Reconnecting on the Field Hockey Pitch: UAlbany’s Phil Sykes and Stanford’s Steve Danielson
ALBANY, N.Y.- University at Albany field hockey head coach Phil Sykes and Stanford assistant coach Steve Danielson have been friends for years, but found themselves in unfamiliar territory as foes on Sunday afternoon.
Danielson led his No. 6 Stanford Cardinal to Alumni Field to face Sykes’ No. 11 Great Danes, and Danielson emerged with the 2-1 win in a closely-contested game. But the pair was all smiles after the match.
“It’s a fun excuse to see each other when we put it on the schedule,” said Danielson. “It’s cool to have everything come full circle.”
Danielson and Sykes first met in middle school, when the pair started playing field hockey in Livermore, Calif. USA National Coach Gavin Featherstone saw California as a prime location to jump-start boys field hockey, and began putting on clinics in the area. Featherstone had coached the 1984 Olympic squad, claiming the title of youngest coach to take a national team to the Olympics.
Within a span of a few weeks, Featherstone had the audience he was looking for. More than 1,000 boys around middle school age were attending his camps.
As time went on, Danielson and Sykes began to compete on a higher level, playing for the USA Junior and Senior National Teams; eventually winning a bronze medal for the USA at the 1995 Pan-American games in Argentina. Along the way, Danielson and Sykes travelled around the world, to more than 25 countries, rooming together and playing top-level field hockey.
After playing on the 1996 Olympic team, both Danielson and Sykes completed their undergraduate degrees, at San Diego State and California State-Hayward, respectively. In 1999, their paths began to separate.
Sykes and Danielson played one season of field hockey in Australia together for Club UTS in Sydney, but Sykes returned to the States to begin his coaching career. Danielson stayed and continued playing in Australia and Scotland.
After a brief stint at Towson, Sykes stepped into the interim head-coaching job at Cornell, but eventually found his niche at UAlbany in 2004. Since then Sykes has won three America East Championships, and this season earned the program’s best national ranking at No. 11 after starting 9-0.
Danielson made the jump to coaching in 2010 at Stanford. Along with his wife Tara, they began their own set of clinics in the San Diego area. Danielson and Sykes reconnected in California, where it all began, shortly thereafter. The two began sharing coaching experiences, asking each other questions, and reconnecting through coaching, rather than playing.
“After some time apart, it was interesting to see how we had changed,” said Sykes. “It’s neat to be able to share those experiences with someone you’ve known since childhood.”
Both coaches are hoping to be able to see more of each other in the future, with the Great Danes hoping to make a trip out to California. Until then, Danielson will hold the 1-0 head-to-head series lead.
