Your Coaches

Led by the staff who run Birmingham's varsity team

Parents do not just choose a sport, they choose the people who will shape their child. From the 4–5 group through varsity, your players learn from the same trusted coaches and the same standards.

Head Coach

Amy Murray

Varsity Head Coach and program lead for Birmingham Bobcats Field Hockey.

Amy played at Dartmouth College and still plays whenever she gets the chance. She has coached high school field hockey in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Michigan, and is involved with the USA Field Hockey Nexus Program. Two of her children have graduated from Seaholm High School, with a third making their way through now.

"So many cliches of sport are true, but commitment and pushing outside one's comfort zone are the biggest ones I want the players to walk away with. For many on the team, just trying field hockey was a new adventure, and every day brings the chance to try a new position, a new field configuration, new techniques. That willingness to try, even when you might not have success, should be celebrated. My other takeaway is commitment: once you have signed up and said yes, I'm in, you show up for your team, your coaches, your teammates, and yourself. And most importantly, I hope everyone walks away with a little more joy in their life, because sport should be fun."

Coach

Courtney Effinger

"I never imagined those 57 fresh faces at our first practice would become the girls I'll always know as our first team."

Courtney Effinger helps lead Birmingham United and co-owns the direction of a program being built deliberately, the right way, from the ground up. She started playing field hockey in 1986 and became a goalie in 1989, playing through middle school, high school, and college at Denison University, and afterward with a women's team at UNC. She coached varsity field hockey in North Carolina, then stepped away knowing the game would come back around when the time was right.

"The why is always the kids, my own boys, my students, and my field hockey and lacrosse girls. One thing my players know, and the new ones will learn, is that I am always here for them. After you graduate, when you're a coach, a mom, or anything else, if you need me, you call me. I will always show up for every one of them, forever."

Birmingham field hockey goalmouth action

Led by the staff who run Birmingham's varsity team

Amy Murray

Courtney Effinger

Meet them on the field