Nicky Hitchens - Associate Field Hockey Coach - Field Hockey Coaches

Nicky Hitchens

Title:
Associate Field Hockey Coach
Email:
hitchens@drexel.edu
Phone:
215-895-6448

Nicky Hitchens enters her 19th season at Drexel in 2022 under head coach Denise Zelenak. She was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach in May of 2007.

In nearly two decades as a Drexel coach, the Dragons have made appearances at the CAA Championship nine times. She has helped develop seven All-Americans and worked with more than 50 First and Second Team All-Colonial Athletic Association selections.

She has been an active member for USA Field Hockey at many levels, including many years as the site administrator for Pennsylvania High Performance teams, head coach of the Pa. Futures Level 1 site and manager of the Womens Indoor National team program. She currently serves at the Coach Manager for Nexus Super Regional 5/6 (Pa. and N.J.). Most recently she served as Coach Educator for Junior Olympics in August 2021.

Nicky has continued to compete post-collegiately and competed in multiple Master's Indoor and Outdoor World Cup teams in Germany, Australia, The Netherlands and Spain. She was also a member of the indoor national team for one year. In August, 2021, Hitchens was named to the Over 55 Masters Indoor Squad.

In the summer of 2016, she and Zelenak played in the FIH Masters World Cup on the over-45 team in Canberra, Australia, finishing in third place. Both scored in the shootout against South Africa in the bronze medal game. She was selected to the United States Over-50 Women's Masters Team set to compete at the 2018 FIH Master's World Cup, which will be played in Terrassa, Spain from July 27 to Aug. 5.

In March of 2013, she served as the team manager to the U.S. Women’s Indoor Team, who went on to win the program’s first-ever victory over Argentina, 4-3, on the final day of the South American Tour. The squad went 3-3-1 against Argentina, Argentina U-19 and Uruguay.

In 2012, Hitchens helped lead the Dragons to their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association Championship title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In June of 2012, she was the site administrator for Zelenak and the Pennsylvania High Performance team at the Women's National Championship. While serving as the site administrator, the PA team went undefeated in their pool and advanced to the championship game. She also served as Site Administrator for the USA New Jersey Junior High Performance Center in 2010 and 2011. The NJ team won the 2011 Junior Women’s National Championships held in Virginia Beach.

In November of 2011, Hitchens was named the Manager of the Women’s National Indoor Program. The program is comprised of Senior and Junior squads and a Development squad that was added in April, 2012.

Hitchens was named head coach for the Futures Level 1 Site 5A for the 2011-12 season and also coached at the Southeastern PA Futures Elite Academy site. She was also the site administrator/assistant coach for USA Futures Level 1 Site 5A in 2011 and served as U19 head coach for USA Futures Site 7B in 2010. In 2009, Hitchens was awarded Level II coaching accreditation from USA Field Hockey. She is also the Drexel Field Hockey Camp Co-Director, and Partner, EZ Hockey LLC.

A 1989 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Hitchens was a four-year starter for the Quaker field hockey team. During her career at Penn, she was a three-time First Team All-Ivy League selection and was named the 1985 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. She was also the Gail Lipstein Award winner as Penn's top freshman.

As a senior, she was named the 1988 Ivy League Player of the Year. A two-time All-American and three-time Penn MVP, she led her team to three Ivy League Championships and was a member of the 1998 NCAA semifinalist team that was ranked fourth in the nation. She is still ranked second all-time at Penn in goals and third in career points. Hitchens has a degree in anthropology.

In 1999, Hitchens was selected to the Ivy League Championships Silver Anniversary Honor Roll. The Honor Roll honored the top female athletes in the first 25 years of Ivy League Championship play. Hitchens was inducted into the University of Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000, the first year she became eligible.

A two-sport athlete at Penn, Hitchens was also an outstanding lacrosse player. She received All-Ivy League honors and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 1986. Hitchens and her partner, Renee, live in East Falls, Pa.