CLUB DIRECTOR / ELITE HEAD COACH

Kyla Spallone,

Has been with Venom for 3 seasons and will be entering her fourth full year with the club this November. She has over 6 years of collegiate coaching along with coaching athletes at the high school level as well. Spallone graduated from Siena College where she was a member of the school’s Division I field hockey program as a defender. During her time at Siena, Spallone was the teams starting middle defender. She was named to the NFHCA All Academic Team for two seasons at Siena. Kyla originally is from central Massachusetts where she still holds the all time scoring record for her high school and was voted the Central Massachusetts Player of the Year in her senior season. Kyla is a USA Field Hockey Level 2 Coach and coaches in the Futures program run by USA Field Hockey. Kyla herself as a player participated in 7 years of Futures including 4 trips to the National Futures Tournament. Born into a family of coaches, she gets her passion for the sport mainly from her mother who has coached high school field hockey back in her home state of Massachusetts for over 30 years.  

E-Mail: Kyla@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

YOUTH DIRECTOR / ELITE HEAD COACH

Sandra Zugell,

began playing field hockey in the 3rd grade. While at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, she was a 3-Time State Champion, All-State, and MVP her senior year. Sandra participated in the USA Nexus Program, was selected for USA Elite camps, and twice for the National Futures Championship. Sandra went on to become a four-year letter winner and starter for the University of Michigan. While at U of M, she started primarily at center back and sweeper. Sandra was selected for the NFHCA Division I All-Big Ten Second Team, All-Region (West) Second Team, the NFHCA Senior All-Star game, and was part of the 1997 Big Ten Championship team. Sandra has coached youth clinics, youth rec and ed teams, and summer camps for high school players. She is currently coaching youth field hockey, K-6th grade, for Marshall Township and the North Allegheny school district. Sandra is a certified USA Level 1 Coach, a RRCA Level 1 Certified Running Coach, and a critical care RN. Sandra is passionate about growing the sport of field hockey in Western Pennsylvania.

E-mail: Sandra@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

TRAVEL COACH

Courtney Page,

Courtney has played field hockey since the fifth grade at Northwestern Lehigh. At Northwestern, she helped lead the team to their first district playoff appearance in several years. She was a multiple time letter winner in field hockey and track in field. Received several all area recognition awards. In college, Courtney made the freshman record book for assists, scored two of the three fastest goals in SRU history, named to the NFHCA senior team and was recognized as a NFHCA and PSAC scholar athlete four times. Since college, Courtney was the varsity and jv assistant coach for Northwestern Lehigh High School where they were district champions and colonial league silver medalists in 2022, district semifinalists and colonial league quarter finalists in 2021. Courtney has been coaching at Venom since November 2023.

E-Mail: Courtney@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

ASSISTANT COACH

Jenna Schwenk,

Jenna’s field hockey career began in 5th grade at Oak Knoll School in New Jersey. She played at Oak Knoll through high school, where her team won multiple county, conference, and state championships and finished one year ranked #2 in the country. Her senior year she was recognized as First Team All-County and All-Conference. Jenna also competed at the regional and national levels with The Edge FHC in New Jersey and X-calibur in Pottstown, PA. Her teams won gold at both Festival and Disney. She participated in the USAFH Futures Program for 5 years, gaining selection to the National Futures Championships 3 times and also the AAU Junior Olympics. Her final year in Futures she played at the Elite Level. Jenna went on to play Division I at Dartmouth College as a starting forward. Over the years, Jenna has volunteered to help coach young field hockey players through USAFH and is now a USAFH Level 1 Coach. Currently an assistant coach at Shadyside Academy, she has helped the varsity team win 4 WPIAL championships in her four years with the team.

E-mail: Jenna@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

CLUB ADMINISTRATOR / HEAD COACH

Benjamin Peters, 

At age 12, Ben started playing in his hometown of Sudbury, England and took his England Umpiring Level 1 course when he was 15. In 2008, Ben moved to the USA to be closer to family. Besides his coaching duties, Ben is also an FIH international umpire for the USA. He was awarded his International Badge in 2012 & currently sits on the FIH (International Hockey Federation) International Advancement Panel; he has umpired at the 2017 Sultan Johor Cup in Malaysia, 2018 South American Games in Bolivia, 2018 U-18 Euro Championships I in Spain. He has also traveled to Australia to Umpire in their Premier Division and is an active umpire in the Pan American Region & the England National League as an active NPUA member. He was appointed to the FIH Series Finals in Le Touquet, France. The 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. In 2022he attended the World Cup qualifier, Pan Am Cup in Santiago, Chile. Also in 2022 the inaugural Pro-League Qualifier the FIH Nations Cup in Potchestroom, South Africa. Ben also umpires domestically in the NCAA and USAFH Events. He holds an England Level 1 & USA Level 2 Coaching accreditations.

E-Mail: Ben@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

ELITE HEAD COACH

Emily Humiston,

Emily has been involved in the sport of field hockey since 5th grade. She is a multi-year competitor at USA Field Hockey’s National Futures Championship and the AAU Junior Olympic Games. The all-time scoring leader at North Allegheny High School, Emily went on to play at Division I Providence College, where she was a starting midfielder and forward and the recipient of the team’s Mountain Climber award for achievement in the face of adversity and challenge. In addition to her achievements and contributions on the field, Emily was Big East All-Academic and the first ever female recipient of Providence College’s Student-Athlete of the Month. Emily became the youngest ever head coach of a WPIAL varsity team when she coached Oakland Catholic Field Hockey in 2017. Currently, the Assistant Varsity Field Hockey Coach for Fox Chapel, Emily hopes to continue coaching and developing the youth of the district in both indoor and outdoor field hockey.

E-Mail: Emily@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

TRAVEL COACH

Carolyn Sloss,

Carolyn started her hockey career in the 7th grade. During her high school career in Lancaster PA, she participated in 2 state championships. She was the co-captain for her senior year and tied for the AAA state championship. She also participated in club field hockey during high school and won the National club championship as well as winning her pool in the NIT twice. She went on to play field hockey at Kent State University her freshman year of college where they won the MAC championship. She previously coached at the Nook for two years before moving to Pittsburgh. She is currently the middle school field hockey coach at Mt. Lebanon school district.

E-mail: Carolyn@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

HEAD GOALTENDER COACH

Kirsten Rambo,

Started her commitment to field hockey her freshmen year at Mt. Lebanon High school. Where she received a WPIAL All Star Honorable Mention her senior year. She was the original goalie for the Pittsburgh Venom Field Hockey Club and was recruited to play Division II at Mercyhurst University. Where she played all four years and was a co captain her senior year. She played internationally in Argentina with both her university and Argentine teams. She has been coaching now for five years going on her sixth this season.

E-Mail: Rambo@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

ASSISSTANT GOALTENDER COACH

Emma Jorgensen,

Started her field hockey career in 7th grade in Nazareth, PA the moved to North Allegheny. During her high school career she helped her team to WPIAL finals and state playoffs. She joined venom her junior year and helped them into NITs in 2017. In 2018 she committed to Division II Seton Hill University and played all four years. Her freshman year she was ranked 5th in the nation for saves per game. She began coaching with venom Spring 2023 and was a goalie coach at Mt. Lebanon for Fall 2023.

E-mail: Emma@pittsburgfieldhockey.com