Union
College head women's hockey coach
Fred Quistgard announced March 17 that he is resigning to pursue other career
interests.
Quistgard, who has served as the
Dutchwomen's head coach for six seasons, will remain at the College until the
completion of his contract in June. Meanwhile, assistant women's hockey coach Myia Yates has
announced that she will be leaving Union to accept
coaching positions at Division III
Daniel Webster College
in Nashua, N.H.
Quistgard made the following
statement after announcing his resignation to his team at their season-ending
banquet on March 14: “For the past six years, building a strong foundation for
the Union College
women's ice hockey program has been my passion. Taking a program from the club
level to Division III and then moving to Division I in a short amount of time has
been very tiring. It is time for me to pass the torch to someone who will
appreciate Union College
and the special student-athletes we have.”
Originally hired by former Union
College Director of Athletics Dick Sakala to turn a club program into a varsity
women's hockey program, Quistgard successfully managed the challenging task, improving
each season as a member of the ECAC's Division III women's hockey conference,
before making the major step this past season to the Division I level.
“Fred has done a tremendous job of
building a program that now competes in the nation's most prestigious women's
collegiate hockey conference (ECAC),” said Union Director of Athletics Val Belmonte.
“Fred is extremely passionate about his coaching and the student-athletes he
works with every day. He has made a positive and lasting impression on the many
young women he has coached while at Union.”
Quistgard and Belmonte said they are
proud of how the Union program has been built over the past six years. “Junior
captain Jamie Laubisch's nomination for the Hockey Humanitarian Award this
season is a testament to the type of student-athlete that Fred has helped bring
to the Union campus,” said Belmonte. “I am confident that Fred has laid the
groundwork for his successor and that the Union women's hockey program will
continue to improve as we move into the future.”
Looking back on his experience at Union,
Quistgard commented, “I am grateful to Dick Sakala and Val Belmonte for their
support and I look forward to following the growth of Union's
women's hockey program in the coming years.”
Yates leaves Union
after serving three years as an assistant coach under Quistgard. She will take
on head coaching responsibilities in softball and women's soccer at Daniel
Webster and will be given the opportunity to begin a women's hockey program as
well.
“I have had a great experience at Union
and was able to grow as a coach in many different ways,” said Yates when
announcing her decision to leave the program. “I had a wonderful mentor in
Coach Quistgard and a great group of student-athletes to work with. I am going
to miss everyone tremendously.”
Assistant women's hockey coach
Laura Hays will assume all coaching and administrative responsibilities. Hays,
who joined the Union staff last summer after serving two years as an assistant
coach at Utica College,
will remain as an assistant coach once Quistgard's replacement is hired.