Jan. 15, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern University Director of Athletics and Recreation Jim Phillips has announced that Tracey Fuchs, the former associate head field hockey coach at Michigan as well as the current head coach of the United States Junior National field hockey team, has been named the Wildcats' new head coach.
Fuchs comes to Northwestern following two championship-laden coaching stints in Ann Arbor spanning 12 seasons (1996-2003, 2005-'08) and arguably the greatest playing career in the history of USA field hockey. She is a two-time USA Field Hockey Athlete of the Year (1990, '93), a member of two Olympic and four World Cup teams and has participated in more international matches (268) than any other player in U.S. field hockey history.
“To be certain, we could not be more excited about welcoming Tracey to our coaching family at Northwestern,” Phillips said. “Tracey's reputation, first as a player and then as a coach, has been that of a winner wherever she has been, including a very successful Big Ten program at Michigan. Her time as head coach of the U.S. Junior National team gives her unique insight in how to attract and develop young elite student-athletes. Most importantly, Tracey understands how important academics are here at Northwestern. We have no doubt she has all the skills necessary to take our program back to the level of excellence we have enjoyed in our past.”
“I am thrilled to be coaching the sport I love at one of the finest educational institutions in the country,” Fuchs said. “I come to Northwestern with enthusiasm and passion as I look forward to building a nationally ranked field hockey program. I am honored that Northwestern has given me an opportunity to continue coaching in the Big Ten Conference, which is one of the best in the country.”
As head coach of the U.S. U-21 squad, Fuchs recently guided the 2008 team to a historic victory at the Pan American Junior Championships in Mexico City, posting a 2-1 overtime win in the finals against Argentina, which had won all five tournaments dating to 1988. The United States topped its previous-best finish of second, a feat it accomplished three times.
Following one of those silver medal performances at the Pan American Junior Championships in her first year at the helm, Fuchs led the squad to a seventh-place showing at the Junior World Cup, the best finish by the USA at the international event. Consequently, she was named USA Field Hockey's National Coach of the Year in 2005.
When Fuchs arrived as an assistant at Michigan in 1996, the Wolverines had never in their history reached the NCAA tournament. That quickly changed, however, under the leadership of Fuchs and new head coach Marcia Pankratz. In 1999, Michigan qualified for the tournament for the first time and went all the way to the championship game. Two years later, Fuchs and Michigan completed their rise to the top, winning the 2001 NCAA title. In total at U of M, Fuchs was part of six NCAA-qualifying teams as well as three Big Ten Tournament-winning squads (1999, 2000, 2005).
Fuchs also gained extensive leadership experience as a 17-year member of the U.S. national team, serving as team captain for 14 seasons. She racked up 69 international goals and in 1994 was named to the President's XI, a world all-star team chosen to play the Australian Hockeyroos in honor of the International Hockey Federation's 75th Anniversary.
Fuchs began her coaching career as an assistant at Connecticut, where as a collegiate player she was a three-time All-American and twice named a finalist for the Honda Broderick Award, winning the honor as the nation's top field hockey player in 1987. She also earned all-tournament recognition after helping the Huskies win the 1985 NCAA championship and graduated with seven UConn scoring records to her name.
A native of Centereach (N.Y.) High School, Fuchs earned a bachelor's degree in sports management and marketing from Connecticut in 1988.