Kayla Bashore - Field Hockey Coach - Indiana University Athletics

Photo by: Lauren Bacho/Indiana Athletics

Kayla Bashore

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
kbashore@iu.edu

Kayla Bashore was named the head coach of the Indiana Field Hockey program on Jan. 22, 2019.

Bashore enters her sixth season as the head coach of Indiana Field Hockey in fall 2024.

In 2023, Bashore oversaw the continued development of the entire team and program. The Hoosiers had a number of memorable weekends with exciting finishes, including being the only 2-0 team at the 2023 Theresa Check Invitational (Sep. 3-4) in Oxford, Ohio, a 2-1 win in shootouts versus Penn (Sep. 16) in Evanston, Ill., and a 3-2 overtime victory over Kent State (Oct. 29) on Senior Day.

Under Bashore’s watch, freshman Inés Garcia Prado and redshirt senior Sydney Keld earned postseason accolades with both of them being named to All-Big Ten Second Team. Garcia Prado was also named to the NFHCA’s West Region Second Team. The Hoosiers also excelled in the classroom with 13 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten.

The Hoosiers took another big step in 2022 to build on the success in 2021. Bashore's squad reached nine victories to mark the first time the program had back-to-back nine-plus win seasons since 2014-2015. Moreover, the team defeated defending Big Ten Tournament champion and then ranked No. 21 Rutgers, 2-0, on Sep. 30, the Hoosiers' first win over the Scarlet Knights since 2016.

Hoosier goalkeeper Arabella Loveridge had 85 saves on the season, including 15 at No. 2 Maryland (Oct. 7), which was the fourth-most in a game by a single Indiana keeper. Sydney Keld notched 12 defensive saves, the most in program history, and the most in the 2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey season. Keld was named to the NFHCA West Region Second Team and All-Big Ten Second Team. Kennedy Reardon earned Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree while also being named a Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winner for 2022-23, she was one of 28 student-athletes and two field hockey players to earn the distinction.

In the classroom, the Hoosiers also excelled with ten players making the 2022 NFHCA National Academic Squad and 11 earning Academic All-Big Ten honors.

In 2021, Bashore led IU to a 10-win season for the first time since 2012. The Hoosiers recorded seven-shutout victories, breaking a program single-season record. IU knocked off No. 21 Miami (OH) and No. 16 Ohio State on the road, its first season with two ranked-road victories since 2005. Following wins over the Buckeyes and Michigan State, IU qualified for the 2021 Big Ten Tournament as one of the best seven teams in the conference. Its 5-0 win over Michigan State was the program’s largest margin of victory over a conference opponent in program history. After the season, Jes McGivern was named as a Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree while Kira Curland was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Tournament Team and NFHCA West Region Second Team.

In addition to the on the field success, Bashore has instilled a culture of success in the classroom. In the fall 2021 semester, 12 Hoosiers were named to the NFHCA Division I All-Academic Squad.

In 2019, during her first season at the helm, Bashore saw two Hoosiers land on the Big Ten Preseason watch list, Ciara Girouard and Hailey Couch. She earned her first win as head coach on Sept. 1 in a 4-3 win over Drexel. Bashore also earned her first ranked win on the road when they traveled to No. 23 Michigan State and beat the Spartans 4-2 behind Hailey Couch's first career hat trick. At the conclusion of the 2019 season, Hailey Couch was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and Grace Sensenig earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship award.

Bashore is a 2005 Indiana University graduate who was a two-time All-American and four-time All-Big Ten selection for the Hoosiers. After her IU playing career, she served on IU’s coaching staff as an assistant from 2006-2007. After her two-year stint on the IU coaching staff, Bashore went on to be an assistant coach at Columbia (2009), Transylvania University (2010-11) and Brown University (2014-16).

During her Indiana playing career, she received numerous awards including Big Ten Player of the Year (2005), NFHCA All-American (2003 & 2005), first-team All-Big Ten (2002, 2003, 2005), the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship & Leadership Award (2003), and the IU Balfour Award (2001). She ranks among the program's all-time leaders in goals (6th), points (7th) and shots (2^nd). She captained IU's 2005 team, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished as the Big Ten runner-up. The 2005 team still owns the program record for most wins in a single season (17).

Following her All-America playing career for the Hoosiers, Bashore enjoyed a highly successful eight-year run at the international level as a national team member with USA Field Hockey. She participated in 175 international competitions and got to compete for Team USA in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, where her teams placed eighth and 12^th, respectively.

In addition to her standout playing and coaching resume, Bashore is also the founder of two youth field hockey programs throughout the country. She co-founded Whitewater Festival, Inc., in 2007 in Mountain Top, Pa. Whitewater Festival designs, implements, and manages youth field hockey tournaments, camps, and clinics for children ages 4 to 18. She served as its president from 2007-10. As part of her Whitewater Festival role, she started the KaPow Field Hockey Club, which has grown to 180 current members. She also founded San Diego-based Abundant Life Sports, L.L.C. in 2012, which manages a variety of youth field hockey programs for kids ages 5 to 18. The events have expanded to three locations ––– Los Altos, Calif., San Diego, Calif. and Hamburg, Pa.