lisa griffiths

club director

Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Lisa moved to the United States in 2013. Playing in the Premier League in Victoria, Australia, with Hawthorn HC, she won a premiership title. She continued to play with Monash University HC where she developed a passion for coaching. Being involved in many aspects of the club, she coached a lower level women's team as well as coaching and developing the junior field hockey programs at the club.

Once she moved to the US, she landed in San Diego and spent 4 seasons coaching high school. Since moving to Colorado, she has been involved with the club aspect of hockey, high school coaching and developing goal keepers across the state.
Lisa is currently a USAFH level 2 and a Level 1 Hockey Victoria coach. She is also the regional administration manager for USAFH's Olympic development program Nexus and has been involved with coaching the program since 2018.
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In her free time, she likes to spend time with her Husband, 2 kids, three dogs and three fish!
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Email: lisa@westernelitefhc.com

Laura hurff

Club & TECHNICAL director

Growing up in Newark, DE, Laura has spent the best part of the last 12 years being heavily involved in Hockey. Joining Syracuse for college, she was a part of the first Women's team that won a NCAA national title for the school. A four-year letterwinner at Syracuse, Hurff was a three-time NFHCA All-American and three-time All-ACC honoree. She tallied 55 career points for the Orange, including 20 goals across 82 appearances.

Laura started on the USA Women's national team as a U17 and progressed through her junior years to join the Women's National team in 2018 getting her first international cap vs Canada. Being a member of both the outdoor and indoor national teams, she has traveled the world for hockey, spending a season in Australia playing against the top national players there. She has also coached at Cornell University and more recently Stanford University.

She is looking forward to joining us here in Colorado and helping our players reach their goals.

Email: laura@westernelitefhc.com

emily hazard

Travel team coach & goalkeeping specialist

A Highlands Ranch, CO native, Emily Hazard competed as a goalkeeper for Mountain Vista High School where she was an All-State, All-West Region and 3rd Team All-American honoree. 

After finishing high school in 2013, Hazard went on to play Division I field hockey for 5 years at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. During her time at UMass, the team won 3 Atlantic 10 Championships, went to the Sweet Sixteen 3 times and the Elite 8 once. Throughout her time at UMass, the minutewomen were consistently ranked in the top-25 and saw a ranking as high as #7 in the country. As a goalkeeper, she recorded honors such as all-tournament team, all-academic team and NFHCA national academic squad. She graduated in 2016 with her degree in Sport Management and completed a year of graduate school. 
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After finishing at UMass in 2018, Emily worked with the Atlantic 10 Conference in Newport News, VA before returning home to Colorado to work in marketing. As a Colorado product, Hazard has a passion for helping Colorado goalkeepers and players grow into competitive, smart, and technically-sound individuals. 
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Email: emily@westernelitefhc.com

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katie clark

travel team coach & Skills analyst advisor

A Vienna, VA native, Katie, started playing field hockey at the end of 8th grade for her club team Capitol Pegasus & went on to play 4 years of Varsity field hockey at Marshall High School. While at Marshall she earned all district & all region honors junior & senior year & was named Sun Gazette Field Hockey player of the year her senior year. Katie went on to play D1 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, winning 3 A-10 Championships & making 3 NCAA appearances. 
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Post college, Katie served as the assistant coach at Rhodes College for 2 seasons (Fall 2017 & 2018) where the Lynx won the SAA conference title in 2018 & advanced to the NCAA tournament. After Rhodes, Katie moved to Boston was involved in coaching club for the Wizards, coaching Futures & played with the Minutemen. Katie now lives in Fort Collins & plays as much as she can! 

Email: katie@westernelite.com

delaney baxendale

COACH & STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING SPECIALIST

Originally from Connecticut, Delaney began playing field hockey in fourth grade. After high school, Delaney played Division I field hockey at the University of Maine for a year before transferring to Drexel University for the following three years. She earned All-CAA Second Team and was co-captain of the squad her senior year. After graduating with a degree in Sport Management, she moved out to Colorado to work at USA Field Hockey. 
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Delaney is now pursuing her Master's in Sport Coaching from University of Denver and serves as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Colorado School of Mines. She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA.
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Email: delaney@westernelitefhc.com

ALEX MURPHY

COACH & ADVANCE SKILL SPECIALIST

Native to Colorado, Alex started playing field hockey at the rip age of 8 after taking home a flyer for sign up to play. He never looked back and played under Men's national team player Paul Lewis where he exceled and played for the men's East Coast High Performance team. He has attended multiple camps with Dutch nationals which pushed him to excel and gain the confidence and drive to compete at a higher level. Alex was invited several times to join the men's national team however it was his passion for running that took him off to college.

A keen running enthusiast, he has been running since Kindergarten. Alex played hockey throughout high school but also ran Cross Country where he then pursed this at Colorado Mesa University. Alex is now home in Colorado where he is excited to spread his passion for hockey and share his knowledge with players of all abilities. 

Email: alex@westernelitefhc.com

amy vincent

health & wellness specialist

Born and raised in New Zealand, Amy has played and coached in New Zealand and Australia. After playing at Premier Two level in Australia, she found her love and joy in coaching which has continued in her move to the United States.

Amy moved to the United States in 2019 and increased her love of coaching to train new rugby players in Virginia. She rediscovered hockey in the Fall of 2021. She has been coaching club and NEXUS hockey for the past year and is a USAFH Level 2 coach.

Amy is a certified yoga instructor and has found a deep passion for recovery yoga for athletes. Using this passion for yoga and hockey coaching, she mentors and nurtures middle school and high school athletes in many areas of life.

In her free time, she enjoys running, alpine skiing, practicing yoga, and exploring Denver.
Email: amy@westernelitefhc.com