The University of Delaware hires its first ever women’s ice hockey coach.
Allison Coomey is the new program’s first coach, tasked with building toward its inaugural season in 2025-26.
Coomey comes to UD after seven seasons at Penn State as assistant and associate head coach where she says she had lots of day-to-day responsibilities teaching on the ice.
She will hit the ground running, attending a recruiting event this week before acclimating herself to UD’s campus and filling out a staff.
"Fortunately I have the opportunity to get down there and just get the word out, get Delaware's logo out there, and meet people, meet people on campus,” said Coomey. “So the recruiting part is going to be big, the understanding of how things operate around here with athletics and the university as a whole is going to be important, and then finding an assistant to help me with all of that as we go along."
And for recruiting players, she notes the university’s proximity to major airports is an advantage, especially recruiting players from Western Canada and Europe.
Coomey notes this isn’t her first time with a new program. She was a player at Niagara when its women’s ice hockey program first hit the ice, and she believes that experience will help her at UD.
She says being the first ever Blue Hens women’s ice hockey coach is an honor.
"Just to be a head coach in general is special, but to be a head coach of a new program and start from scratch and kind of make my mark but make our mark here at the institution is going to be awesome," said Coomey.
UD is also partnering with the Philadelphia Flyers. Coomey says the Flyers will add more than their name, assisting with development and community outreach.
