Kelly Terwilliger enters her fifth season at the helm of the Colby College field hockey program with the 2021-22 academic year, along the way building a program rich with a winning tradition.
Terwilliger has led the Mules to tremendous success in her first several seasons, including developing the program into a national top-twenty ranked team, four consecutive winning seasons, and two consecutive years of quarterfinal NESCAC Championship appearances. The Mules have impressively won 33 games in her first four seasons.
Colby field hockey student-athletes are high achievers on the field and in the classroom, adding academic honors to All-America accolades. Mule alums are successful in fields such as medicine, coaching, teaching, law, environmental science, business, government and finance.
With coaching experience at three NCAA Division I programs and a collegiate playing career at The Ohio State University, Terwilliger brings a wealth of successful experience to Colby. Prior to arriving at Colby, She served as Associate Head Coach of Indiana University and spent six years as assistant coach at The Ohio State and two years as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Ohio University.
Coach Terwilliger was a four-year scholarship player and started every game of her career at Ohio State as a defender. An All-Big Ten player selection and an Ohio State Scholar-Athlete honoree, Coach Terwilliger helped the 2006 Buckeye team win the Big Ten conference championship. She earned All-Big Ten honors in 2007, earning Ohio State’s Most Valuable Defender award in the same year. Three of her four years playing for the Buckeyes, Terwilliger competed in the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Elite 8 in 2006.
After graduation from The Ohio State, Terwilliger coached at Ohio University while earning two master’s degrees in Coaching Education and Sports Administration. She helped guide the Bobcats to two Mid-American Conference Tournament and regular season titles in three years. The 2011 squad made the NCAA Sweet 16 and the 2009 team competed in an NCAA play-in game boasting a record of 18-2.
Terwilliger’s coaching experience also reaches beyond the collegiate level as she is heavily involved in the U.S. coaching system. Terwilliger actively coaches for the United States Field Hockey Association High Performance program and won the USFHA Women’s National Championship in June 2014. During her coaching career, Terwilliger has been heavily involved in the USFHA Futures Program and has served as regional head coach since 2009 and regional tournament selector since 2011. She gives back to the sport by owning and directing the Waterville-based youth field hockey club, Maine Majestix, providing high-quality training environments, unique opportunities to youth players to help Maine athletes reach their next level in their field hockey careers.
Terwilliger was a three sport high school athlete and was inducted to the East Stroudsburg High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. She holds a Level II USFHA coaching accreditation, the second-highest accreditation in the U.S. system and is a 2014 graduate of the NCAA Women’s Coaching Academy. She has directed and instructed at camps throughout the country including Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, Rutgers, Louisville, Michigan State, Ohio University, and Bucknell. Coach Terwilliger owns and directs the Maine Field Hockey Academy Summer Camp, working closely with the Maine field hockey middle school and high school community.
Terwilliger comes from a family of coaches. Her brother, Jimmy, is the head football coach at East Stroudsburg University and broke 18 NCAA Division II records as quarterback for the team from 2003 to 2006. Her father, Mike, is the offensive coordinator for ESU football and has been coaching at ESU for 46 years.
