Sydney Supica selected to receive NFHCA Junior Hockey Award
BROCKPORT, N.Y. — The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) is proud to announce that Sydney Supica, associate director and coach of the Denver Field Hockey Club, has been selected to receive the Junior Hockey Award at the NFHCA Awards Dinner sponsored by AstroTurf® in January 2022.
“In such a short amount of time Sydney has already made an amazing impact growing our game through the Denver Field Hockey Club,” said Hall of Fame Committee chair, Katie Kloeckener. “She has a clear passion for our game and under her guidance has helped revitalize and grow youth field hockey in the Denver area. We look forward to seeing where she continues to take our game in the future.”
“I feel incredibly honored and grateful to have been nominated and awarded the NFHCA Junior Hockey Award,” remarked Supica. “The transition from college coaching to club has been easy due to my mentors who have instilled a passion for empowering young women while teaching the game of hockey. Youth hockey in Denver is just getting started and I am fully committed to creating more opportunities for young athletes to get involved.”
Supica has been working with the Denver Field Hockey Club (DFHC) for just over 18 months and has helped to increase their reach five-fold. Since arriving in Denver, she has helped to grow the club from only 10 youth players and 30 middle school players to over 50 youth and 90 middle school athletes. Anecdotally, high school and middle school coaches have remarked that they noticed an increase in participation since Supica arrived in Denver. The expansion of DFHC’s numbers has allowed the club to field their first U10, U12, and U14 travel teams, the younger of which will travel to St. Louis, Missouri to compete against Aim Field Hockey this fall.
DFHC’s mission is to introduce new players to the sport of field hockey and develop foundational skills to help expand the sport at the both the club and high school levels. They aim to instill confidence, support, and consistency to develop strong, well-rounded athletes and individuals.
Supica has exemplified this mission in new programming she has initiated with the club and her passion for the sport. Denver is nearly 500 miles from the nearest collegiate program or possible competition making it a challenge to garner interest in the sport and convert young athletes into dedicated field hockey players. Supica’s engagement and interest over the last two years has initiated a spark that has encouraged growth in the Denver field hockey community.
Supica, a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an alumna of Indiana University. She served as an assistant coach at the University of California, Davis and Central Michigan University before arriving in Colorado.
The Award
The NFHCA Junior Hockey Award was created in 2011 as a way to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to the maintenance or development of a junior field hockey program.
Supica will be presented with the Junior Hockey Award at the NFHCA Awards Dinner sponsored by AstroTurf as part of the 2022 NFHCA Annual Convention. Supica is the tenth recipient of the NFHCA’s Junior Hockey Award — she will receive the award alongside the 2020 Junior Hockey Award honoree, Jane DeGrenier.
The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) is a nonprofit organization serving field hockey coaches and supporters of the game from across the United States. The mission of the organization is to champion, strengthen, and celebrate field hockey coaches and the game. The NFHCA strives to cultivate and recognize the professional contributions of its membership and to foster and promote the growth of the sport. The NFHCA is responsible for providing a recognizable presence and voice in regard to legislation affecting the sport as well as interscholastic and intercollegiate programs.