COACHES

Field hockey umpire in purple shirt, watching the game on the blue field.

CLUB DIRECTOR / ELITE COACH


Benjamin Peters, 


At age 12, Ben started playing in his hometown of Sudbury, England and took his England Umpiring Level 1 course when he was 15. In 2008, Ben moved to the USA for a new adventure.


Besides his administration & coaching duties at Venom, Ben is also an FIH international umpire for the USA. He was awarded his International Badge in 2012 & currently sits on the FIH (International Hockey Federation) High Performance Panel; he has umpired at many International events on every continent. His tournaments including 3 seasons of the FIH Pro League, 2 Pan American Games, 2 Pan American Cups & 2 Junior World Cups for a total of 77 international caps. 


Ben also umpires domestically in the NCAA and is a D1 National Championship Umpire. 


He holds an England Level 1 & USA Level 2 Coaching accreditations & was the USA Field Hockey 2024 National Umpire Of The Year.


E-Mail: Ben@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

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YOUTH DIRECTOR / ELITE COACH


Sandra Zugell,


Sandra began playing field hockey in the 3rd grade. While at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, she was a 3-time State Champion, All-State, MVP in field hockey, and MVP and captain in soccer.


Sandra participated in the USA Nexus Program, was selected for USA Elite regional camps, and for the National Futures Tournament. Sandra went on to become a four-year letter winner and starter for the University of Michigan. While at U of M, she primarily played center back and sweeper. She was selected for the NFHCA Division I All-Big Ten Second Team, All-Region (West) All-American Second Team, the NFHCA Division I Senior All-Star game, and was part of the 1997 Big Ten Championship team.


Sandra has been coaching for Pittsburgh Venom FHC and the Tigers Youth Field Hockey program since 2021, and is also currently coaching for the Cranberry Township Field Hockey program. Sandra is a certified USA Level 2 Coach and a RRCA Level 1 Certified Running Coach.


Sandra is passionate about growing the sport of field hockey in Western Pennsylvania and helping young athletes excel in balancing sports with daily life and academics


E-mail:  Sandra@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

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ELITE COACH


Ciara Calderone,


Ciara began playing field hockey in 5th grade and went on to a standout career as a starter all four years at Allentown High School (NJ), earning All-Colonial Valley Conference First Team, All-Area, All-Group honors, team MVP, team Captain, and Athlete of the Year recognition. She played club field hockey with Jersey Intensity, winning multiple national medals, including gold medals at the National Field Hockey Festival, Disney Showcase, National Indoor Tournament and competing internationally in Argentina.


Ciara continued her career at Division I Hofstra University before transitioning into coaching with Jersey Intensity Field Hockey Club. Ciara played and coached at Jersey Intensity under the leadership of Nigel Traverso for over a decade, gaining extensive experience in elite player development.


As a coach, Ciara has won multiple gold and silver medals and has coached athletes who advanced to the USA Women’s National Teams. After moving to Pittsburgh, she began coaching with North Allegheny Youth Field Hockey, Cranberry Township Field Hockey, and Pittsburgh Venom Field Hockey Club.


Ciara also coaches for USA Field Hockey’s Nexus program and will serve as a Pittsburgh site director this spring. She is passionate about growing and developing field hockey opportunities for both boys and girls in Western Pennsylvania.


E-Mail: Ciara@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

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ELITE COACH


Courtney Page,


Courtney has played field hockey since the fifth grade at Northwestern Lehigh. At Northwestern, she helped lead the team to their first district playoff appearance in several years. She was a multiple time letter winner in field hockey and track in field. Received several all area recognition awards.


In college, Courtney made the freshman record book for assists, scored two of the three fastest goals in SRU history, named to the NFHCA senior team and was recognized as a NFHCA and PSAC scholar athlete four times. Since college, Courtney was the varsity and jv assistant coach for Northwestern Lehigh High School where they were district champions and colonial league silver medalists in 2022, district semifinalists and colonial league quarter finalists in 2021.


Courtney has been coaching at Venom since November 2023 and in 2026 took over as the Peters TWP High School Head Coach. Courtney is a USAFH Level 1 Coach.


E-Mail: Courtney@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

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GOALKEEPER COACH / ASSISTANT COACH


Mackenzie Gagliardi,


Mackenzie Gagliardi is the head field hockey coach at Washington & Jefferson College, a position she assumed in June 2025. Prior to W&J, she served as head coach at Dallas High School, where she led the Mountaineers to three consecutive district playoff appearances and the program’s first district championship game in over a decade in 2024, which led to a berth in the Pennsylvania state tournament. She also serves as a Level 1 Nexus Coach with USA Field Hockey, helping identify and train top U14–U19 athletes.


A Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania native, Gagliardi was a multi-sport athlete at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, earning four varsity letters in softball, swim and field hockey and helping the program capture two Pennsylvania state championships (2011, 2013). She continued her career as a goalkeeper at Cornell University, earning the 2016 Jeff Stenstrom Memorial Award presented to the student-athlete who best exemplifies leadership, dedication and strength of character.


E-Mail:  Mackenzie@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

ASSISTANT COACH


Holly Stiller,


Holly’s field hockey career began in 5th grade. She attended Iroquois Central School in New York, where she earned four letters, was a four-time first team All-EOC Section 6 honoree, and a three-time first team All-Western New York selection. During her time at Iroquois and as captain in her senior year, she led her team to four division titles and multiple championships. She also played club field hockey with the WNY Whalers before continuing her career at Slippery Rock University.


At Slippery Rock, Holly earned NFHCA All-Academic Squad and PSAC Scholar-Athlete honors in 2019, 2020, and 2021. In 2021, she started all 16 games and tied for second on the team in assists. In 2019, she started all 18 games, ranked sixth nationally with five defensive saves, and finished her career ranked seventh in program history for defensive saves.


Holly remains passionate about growing the sport of field hockey & has been a Venom coach for the past 2 years and is a USAFH Level 1 coach.

E-Mail:  Holly@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

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ASSISTANT COACH


Carly Kubacka,


Carly has been playing field hockey since 9th grade at Norwin high school in North Huntingdon Pennsylvania. While there, she was a 4 year varsity player, and team captain for 2 years. She was named a first team all star, and all conference her senior year. During her high school career, she was also a member of Pittsburgh Venoms club teams for  3 years.


After high school she committed to Division ll Seton Hill where she started all games as a midfielder. After her freshman season, she transferred to Division l Central Michigan. While at Central she was named a team captain during her Junior year season. Since her time in college, she has stepped into Norwin high school's Varsity field hockey head coach, where she currently remains. Carly started with Venom in 2025 and is a USAFH Level 1 Coach.


E-Mail: Carly@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

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ASSISTANT COACH


Delaney Lentz,


Delaney started her field hockey career in the 7th grade with the local YWCA program, playing against private schools. At Penn Trafford High School, Delaney was a three-year starter and Captain her senior year, winning 4 WPIAL championships. She was a multiple letter winner in field hockey and diving. Delaney is an alumnus from Venom and was on the winning 2022 National Indoor Tournament team and 2021 Shooting Star Thanksgiving Tournament teams.


In college, Delaney played defense for Division 1 teams, Lindenwood University and Mercyhurst University. She was a four-year starter and earned Scholar of Distinction twice and was a three-time National Academic squad athlete.


Delaney started coaching with Venom in the winter of 2025 and is a USAFH Level 1 coach.


E-mail: Delaney@pittsburgfieldhockey.com

ASSISTANT GOALKEEPER COACH


Taylor Page,


Taylor started playing field hockey in sixth grade at Northwestern Lehigh School District in New Tripoli, PA. While at Northwestern Taylor was a four year varsity starter and four year Colonial League All Star. As a senior she made first team all area and second team all state. Her senior year of high school she lead her team to the first appearance in a state playoff game in over a decade while serving as team captain. 


Taylor then went on to continue her field hockey career at Slippery Rock University where she was a two time member of the NFHCA All Academic Squad and a two time PSAC Scholar Athlete. Following her college career she started her high school coaching career as the goalie coach at Peters TWP High School and began coaching with Venom in 2024 and is a USAFH Level 1 coach.


E-Mail:  Taylor@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

TRAVELLING COACHES

Kyla Spallone,

Has been with Venom for 8 seasons. She has over 6 years of collegiate coaching along with coaching athletes at the high school level as well. Spallone graduated from Siena College where she was a member of the school’s Division I field hockey program as a defender. During her time at Siena, Spallone was the teams starting middle defender. She was named to the NFHCA All Academic Team for two seasons at Siena. Kyla originally is from central Massachusetts where she still holds the all time scoring record for her high school and was voted the Central Massachusetts Player of the Year in her senior season. Kyla is a USA Field Hockey Level 2 Coach and coaches in the Futures program run by USA Field Hockey. Kyla herself as a player participated in 7 years of Futures including 4 trips to the National Futures Tournament. Born into a family of coaches, she gets her passion for the sport mainly from her mother who has coached high school field hockey back in her home state of Massachusetts for over 30 years.  


E-Mail: Kyla@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

Kirsten Rambo,

Started her commitment to field hockey her freshmen year at Mt. Lebanon High school. Where she received a WPIAL All Star Honorable Mention her senior year. She was the original goalie for the Pittsburgh Venom Field Hockey Club and was recruited to play Division II at Mercyhurst University. Where she played all four years and was a co captain her senior year. She played internationally in Argentina with both her university and Argentine teams. She has been coaching now for five years going on her sixth this season.


E-Mail: Rambo@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

Emily Humiston,

Emily has been involved in the sport of field hockey since 5th grade. She is a multi-year competitor at USA Field Hockey’s National Futures Championship and the AAU Junior Olympic Games. The all-time scoring leader at North Allegheny High School, Emily went on to play at Division I Providence College, where she was a starting midfielder and forward and the recipient of the team’s Mountain Climber award for achievement in the face of adversity and challenge. In addition to her achievements and contributions on the field, Emily was Big East All-Academic and the first ever female recipient of Providence College’s Student-Athlete of the Month. Emily became the youngest ever head coach of a WPIAL varsity team when she coached Oakland Catholic Field Hockey in 2017. Currently, the Assistant Varsity Field Hockey Coach for Fox Chapel, Emily hopes to continue coaching and developing the youth of the district in both indoor and outdoor field hockey.


E-Mail: Emily@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

Jenna Schwenk,

Jenna’s field hockey career began in 5th grade at Oak Knoll School in New Jersey. She played at Oak Knoll through high school, where her team won multiple county, conference, and state championships and finished one year ranked #2 in the country. Her senior year she was recognized as First Team All-County and All-Conference. Jenna also competed at the regional and national levels with The Edge FHC in New Jersey and X-calibur in Pottstown, PA. Her teams won gold at both Festival and Disney. She participated in the USAFH Futures Program for 5 years, gaining selection to the National Futures Championships 3 times and also the AAU Junior Olympics. Her final year in Futures she played at the Elite Level. Jenna went on to play Division I at Dartmouth College as a starting forward. Over the years, Jenna has volunteered to help coach young field hockey players through USAFH and is now a USAFH Level 1 Coach. Currently an assistant coach at Shadyside Academy, she has helped the varsity team win 4 WPIAL championships in her four years with the team.


E-mail: Jenna@pittsburghfieldhockey.com