Our Coaches

Coaches

Maryland Legacy FHC hires professional field hockey coaches who play the game and know the game. All of our coaches are paid for their time and FH experience. In order for our players to succeed on the field and to fully develop their skills and Hockey IQ, our coaches need to know how to breakdown the skills and teach them to players in a basic and understandable way. We believe the best way to accomplish this is through paid professional coaches. Maryland Legacy FHC does not have volunteer parent coaches. If a parent has FH experience and is hired as a coach, they will not be permitted to coach their athlete’s team. We want to foster a fun, care-free and competitive environment for all players, families and coaches!

Kelly Given

Director & Head Coach

Coach Kelly has over 26 years of field hockey experience. She played at Division I Kent State University from 2000 - 2003. The Flashes won the MAC Conference and Tournament titles 3x, earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament 3x and were consistently ranked among the top 20 DI teams in the nation - with their highest ranking being 7th at the end of the 2002 season. Coach Kelly earned 2nd Team All-MAC 3x, MAC Conference All-Tournament Team 2x, and was the 2003 KSU Defensive player of the year.

For the past 4 years, Coach Kelly was the Director of Field Hockey at Koa Sports in Bethesda, MD. Most recently, she was named the new head FH coach at Walkersville High School.

Coach Kelly currently lives in Walkersville with her husband John and their dog Emma. Coach Kelly is a Crossfit Level 1 certified trainer, and she and John own and coach all classes at Lion’s Den Strength & Conditioning located in Walkersville.

Liz Whitney

Head Coach

Coach Liz Whitney is no stranger to field hockey as she brings many years of coaching and playing experience to Maryland Legacy. She is a proud alumna of Kent State University (2003 – 2006), earning many team and individual accolades as a DI athlete. She went on to pursue graduate study at Kent State but remained committed to the sport by coaching at 3 local high schools over many years.

Coach Liz took a hiatus from field hockey while developing a career in higher education at the University of Kentucky but in 2020 she career pivoted to K-12 education and is now a health teacher with the MCPS.

Coach Liz lives with her husband (Scott) and yellow lab (Dita) in Germantown MD.

Fun Fact: Coach Kelly and Coach Liz grew up playing and loving FH together! We played together in High School, in Club with East Coast FH, in college and have been coaching together for many years!