Field Hockey

Warren Prestwich
	Head Coach
	Warren.Prestwich@goucher.edu
	410-337-6547

In the first 57 years of its existence, Goucher's field hockey program was under the direction of 11 different known head coaches. Then in 2006, a native of Australia -- and the first male -- took over.

Warren Prestwich, who is entering his second season as Goucher's head field hockey coach, began playing the sport in 1969 when he was 6 years old. He has extensive international experience as both a player and a coach, and his travels have taken him as far as Europe to observe how the game is played in other parts of the world.

Prior to joining Goucher's coaching staff, Prestwich served as an assistant coach for four seasons at William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., working primarily with the goalkeepers. Two of the goalies he instructed went on to earn Division III All-America honors from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, and the Herons captured an NCAA Division III national championship during his tenure.

Prestwich was an excellent player at the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia, from which he graduated in 1989. One of the highlights of his playing career was being awarded a University Blue in 1989 as one of the institution's outstanding student-athletes. He anchored teams that won back-to-back Australian university national titles in 1988 and 1989, and was selected MVP of the 1989 semifinal contest after saving all of the opponents' penalty shots once the game was extended to a penalty shootout.

Prestwich was also familiar with success at the high school level. He was the starting goalkeeper for Murwillumbah High School in New South Wales on teams that won consecutive state titles and went undefeated in 1979 and 1980. In addition, he was the starting goalie for the regional team that won the state under-16 tournament in 1979.

During 29 years in the coaching profession, Prestwich has instructed male and female players from all age levels. At Goucher, he plans to employ the Oceanic style of team play that is common in Australia and relishes the challenge of leading the Gophers in their first season in the Landmark Conference.

Prestwich and his wife, Suzanne, moved to Maryland in May 2006 from upstate New York and presently reside in Parkville with their sons, Will, 6, and Tom, 4.