Follow @BustinDukeTrue

Follow @DukeFH

A three-time ACC and NFHCA South Region Coach of the Year and a member of the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame, Pam Bustin has guided the field hockey program since 2011, guiding the Blue Devils to a 162-101 ledger, a trip to the 2013 NCAA title game and to three NCAA semifinal appearances.

Following a few tough seasons that saw the Blue Devils struggle at times, Bustin and the Blue Devils bounced back with a vengeance in 2023. Under the guidance of Bustin, Duke turned went from winning seven games in 2022 to capturing 18 in 2023 - the 12th-best turnaround in NCAA field hockey history. Along with the 18 wins came a share of the ACC regular season crown, an ACC Championship Final appearance and a berth in the NCAA semifinals.

The appearance in the NCAA Tournament was Duke's first since 2019 as the Blue Devils rode the play of sophomore Alaina McVeigh and senior Hannah Miller on offense and Mary Harkins and Piper Hampsch on defense. McVeigh, Miller and Hampsch each earned NFHCA All-America honors to go along with their All-ACC First Team mentions. McVeigh, leading the team with 17 goals, was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Year while Hampsch garnered the league's inaugural ACC Goalkeeper of the Year award. Harkins was an All-ACC second-team pick along with Kira Curland while midfielder Charlie van Oirschot hauled in an NFHCA All-South Region honor for the second time.

Bustin and the coaching staff of Ralph Boersma, Jess Jecko and Wesley Ann Boersma were voted the NFHcA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year for their leadership of the Blue Devils.

Despite the struggles during the unique expanded 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the 2021 and 2022 campaign, the Blue Devils saw a freshman All-American in Darcy Bourne in the spring of 2021. Bourne also was Duke's first ACC Freshman of the Year after scoring eight goals in her first campaign as a Blue Devils.

Under Bustin’s direction, the Blue Devils made their 18th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019. Duke finished the 2019 campaign with a 13-8 record and landing at No. 8 in the final NFHCA Coaches Poll. Bustin’s squad saw two All-America selections in 2019 with Margaux Paolino and Jillian Wolgemuth while four student-athletes earned All-South Region honors.

In 2018, the Blue Devils made their 17th NCAA Tournament appearance, reaching the quarterfinal round for the sixth consecutive year. The squad rounded out the season at 16-6 and featured a pair of All-Americans in Margaux Paolino (first team) and Rose Tynan (second team). Duke won eight of its final nine contests in the regular season before reaching the semifinals of the ACC Championship for the third straight fall. The 2018 campaign also saw Bustin top the 100-victory mark at Duke, reaching the milestone in a 4-3 overtime win against Liberty Aug. 26.

Bustin added a coaching milestone in the 2017 season, earning the 250th win of her career in a 3-0 shutout of Old Dominion Sept. 24 to become the 14th active Division I head field hockey coach to reach the milestone. The 2017 campaign resulted in a 17-4 record, an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals and three All-Americans in Alyssa Chillano, Paolino and Tynan. Under Bustin's guidance, the Blue Devils also led the ACC in all-conference and all-academic team selections for the 2017 season.

The Duke program accomplished a number of firsts in 2016, capturing its first ACC regular season title and reaching No. 1 in the national poll for the first time in school history. Under Bustin’s watch, the Blue Devils earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals. The squad compiled a 16-4 ledger against the nation’s toughest schedule and featured a pair of first-time All-Americans in Chillano and Heather Morris. At the conclusion of the season, Bustin was honored as the ACC and NFHCA South Region Coach of the Year.

The 2015 season saw Duke earn a spot in the NCAA semifinals for the second time in three years. Under Bustin’s direction, the Blue Devils went 14-7, with 11 of the 14 wins coming against ranked opponents. The squad matched a program record with seven players on the NFHCA All-South Region teams and boasted a pair of All-Americans in goalkeeper Lauren Blazing and midfielder Aileen Johnson.

The Blue Devils earned their third NCAA Tournament bid in four years in 2014, concluding the season in the quarterfinals with a 13-7 record. Bustin’s squad started off the fall on a six-game win streak for the program’s best start to a season since 1978. Duke hosted the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2008 and had three All-America selections in Abby Beltrani, Lauren Blazing and Aileen Johnson.

A historic 2013 campaign saw Bustin guide Duke to the NCAA championship match for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2005. The Blue Devils reached the title match with a 3-2 semifinal upset of top-ranked and top-seeded Maryland, a win that also marked the 200th of Bustin’s collegiate coaching career. The squad finished the fall with a 17-7 ledger, including five wins over top-10 opponents, while Paula Heimbach, Emmie Le Marchand and Lauren Blazing received All-America recognition and Bustin was named the South Region Coach of the Year.

In 2012, Duke sent six players to the Junior Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where they gained valuable international playing experience despite missing five regular season games. The Blue Devils concluded the fall with a 7-11 record, though 10 of the 11 losses on the season were to opponents ranked in the top 25 nationally.

Bustin’s first year at Duke saw the team finish the season ranked sixth in the nation, advance to the 2011 ACC Championship match with a 2-1 victory over eventual national champion Maryland in the semifinals and earn an NCAA tournament bid. Bustin earned ACC Coach of the Year honors at the conclusion of the season for the third conference coach of the year accolade of her career. She was previously named Big East Coach of the Year and MAC Coach of the Year.

In eight years, Bustin has overseen 20 All-America selections, 44 All-South Region picks and 30 All-ACC honorees. During her tenure, the team has also excelled off the field with 43 selections to the All-ACC Academic team. The squad has been recognized at a national level, earning Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Team distinction eight times after compiling a collective team grade point average that ranks among the best in the country. Individually, 40 Blue Devils have been named to the Division I National Academic Squad, with five student-athletes receiving Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I Scholars of Distinction accolades and Lauren Blazing winning the Elite 90 Award in 2015.

At Louisville (1998-2010)
Prior to coaching at Duke, Bustin served 13 seasons at the helm of the Louisville program. After joining the Cardinals’ staff in 1998, Bustin transformed the squad into a six-time regular season conference champion – including three league crowns each in both the Mid-American Conference and the BIG EAST – and a mainstay among the nation’s elite programs. In her 13 years as head coach at Louisville, she recorded 11 winning seasons, compiling an overall record of 153-119 (.562) while playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.

As a member of the BIG EAST Conference, Bustin led Louisville to three consecutive regular season titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Following the 2008 season, she was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, directing the Cardinals to a 14-7 overall ledger, the conference regular season championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament. In 2005, Louisville’s first season as a member of the BIG EAST, the Cardinals produced one of the premier offenses in the country, leading the nation in scoring.

In the Cardinals’ final season in the MAC, Louisville captured both the 2004 conference regular season and tournament titles, earning its second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The 2003 season saw Louisville win its first MAC Tournament championship, receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. In 2002, Bustin led Louisville to the MAC regular season crown, following the Cardinals’ debut in the top-20 rankings in 2001 as Louisville climbed as high as No. 6 in the national polls. For her efforts, she was named conference coach of the year in both 2001 and 2004.

At Hofstra (1997)
Before arriving at Louisville, Bustin served as head coach at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. In just one season with The Pride, she was able to turn around a struggling program, leading Hofstra to a 9-9 overall record in 1997.

Bustin's Early Years
From 1992-97, Bustin served as an assistant coach at Michigan State University as the Spartans enjoyed consistent success as a top-20 program. In 1990, she took an assistant position at Temple University, helping the Owls to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances with quarterfinal runs in 1991 and 1992.

USA Field Hockey Experience
In addition to her collegiate coaching duties, Bustin has served as an assistant coach with the United States National Under-19 and Under-21 teams, working regularly to develop the nation’s junior players. She was previously an assistant for the U.S. National Team, helping the United States to an eighth place finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bustin guided the United States to the country’s first Olympic berth since 1996 as the team went 6-0 at the Kazan Olympic Qualifier in 2008. Bustin is a U.S. Field Hockey accredited Level III coach and instructs coaching courses throughout the country as well.

Prior to coaching at the Olympic level, Bustin served as team captain on the United States Under-21 team from 1987-89, competing in the 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990 U.S. Olympic Festivals. In 1989, she helped the U.S. capture a silver medal at the Junior Pan American Games before being named to the U.S. National Team, playing with the national squad through the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Bustin was selected to the USA Field Hockey’s Hall of Fame Class of 2014, the first group to be inducted since 2004.

Collegiate Career
A 1990 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Bustin was a four-year letterwinner (1985-88), team captain, team MVP and All-Atlantic 10 honoree, in addition to garnering a first team All-America selection and Honda-Broderick Award nomination as female athlete of the year in 1988. UMass made the NCAA Tournament in each of her four years in Amherst and advanced to the national semifinals in 1987. In the spring of 2012, Bustin was inducted into the UMass Hall of Fame.

Bustin Year-by-Year

1997 Hofstra: 9-9, 3-5 America East
1998 Louisville: 1-19, 0-10 MAC (6th)
1999 Louisville: 5-16, 1-9 MAC (6th)
2000 Louisville: 14-8, 5-5 MAC (3rd)
2001 Louisville: 16-5, 7-3 MAC (3rd)
2002 Louisville: 13-8, 7-3 MAC (t-1st)
2003 Louisville: 13-10, 6-4 MAC (2nd)
2004 Louisville: 12-10, 8-2 MAC (t-1st)
2005 Louisville: 14-7, 3-2 Big East (3rd)
2006 Louisville: 12-8, 5-1 Big East (t-1st)
2007 Louisville: 14-6, 5-1 Big East (t-1st)
2008 Louisville: 14-7, 5-1 Big East (t-1st)
2009 Louisville: 12-8, 4-2 Big East (3rd)
2010 Louisville: 13-7, 5-1 Big East (2nd)
2011 Duke: 14-8, 2-3 ACC (3rd)
2012 Duke: 7-11, 0-5 ACC (6th)
2013 Duke: 17-7, 3-3 ACC (5th)
2014 Duke: 13-7, 2-4 ACC (7th)
2015 Duke: 14-7, 2-4 ACC (5th)
2016 Duke: 16-4, 5-1 ACC (1st)
2017 Duke: 17-4, 4-2 ACC (2nd)
2018 Duke: 16-6, 5-1 ACC (2nd)
2019 Duke: 13-8, 1-5 ACC (6th)
2020-21 Duke: 4-12, 2-4 (7th)

Bustin Career Record: 293-202 (.592)
Bustin Duke Record: 131-74 (.639)

Name	Title	Email	Phone
Pam Bustin	Head Coach	pb95@duke.edu	(919) 684-4116
Ralph Boersma	Associate Head Coach	ralph.boersma@duke.edu	(919) 433-7917
Jess Jecko	Assistant Coach	jess.jecko@duke.edu

Name	Title	Email	Phone
Joey Carnes	Sports Performance Coach	joseph.carnesiii@duke.edu
Aleah Ryan	Assistant Director of Athletic Medicine	aleah.ryan@duke.edu	(919) 684-6823

2026 Field Hockey Staff

Coaching Staff

Support Staff

Duke information