Ange Bradley Named to NFHCA’s Hall of Fame

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — Longtime head coach at Syracuse University Andrea “Ange” Bradley, will be inducted into the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2026. 

Bradley’s 26-season head coaching career was spent across three institutions and was highlighted by a 2015 NCAA Division I National Championship, multiple conference championships, and four NCAA semi-final appearances. She garnered one national, four regional, and seven conference coach of the year awards over her career. Her 381 career wins rank her 11th all-time among NCAA Division I field hockey coaches. Across her career, Bradley’s players collected a staggering number of awards including a Honda Broderick Award in 2015, 43 NFHCA All-American recognitions, and 94 NFHCA All-Region selections.  She also coached and mentored two Olympians while with the Orange.

“Ange Bradley’s coaching is a masterclass in leadership,” shared her nominator. “Beyond the national championship and the wins, she transformed her athletes into leaders, parents, and citizens of character. I am living proof of her impact. She didn’t just teach me the game; she taught me how to live a life of purpose.” 

Added Bradley, “to be welcomed into a group of inductees that includes so many coaches who have been mentors, role models, and sources of inspiration throughout my career makes this recognition especially meaningful. Field hockey has been far more than a sport to me—it has been the vehicle for a lifelong journey of self-discovery, transformation, continuous learning, meaningful connections, and empowering women through sport.

An Auspicious Beginning 

Bradley’s competitive edge was established long before she joined the coaching ranks. Growing up as one of seven siblings in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, Bradley’s athletic prowess stood out. She earned a scholarship to attend the University of Delaware where she was a four-year letterwinner in both field hockey and lacrosse. As a goalkeeper and captain for the Fightin’ Blue Hens, Bradley earned East Coast Conference Player of the Year and Outstanding Female Athlete honors in 1987 and still occupies the top spot in the Delaware record books in career shutouts and goals-against-average. She was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. 

Following her 1988 graduation and a stint at Northern Illinois University, where she earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology, Bradley became the head field hockey and lacrosse coach at Goucher College. She spent four years with the Gophers netting 39 wins, a Capital Athletic Conference Championship, and NFHCA South Region Coach of the Year recognition. Her 1994 team still holds the program record for most wins (15) and student-athletes from that era still hold individual records in career goals, assists, and points. The 1994 squad was inducted into the Goucher College Hall of Fame in 2024 as a Team of Distinction and Bradley was inducted as an individual in 2018.  

Leading the Spiders 

Following stints as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa — where she helped the Hawkeyes to two Big Ten regular-season championships — and the University of Maryland — where she was a part of a 1999 NCAA Division I National Championship and three ACC tournament championships — Bradley became the head coach at the University of Richmond. From 2001 to 2006, Bradley transformed the Spiders into a regional powerhouse posting a 93-36 record across her six seasons. 

Under her leadership, Richmond dominated the Atlantic-10 Conference (A-10) with five regular-season championships, five tournament championships, and five NCAA tournament appearances. During those five dominant years, the Spiders went 42-0 in the A-10. Bradley’s teams still hold the records for most wins, goals, shutouts, and longest winning streak at Richmond. She was named Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year twice and her student-athletes dominated conference honors. 

The Spiders’ 2004 squad, led by Bradley, was inducted into the Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015, while two student-athletes from the Bradley era, Heather Rice and Jill Murphy-Myers (who later joined Bradley as an assistant coach) were inducted into the Hall in 2012 and 2019, respectively. 

A National Championship With the Orange

In 2007, Bradley was tabbed as the third head field hockey coach in Syracuse University history. Under her leadership, Syracuse became a national powerhouse. In her 16 seasons at the helm, the Orange won multiple conference championships, made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, and brought the 2015 NCAA Division I National Championship home to Syracuse — the first women’s title in Syracuse University history.  

While at Syracuse, Bradley was selected as the Big East Conference Coach of the Year four times, the Mideast Region Coach of the Year three times, and was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coach of the Year and the NFHCA National Coach of the Year in 2015. 

She coached many student-athletes to prominence at Syracuse with 43 NFHCA All-Americans, 84 NFHCA All-Region selections, 64 All-Conference selections, and two NFHCA Regional Players of the Year. Of Bradley’s players, 13 went on to represent their countries on senior national teams, and two — Alyssa Manley and Shannon Taylor — represented the United States at the Olympic Games. Taylor was a Honda Broderick Award finalist in 2008, and Manley was the Honda Broderick Award winner in 2015.  

Bradley retired from Syracuse in 2022 and continues to give back to the sport. She serves as the head coach of the USA Field Hockey’s U-21 National Team.  Beyond her work with the national program, Bradley continues to give her time to the NEXUS initiative and coaches a myriad of local clinics and youth programs in the local Philadelphia area.

Continued Celebration

The 2026 Hall of Fame class will be recognized at the NFHCA Awards Dinner, which will take place during the 2027 NFHCA Annual Convention in Lake Mary, Florida on January 14, 2027. The 2026 class will be inducted alongside 2025 Hall of Famer Tracey Fuchs, who deferred her induction by a year to travel as an assistant coach with the USA Women’s National Team during their 2026 New Zealand tour.

Upcoming features highlighting each individual honoree will be published on NFHCA.org throughout the next week.

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