USA Field Hockey Mourns Passing of Former USWNT Athlete & Penn Head Coach Val Cloud

Portions of Content & Image Courtesy of Penn Athletics

PHILADELPHIA – USA Field Hockey was saddened to learn of the passing of former national team athlete, beloved coach and college official Val Cloud on July 24.

Cloud was named to the U.S. Women's National Team and played on the team for five years (1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973).

Cloud was a coach with the Penn Athletics field hockey program for three decades, spending 15 seasons as an assistant coach under Anne Sage before taking over as head coach from 1995 until her retirement in 2009.

Cloud - who also was Sage's assistant coach with women's lacrosse for 15 seasons - won 115 games across her 15 seasons as head field hockey coach and led Penn to the Ivy title in 2004. That team went 13-4 overall, still the second-highest win total for a single season in program history behind the 14 wins that the Quakers' 1988 Final Four team put together.

Read Val Cloud's full obituary here

Cloud was appointed head field hockey coach in 1995 and quickly established herself as one of the country's most respected coaches. That year she led the Quakers to a 10-7 record and a third-place finish in the Ivy League. In 1997, she helped the Red and Blue earn a berth in the ECAC Championship and recorded her second double-digit win season. The following year, Penn served as host of the 1998 NCAA Field Hockey National Championship at Franklin Field.

Cloud coached three National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-Americans - Sue Quinn in 1995, Liz Lorelli in 2003, and Lea Salese in 2005 - and 16 women earned Mid-Atlantic Region honors under her tutelage. She also guided 38 All-Ivy honorees, including four unanimous first-team selections, and the 2004 Ivy League Rookie of the Year in Melissa Black.
As an assistant coach at Penn, Cloud helped lead Penn to seven Ivy League titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances from 1980 to 1994. In all, Penn compiled an impressive 236 victories on the field hockey and lacrosse playing fields with Cloud's assistance.

A 1969 graduate of SUNY College of Brockport, Cloud was inducted into that school's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. She played field hockey and basketball for the Golden Eagles and was student coach of the field hockey team as a senior. Cloud was named to the U.S. Women's National Team as a senior and played on the team five times (1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973). Cloud also was a college official for field hockey, basketball and lacrosse for several years and was Philadelphia Official of the Year in 1981.

"Val Cloud changed our lives. As a legendary coach, mentor, and pioneer, she built more than championship teams. She fostered united through our shared journey. Val recruited not just talented athletes, but passionate scholar-athletes who loved Penn, loved the game, and most of all, loved each other. Her legacy lives on in the lifelong friendships she nurtured, the excellence she demanded, and the transformational power of women supporting women. We love you, Val. Thank you for everything."

 - UPenn's 2004 Ivy League Championship Team, courtesy of Bernice Raveche Garnett, UPenn '05 and current UVM Field Hockey's Faculty Advisor to the Coaching Staff

"Val was a gifted coach. She showed trust and respect to her players and coaches and led them to be the best that they can be. She allowed me to use my personality and all my coaching of the team. Thank you, Val."

- Gwen Wentz Cheeseman-Alexander, Los Angeles 1984 Bronze Medalist, former USWNT goalkeeper coach, former UPenn Assistant Coach, and former Temple University Head Coach

"Val had a way of being firm without ever needing to be fierce. She held high expectations for her players but gave us the space and opportunity to exceed them. She knew from her own experience as a player, that the lasting impact of collegiate field hockey wasn't the record or the score, but the relationship you built. That was evident in the way she coached. She encouraged us to lead, to rely on one another, and to grow together. Val shaped us not only as athletes and teammates, but as friends, leaders, and young women finding our place in the world. Val cared just as deeply about who we were becoming off the field as she did about our performance on it. I'm forever grateful for her guidance during such formative years; not just for pushing me to be my best, but for reminding me that true success came from working together and supporting one another."

- Kelsey Nickles Wertz, UPenn '08, Ocean City High School (NJ) '04

"The UPenn players loved Val. She taught them so many life lessons such as resilience and toughness. She led by example and like her, Val's players fully committed to the craft that they loved. She inspired those Ivy league student-athletes to fight with a team-first mentality.  Val coached with the highest ethics and demanded the same upright standards of her players and staff.  The hockey community will miss Val Cloud as she is one of the legendary USA National Team players who competed before scholarships were available for women. We stand on her shoulders and are grateful for the memories we had of UPenn's legendary coach, Val Cloud." 

- Amanda Janney Misselhorn, Penn State Harrisburg Head Coach and former UPenn Assistant Coach

"Dear Val, On behalf of myself and the hundreds of other women you took under your wing as coach, thank you for your dedication to the sport of field hockey and to all of us as student athletes. You advocated for your athletes and you believed in us all, both on and off the field. Our well being was at the forefront of your thoughts and actions, and you always put us first. Our memory of your intense love for the sport was a commonality that bonded us all. Your passion to compete set a high standard, which ultimately forged the path to our Ivy League championship. Thank you for the opportunity to play for you and wear the name UPenn proudly on my back. Your legacy will carry on through the countless stories and memories that I share with my family and friends as these were some of the best years of my life. Val- you are a pioneer for women in sport and I am grateful to have been under your mentorship. You will forever be with me. 

With love, "

- Lea (Salese) Mirabile, UPenn class of 2006, Pingry '02

"It is with great fondness we remember and recognize Val Cloud for her service, not just to the game, but more importantly to the young players she mentored during her illustrious career. Hers was a career that was focused on the development of others, and she worked hard to enhance the experience of many, leading by example and guiding many, many others. We are so appreciative of the dedication she had to not just hockey but the entirety of the student-athlete. Our condolences to her immediate family as well as the family of athletes she created."

- Chip Rogers, USA Field Hockey's Board of Directors President