Inside the Championship Locker Room: Secrets to Building a Winning Team Culture at the Virtual National Coaches Forum.

I’m on my couch, with a cup of coffee by my side as I stream the December 2025 Virtual National Field Hockey Coaches Forum.  I’m always keeping the pulse in the international and collegiate field hockey world, and I'm excited to hear the secret wisdom from the coaches who won the 2025 NCAA National Championship.  

It is so rare to get to have so many international coaches at the pinnacle of our sport in conversation with U.S. college and high school coaches. I’m appreciative of USA Field Hockey for hosting this virtual event! 

I learned so much and was inspired to write a blog post to share a few key takeaways, hoping to pass along the aha moments and appreciation for the depth of what field hockey has to offer.

Craig Parnham, USA Field Hockey's High Performance Director, moderated the first and second days. Craig is an insightful coach who is passionate about developing field hockey players into resilient, thriving human beings.  I heard his philosophy firsthand in May when I attended the in-person High Performance Summit.

Craig kicked off the virtual summit with Belgium’s Women’s Coach Rein Van Eijk and David

Passmore, the U.S. Women’s National Team Coach, who both shared deep tactical insights from international hockey.

U.S. Field Hockey is fortunate to have David as the national team coach, who has deep knowledge and a background in coaching education as a University Professor and academic.  He explains his philosophy of a principle-based approach and creating an athlete-centered culture.  

It was exciting to hear lessons learned from the Paris Olympics, and one key lesson that became apparent to David was the importance of the mental game and using a principle-based approach that allows players the freedom to choose the right actions. I completely agree with his view that the mental game needs to be integrated into every practice to increase resilience, adaptability, and flexibility.  

The last session on Day One was really fun for me, watching former teammates and friends talk about their successes.  I dove into something that I’m most passionate about - the keys to a winning culture and developing impactful leaders at the high school and college level.

An overarching theme emerged on Day One: good team chemistry, belief in a championship, and strong captain leadership were pivotal to every team’s success. For some coaches, strong captains came naturally. For example, Tracey Fuchs, Northwestern Field Hockey Head Coach, praised her captain, Maddie Zimmer and Greta Hinke as a strong leaders, it allowed Tracy to focus on coaching the “Xs and Os” thanks to her captains' leadership.

Other coaches had to be more intentional in developing their captains’ leadership skills. Tina Mattera, Tufts Field Hockey Coach, held weekly meetings with her captains and included them in coaching staff discussions. By involving them in these conversations, she helped shape the leaders she needed to achieve back-to-back Division III Championship titles.

Here are a few direct quotes from this conversation.

After watching Day 1 Sessions, I've been inspired to launch a new project. In the Spring of 2026, I am launching a Collegiate Player-to-Player Leadership Forum for future captains. We will only be taking 12 captains nominated by their college coaches.

Shifting focus to Day Two, I was pleasantly surprised by the visionary presentation from Allen Law, the new U.S. Men’s National Team Coach.

Having friends who played on the U.S. field hockey Men’s team, I've learned that they have historically struggled to qualify for major international tournaments.  Unfortunately, the men’s team doesn’t have the feeder system that many other countries do.  

But that’s not going to stop Allen Law.  He beautifully laid out his vision for the men’s 2028 LA run and beyond.  

He kicked off his talk with these memorable quotes:

He emphasized selling the vision to your team continuously throughout the season.  To earn true respect and buy-in from young players, it’s important to set clear expectations and be authentic, consistent, and transparent as a coach.  

You will hear some great stories of conversations he had 1-on-1 with his players to reinforce accountability and—something that really resonated with me—embrace adversity with genuine joy.

As a former international field hockey player back in the early 2000’s, I remember how challenging it can be to perform against the best players in the world.  He clearly laid out daily intentions, uncompromising high-performance standards, and a joyous approach to dealing with adversity.  These standards that the team is adopting will foster a culture of continuous growth as human beings and field hockey players.

On the technical side of the pitch, I learned valuable lessons about teaching the drag flick. I also discovered why this skill is essential at both the college and international levels, especially for penalty corners.

I knew scoring on penalty corners was an important strategy, but hearing the statistics and expert analysis filled me with excitement. The best teams in the world are converting 38% to 50% of their penalty corners into goals. Having a skilled drag flicker was one of the main goal-scoring weapons in achieving those high numbers.

The way Brendan Creed, USA Field Hockey's Assistant Men's National Team Coach, taught drag flicking would be easy for anyone to pick up and teach to your players.  Most importantly, a maximum of 15-20 minutes of specialized skill development is recommended to avoid overloading the body with excessive repetition.  That truly blew my mind and left me even more appreciative of the skill involved!

Turning to the mental side of the game, Craig Parnham introduced a new criterion for the U.S.A field hockey team selection process. Alice Atlanta, a consultant working for U.S. field hockey, explained the adoption of a Women Warrior Mindset. She has drawn on Greek-inspired philosophy and military training to imagine what a woman warrior's mindset entails.

On Day Three, the focus shifted to a friend and former U.S.A. teammate, Carla Tagliente, who is the Head Field Hockey Coach at Princeton University. Princeton Field Hockey faced Northwestern in the final and lost 1-2 in double overtime—it was anyone’s game. Tracy Fuchs was also on the panel.  How fun it was to watch my old teammates discuss their strategy for the final four.  

Carla talked about the secrets to keeping anxieties low during the post-season, and I found her advice particularly insightful.

When asked how she deals with distractions and the overwhelm of the finals, Carla’s advice to her fans is “No surprises!”  Parents, grandparents, or friends wanted to surprise Carla or her team by coming to watch the final game in person and ask for her to get them tickets the night before.  That’s a big distraction!  This year the games were sold out.  What a fantastic achievement for collegiate field hockey. Reflecting on how she manages these distractions, Carla shared,

My goal in watching the U.S. Field Hockey Virtual National Coaches Forum was to get the pulse of what really worked this season for top coaches.  Leadership is a crucial part of building a winning team culture.

Tracey Fuchs ended the summit with inspiring words:

After watching this summit, I’ve been inspired to launch a new project. In the Spring of 2026, I am launching a Collegiate Player-to-Player Leadership Forum for future captains. We will only be taking 12 captains nominated by their college coaches.  We’ve interviewed 20 college captains from National Championship teams and Regional Championship teams who share their wisdom on communication, building trusting relationships, navigating coach expectations, accountability, and leading with confidence.  

If you want to join the waitlist to be first to know about this opportunity.  

I left each session feeling inspired, uplifted, and deeply appreciative of our field hockey community.

This event is a gift for anyone passionate about developing higher-level coaches and players' mindsets.