Windy City has the pleasure of announcing two exciting additions to our staff. Both of these women are Windy City Directors and will be very important in managing the programs that you are enrolled in. Their credentials are impressive and their hand in Windy City will impact player development in a very positive way.
Windy City is proud to announce that Katie Beach, former captain of the United States Field Hockey Team, All-American at the University of Maryland and former head coach year at Columbia University has joined the Windy City Travel Team staff. Katie is the newly hired Director of Player Development. She will oversee the development of all players in Windy City. She will develop curriculum, coach one or more Travel Teams and will oversee all the coaches in the Windy City program. She comes to Windy City with the highest of credentials which make her a perfect fit for her job.
Beach was a member of the USA National Field Hockey Team from 1994-2004 and captained the squad in 2003 and 2004. She was named the United States Field Hockey Association Player of the Year in 2000 and again in 2003. Over her 10 years on the USA Team, she competed in major competitions including the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and Pan American games in 1999 and 2003 and the World Cup in 1998 and 2002. During her playing career, Katie earned over 180 international caps and gained leadership experience during her ten year's as a member of the USA National Team.
Katie is a 1997 graduate of the University of Maryland where she played four seasons and was a two-time captain. She was a first-team All-American in 1994 and 1996 and a finalist for the Honda Broderick Field Hockey Player of the Year as a senior. Beach was a Dean's List student, an Academic All-American and member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society. She graduated from Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the Robert H. Smith School of Business.
After graduation, Beach took a position as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia, while training with the national team. After six months at UVA, Beach returned to Maryland as an assistant to Missy Meharg where she was involved in leading the team to a 1999 ACC and NCAA national championship and the following year helped the squad to a repeat of the conference title. In 2004 she took the head coach position at Columbia University and in 4 years took them from a 1-16 record to an 11-6 success in the Ivy's.
Since 1997, Beach has developed, organized and coached at the Katie Beach and Team USA Field Hockey Clinics throughout the country. In 2004, Beach started the Dream Big Field Hockey Camp, which consists of instructional camps and clinics throughout the East Coast.
Beach has also coached various National Team Developmental Programs and was selected to coach a team at the USA/Canada Challenge in the summer of 2007. She continues to be involved with the USFHA by serving on the Ethics Committee, the Futures Task Force and has earned her USFHA Level II Coaching Accreditation.
Amanda joined Windy City as a full time Director on August 1, 2011. She is the Director of Program Development, 
responsible for recruitment, development and execution of the Windy City Roots and Stride programs. In addition she coaches two Travel Teams and is very instrumental in the success and direction of the Travel Team Program.
Amanda Care comes from Newtown, Pennsylvania where she played high school field hockey for Pennsbury. During her high school years, she was in the Spirit Eagles Field Hockey Club under the directions of Bobby Issar.
She was recruited by Northwestern to play field hockey where she was a four year starter and two year captain. As a junior in 2006 at Northwestern, she was selected as 2nd Team All Big Ten and 2nd team Regional All American. As a Senior she was a 1st Team All Big Ten selection, a 2nd Team Regional All American, and a All-Big Ten Tournament Team selection. She was also a member of the USFHA Midwest High Performance Training Squad for two consecutive years.
Amanda has been coaching at Windy City for 5 years. After college, she started the field hockey program at St Ignatius High School and currently is the Assistant Varsity Coach at Loyola Academy. Loyola Academy reached the Illinois State final four for the first time in 2010 where they finished 3rd. She was also a Trainer for Sports Made Personal for a year.
Amanda graduated in 2008 from Northwestern's Robert McCormick School of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. While at Northwestern she was the recipient of the Women in Engineering Award from the Philadelphia Chapter and was awarded the McCormick Engineering and Design Winner award twice. Her senior year, Amanda was the recipient of the Eggemeyer Endowed Scholarship for outstanding service to athletics and for contributions of inspiration and leadership.
