Pam Stuper, a member of the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame who has been a part of four NCAA championship teams, was promoted to head coach at Yale in February of 2005 after eight years as an assistant. Yale has seen success both on and off the field during her tenure. The Bulldogs are 23-11 in the last two seasons, 11-3 in the Ivy League. That is the most league wins, and the second-most overall wins, in a two-year span in school history. Yale finished the 2010 season with 52 goals, marking the fifth straight season the Bulldogs have increased their goal total over the previous year.

In addition to team success, Stuper has coached multiple individual success stories as well. Yale has had 12 All-Region selections (six first team, five second team, one third team) and 25 All-Ivy League selections (nine first team, 11 second team, five honorable mention) in her six seasons at the helm.

Stuper’s teams also excel in the classroom. Yale has earned National Academic Team honors from the NFHCA in each of her six seasons as head coach. She also has had multiple Academic All-Ivy League selections, an NCAA postgraduate scholarship winner and a Kiphuth Student-Athlete Distinction Award honoree.

The team has also been active in the community under Stuper’s leadership, including work on the "Get a Grip" campaign to benefit the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation in honor of goalkeeper Ona McConnell, who has the disease. The team also assists with the annual bone marrow donor registration drive at Yale, which is held each spring in honor of Yale women’s ice hockey player Mandi Schwartz and her battle with cancer. Bulldog back Lexy Adams was found to be a match for a patient in need of a life-saving transplant and donated stem cells in December 2010.

As an assistant at Yale, Stuper helped guide the Bulldogs to three ECAC Championships (1998, 2002 and 2003) in eight seasons. Prior to joining the Yale staff she was an assistant coach at James Madison from 1993-1995, helping the Dukes win the NCAA Championship in 1994.

A 1992 graduate of Old Dominion and member of the ODU Hall of Fame, Stuper was a key part of three national championship teams and was a two-time All-American for the Monarchs. She also was named GTE-CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1992.

Stuper is also involved with the game on an international level, and she currently serves as a member of the executive board for FIH (Fédération Internationale de Hockey, or International Hockey Federation), the international governing body for the sport of field hockey. She was elected to that position in the fall of 2010.

Stuper’s international experience dates back to her days as a player, as she was on the U.S. National Team for nine years. She participated in three World Cups (1990, 1994 and 1998), one Pan American Games (1995) and two Champion's Trophy Tournaments (1995, 1997). She also was an alternate for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. Stuper earned a silver medal in the 1995 Pan American Games and a bronze in the 1994 World Cup. She added to her international experience by playing for the Amsterdam Ladies First Team, which was Dutch National League Top Division runner-up in 1996-1997.

In addition to her playing experience, Stuper also has significant experience in international competition at other levels. In 2007 she served as a manager for the National Team's Netherlands tour and at the Champions Challenge in Baku, Azerbaijan. She has been an assistant coach/manager for the U.S. Under-16/Under-17 team since 2008. She will travel with the team to the Easter Tournament in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, in April, and worked at that same tournament in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, she earned a bronze with the U-17 team at the Youth Pan American Games in Montevideo, Uruguay. She has also served as manager for the National Team’s European Tour to Spain and England in 2010 and for the U-21 National Team at the Junior World Cup in Boston in 2009.

Stuper is head coach of USA Field Hockey’s New England Junior High Performance team for 2011. She was an assistant coach for the New England Region from 2005 through 2009, and was an assistant for the North team in 2010. In the summer of 2010 three of her Yale players – forward/midfielder Mary Beth Barham, back Erin Carter and midfielder Georgia Holland -- played for the Senior and Junior High Performance Teams at the National Championships. In the summer of 2006 Stuper coached the U-19 U.S. team at the Can Am Games in Virginia Beach, Va.

Stuper’s international experience also includes multiple trips abroad with the Yale team, including visits to Argentina in 2008, Greece (for the Olympic Games) and Italy in 2004 and the Netherlands in 2000.

Stuper served as Second Vice-President of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association from 2005-2008, and currently serves as Director of Curriculum & Development. She is a member of the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship Committee and serves as the ASO Director on the USA Field Hockey Board of Directors.

Stuper received her master's degree in exercise science with an emphasis in sports psychology from Southern Connecticut State University in 2008. She resides with her husband, John, the Yale baseball coach, in Hamden. In addition to her USA Field Hockey and Old Dominion honors, she is also a member of the Hempfield High School Hall of Fame (Lancaster, Pa.).

Updated Dec. 8, 2011

Yale Field Hockey Head Coach Victory Leaders

1. Pam Stuper 59
2. Carla Hesler 54
3. Ainslee Lamb 41
4. Richard Kentwell 33
5. Marisa Didio 27

Tamara Durante joined the Yale coaching staff in 2005. She works mainly with the goalkeepers and forwards, and has tutored two All-Ivy League goalkeeper selections. Under her guidance, Katie Bolling '11 developed into a second team All-Ivy selection in her first year as a starter in 2008. Bolling ranked fourth in the country in save percentage (.809). The year before that, under Durante's watch, goalie Charlotte Goins '10 finished third in the NCAA in save percentage (.804) and fifth in saves per game (8.71). That earned Goins second team All-Ivy honors. 

Before joining head coach Pam Stuper's staff at Yale, Durante spent the four previous years as an assistant coach at Ohio University. Prior to her stay at Ohio, Durante worked for Field Hockey Canada from 1999-2001. Her duties included assisting the goalkeeper coach and recording and editing matches. She was the head coach for the Provincial Quebec Under-21 and Under-18 teams from 1993-98.

In addition to her work at Yale Durante also is involved with the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA). She won a gold medal as an assistant coach for the Under-21 U.S. team at the Junior Pan Ams in October of 2008. Durante has coached in the Futures Program since 2002 and served as the Great Lakes Regional Futures Director from 2003-05. She has selected for various USFHA programs, including the Under-16 national team and Futures Elite. She also was selected to coach for USA Field Hockey at the AAU Junior Olympic Games from 2006 through 2008.

A native of Lachine, Quebec, Durante is a 2000 graduate of the University of Alberta and was a five-year starter for the field hockey team there. She helped the Pandas to a silver medal in the CIAU Championship in 1997 and bronze medals in 1996 and 1999.

updated July 28, 2009

Matt Porter, who captained the Riverside Lions back in his native Australia, joined the Yale field hockey staff as assistant coach for the 2011 season. He is in the process of getting his Masters of Environmental Management degree from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Porter, who captained the Lions in 2009 and was named best club man in 2008, has played for more than 25 years. He has been coached by numerous former Australian national team players, including Australia's leading international goal scorer, Stephen “China” Davies. He has also played with and against some of the current and former Australian national team players.

Porter graduated from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, with a bachelor of law degree and a bachelor of science degree in 2005. In 2006, he was one of 80 people (from a pool of 1,700 applicants) chosen as an Al Gore Climate Change Ambassador. That same year, he began working as an associate at Minter Ellison Lawyers, the largest law firm in Australia. He also began working as chairman of Carbon Neutral Ltd., one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit carbon offset providers through tree planting, in 2007.

Porter has given more than 70 talks to businesses and organizations across Australia about climate change, and has chaired/acted as master of ceremonies at numerous national conferences. He is also the founder and director of the Myaravale Music Festival.

Abby Ostruzka, a former UConn standout, joined the Yale staff in 2005. A key part of the Huskies' No. 1-ranked defense in 2004, she now works with the Bulldog defense. A sweeper and team captain at UConn, Ostruzka earned NFHCA All-America status her senior year and was selected for the NFHCA Division I North/South All-Star Game. She was also a two-time STX/NFHCA Division I All-Mideast Region All-America selection and was named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American as a senior. During Ostruzka's time at UConn, the Huskies won four regular-season Big East titles and three Big East tournament titles. They also made four NCAA tournament appearances, advancing to the Elite Eight twice (2000 and 2003). Ostruzka served as a coach for the Huskies in the spring of 2005. She has extensive experience working camps, including the Connecticut Elite Field Hockey Camp in Storrs. Ostruzka has a B.S. and an M.A. in education from UConn. She was a four-time selection to the NFHCA National Academic Squad and four-time selection to the Big East Academic All-Star team. Ostruzka is originally from Riverside, Conn., and attended Greenwich High.