Amanda Heryla, the former head coach of the University of
Rhode Island, was named the head field hockey coach at Assumption
College on February 24, 2009.
She led the University of Rhode Island to a 7-9 record in
her only year (2007) as coach at her alma mater. The year was
highlighted by winning the championship of the Hofstra Invitational
over Sacred Heart (2-1) and host Hofstra (1-0). Rhode Island
dropped their program as part of athletics budgetary cuts in the
spring of 2008.
She spent the previous three years as an assistant coach at
Lafayette College in Easton, PA and also served as Director of the
department’s USA Field Hockey Camp, which featured a staff
comprised of several national team and World Cup members. She also
served as a graduate assistant coach at Saint Francis University
(Loreto, PA) from 2001-03. While there, she also worked with the
lacrosse team and earned a Masters in human resource management. In
both 2001 and 2006, she was the field hockey coordinator for the
World Scholar-Athlete Games in Kingston, RI.
A native of Easton, PA, she was graduated with a Bachelors
in English from the University of Rhode Island (2001). A four-year
standout player and 2000 captain, she helped the team advance to
the Atlantic-10 Conference title game twice (1998, 1999) and the
semifinal (2000) once.
In May 2000, she traveled to the Netherlands and Belgium as
a member of the USA Athletes International Field Hockey Team, a
collegiate all-star team which competed in two tournaments against
international talent. She earned selection to the Atlantic-10
Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and the University of Rhode
Island Dean's List twice for her academic achievements. She was
also selected for the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher
Education Distinguished Student-Athlete award as a senior.