTC), and has been coaching with USA Field Hockey in the Nexus Program for the past 3 years.

Miller is currently the head coach of field hockey and lacrosse at Woodstock Academy.

Rick Oenning provides training in a fun and productive environment with focus on speed, agility, balance, and strength relative to field hockey movements and skills.

Oenning competed at the collegiate level in North Carolina. He continues to feed his competitive spirit through coaching and competing in adult leagues. He brings positive energy and enthusiasm for the sport and club.

Madi Herb is from Sinking Spring, PA and graduated from Wilson High School. She was a 2019 First Team All-State and All-County performer after winning the PIAA 3AAA State Championship. She also earned 2018 Second Team All-State accolades and was named two-time All-Division during her high school career. She was also a Max Field Hockey Top 50 Player List athlete, and also earned the 2021 Wilson High School Most Outstanding Female Athlete. She also competed in track.

Herb is currently a senior at the University of Connecticut studying nutrional science, on the didactic track, and is looking to become a registered dietitian after earning a master’s degree. She is currently on the Division 1 field hockey team at UConn, serving as a team captain for both her junior and senior years. She plays both forward and midfield, and has a career high of 5 goals and 5 assists (so far). She received the University of Connecticut Keith Caddy Award in 2023 for having the “biggest heart” and dedication to the team.

Herb has recently coached the U16 and U19 RCC/NCC teams with HTC.

 

Erin DuFresne was the first female athlete at Canton High School to earn 12 varsity letters, excelling in field hockey, basketball, and softball. In her sophomore year, DuFresne helped her team win their conference title; in her junior and senior years, she aided in her team going undefeated and earning both conference and Class S state titles. DuFresne was named Academic All-American twice for field hockey, as well as Field Hockey All-American honors in 1992. DuFresne tallied a total of 107 goals in her career at Canton.

After her outstanding high school career, DuFresne went on to play Division 1 field hockey at the University of Rhode Island. A year later, she transferred to Plymouth State College to finish her collegiate career for the Panthers. DuFresne was named to the NFHCA North/South Division III Senior All Star Game in 1997, and in that same year she was also named to the New England West Region 1st Team All-American team. DuFresne was also inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame for field hockey in 2011.

DuFresne has since taken on the title of coach. In the 2017-2018 seasons she coached the Canton 5th and 6th grade park and rec teams, and in 2023-2024 she was the assistant coach for Canton High School varsity field hockey and head coach of the JV squad. In the 2023 campaign, Canton varsity went undefeated 16-0 in regular season, making it to the Class S state championship game before losing to North Branford. Canton finished their season 19-1.

DuFresne has also recently coached U19 indoor high performance field hockey with HTC.

Suzy Gile played for Cheshire High School (1989-1992) and went on to play for Springfield College (1993-1996) when Springfield played a Div 1 schedule. She had the opportunity to play in England, Holland, and Ireland with her high school and college teams. Gile moved to South Carolina for 7 years where there was no field hockey. She returned to the sport as a coach for Longmeadow Youth Field Hockey in 2013. Gile began coaching in East Longmeadow in 2014 and took over as the program coordinator in 2015 until 2021. Gile has been coaching with HTC since 2021 in several capacities. Most recently, Gile has been the assistant coach for the U16 indoor team that qualified and played at the National Indoor Tournament.

Lindsay is from Palmyra, Pennsylvania where she played at a successful highschool program at Palmyra Highschool and was an All-State Selection. During her highschool career she also played for Mid State Field Hockey Club and went forward continuing her career as a student athlete at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2010-2014. While at UMass, she earned several honors such as Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week and UMass Co-Athlete of the week. She ended her playing career at UMass with 37 points on 16 goals and 5 assists, Atlantic 10 Conference Championship wins and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. She has also served as an Assistant Coach at York College in Pennsylvania and is currently Assistant coaching at Torrey Pines High with HTC Coach Courtney Spleen who is the Head Coach of the TPHS team.

Kemp is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Physical Education, Head Field Hockey Coach and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Wesleyan University.

Kemp also served as field hockey head coach at Castleton University, where she spent the 2018 season and led the Spartans to a regular-season record of 15-5 overall and 11-1 in the Little East Conference (LEC). In her first season as a collegiate head coach, Kemp’s Castleton squad won the LEC regular-season championship as she was named the LEC Coach of the Year. She guided the team to a program-record 11-game winning streak while coaching three First Team All-LEC selections. Castleton was just 23-48 (.324) in the four seasons prior to Kemp’s arrival, while the 15 wins in 2018 were the program’s most in six years.

Before her stint at Castleton, Kemp spent five seasons at her alma mater, Skidmore College. While there, she helped lead the Thoroughbreds to an 80-27 (.748) record with three Liberty League Championships, two quarterfinal appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament (2014, ’16), and one national semifinal appearance.

Her college coaching career began at Bridgewater State University, where she served as an assistant coach form 2011-13 while pursuing her master’s degree. During that time, the Bears compiled a 31-11 (.738) record and won back-to-back MASCAC Championships, while qualifying for the ECAC Division III Tournament both years, reaching the semifinals in 2011 and the finals in 2012.

Kemp earned her bachelor’s degree from Skidmore in 2011 following a decorated four-year playing career. She was a two-sport athlete who excelled in field hockey, while also serving as a captain of the basketball team her senior year. In field hockey, Kemp was named a three-time NFHCA All-American, three-time Liberty League Player of the Year, and two-time NFHCA North Atlantic Player of the Year. She holds the school records for most assists in a single season (22) and most career assists (62). As a senior, she led the team to its first-ever 20-win season and a trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four. She also ranked second in the country in assists per game in 2009 and 2010, and was fourth in points and sixth in goals in 2010. In 2011, Kemp received the Skidmore Senior Athlete Award and seven years later, she was inducted into Skidmore’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Aside from her collegiate coaching experience, Kemp also served as the futures head coach and site director for USA Field Hockey in 2018, where she developed individual skills, team game and offensive and defensive strategies in a training-only environment for U19 players. She also assisted in the start-up of the Thoroughbreds Club in March 2017, which is Saratoga County-based club program for interested field hockey players ranging in age from 7-18 years old.

Kemp has been coaching with the HTC program for 2 years.

MacDonald graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell where she played four years of field hockey. During her time there, she started in 63 games.

Prior to her time at UMass Lowell, Kayla played varsity field hockey for Chelmsford High School where she was named Merrimack Valley Conference All-Star, Team MVP, received All-Conference selection, was chosen “Best of 60” Game selection and Lowell Sun All-Star. Kayla captained the team as a senior in 2009 and also played lacrosse.

MacDonald is in her first year coaching for HTC.

Kragen is a current member of University of Michigan Field Hockey team and we are excited to have her part of the HTC family. While at Michigan, she has already been part of teams that have earned a trip the NCAA Final Four and named the 2017 B1G Tournament Champions. She is a local to San Diego and attended Canyon Crest Academy from 2013-2016. While at CCA, she was part of the 2013 Division II CIF Championship team, 2016 Avocado West League Champion, 2014-2016 All League Selection, 2016 All-CIF team. Kragen has been coaching with HTC for two years.

Mia has been coaching with HTC for eight years. Olsen is currently in her fourth season as the assistant coach of the Westfield State University field hockey team.

A three-year starter for the Trinity varsity field hockey program, Olsen was named captain her senior year, led her team in assists, was awarded the ‘Unsung Hero’, and was named to the Zag NFHCA National Academic Squad.

In May of 2017, Olsen graduated with faculty honors from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where she studied for her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality and was a teaching assistant for Individual and Society.

As a Granby, Conn. native, Olsen has previous coaching experience working with HTC field hockey coach, where she developed and conducted practices for young field hockey players.

Olsen served as the Assistant Director at the Salmon Brook Day Camp where she also worked as a camp counselor since the summer of 2014.

While attending Granby Memorial High School, Olsen was a part of the field hockey and lacrosse varsity programs, earning field hockey all-conference honors in 2011 and 2012, lacrosse all-conference honors from 2011-2013, was named to the field hockey all-state first team in 2012 as well as the lacrosse all-state first team from 2012-2013, and was awarded the outstanding female athlete award in 2012-13.

Ponciano enters her eighth season coaching with HTC, and is currently serving as the organization’s Recruiting Administrator. Ponciano is currently the head field hockey coach at Killingly High School and has playing experience at Killingly High School where she was an All-State and All-Conference player. She then went on to play at Eastern Connecticut State University. A 2012 graduate of ECSU, Ponciano served as the team captain in her final season.

Ramirez is currently playing field hockey for Elms College where she made All-NECC her sophomore year. Prior to playing at Elms, Carissa playing 4 years of field hockey and 2 years of soccer for Helix Charter. During her field hockey career at Helix, Ramirez was a two-time All League Player of the Year, received 2015 Second Team All-League selection, 2016 First Team All-League selection, 2017 Offensive MVP and First Team All-League selection and she was the captain in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Carissa has been coaching with HTC for one year.

Sophie is from Madison, Connecticut and is a current field hockey player and mechanical engineering major at Stonehill College. Schreck graduated from Daniel Hand High School and was a four-year letter-winner, serving as captain her senior year. She also lettered in softball. Schreck earned All-SSC and All-State second team honors as a junior and All-SSC and All-State first team accolades as a senior. She was also part of two Connecticut State Championship and Conference Championships winning teams as a freshman and senior.

Seffron graduated from the University of Massachusetts where she appeared in 20 games. Before her time at UMass, Eileen was a four-year starter at Rancho Buena Vista, serving as team captain as a junior and a senior. Seffron led the team in assists as a junior and a senior and was voted team MVP in 2005 and 2007 and team’s Best Offensive Player in 2006. She was also named All-Avocado League first team 2005-07 and Division I All-CIF first team 2005-07. Eileen participated in the Futures program 2004-07, the National Field Hockey Festival 2006-07, the Cal Cup, 2003-07 and National Futures Championships 2005.

Seffron also started at forward on the soccer team as junior and a senior and was named second team All-Avocado League in 2005 with 39 goals in her career. A three sport athlete, Eileen was also on the track team as a sophomore and a junior, competing in hurdles and long jump.

Seffron is in her first year coaching with HTC.

Liza is a native of San Diego and had a successful career at Canyon Crest Academy. While at CCA she earned the CIF San Diego Sportsmanship Award 15′, First Team Avocado West League All-League 16′, San Diego Union-Tribune All Academic Team 16′ and 17′ Most Valuable Offensive Player 16′, 17′ Serra Tournament First-team -17′. She also participated in 17′ California Cup U-19 Championship team and Avocado West League Championship 16′.

She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science.

Courtney is an HTC coach for our San Diego site. Courtney is from Pennsylvania and attended Exeter Senior High School. During her high school career she played for X-Calibur Field Hockey Club and continued her career as a student athlete at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While at UMass, she participated on the teams that earned two Atlantic 10 Conference Championships and made two NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances. She has great coaching experience working with club programs on the East Coast. She is also currently the Head Coach at Torrey Pines High.

Claire is from Simsbury, Connecticut and she’s a senior at Westminster School. Prior to her time at Westminster School, Claire attended Kingswood Oxford.  Taylor will be attending the University of Michigan in Fall 2021.

Claire is in her first year of coaching with HTC.

Click on the ‘Personal Link’ below to set up an individual lesson with Claire.