FREDERICK, Md. - Josh Funk has been named the first women's ice hockey head coach at Hood College, Director of Athletics Dr. Susan Kolb announced.
The Blazers will take the ice for the first time in the 2024-25 academic year, giving Funk approximately 18 months to recruit the inaugural team.
"I am extremely honored and excited to be named the first head coach of women's ice hockey at Hood College," said Funk. "Throughout the interview process, it was very clear the passion and dedication Hood has regarding starting and growing women's ice hockey, and how invested they are in developing a competitive identity. The energy on campus is exhilarating! I want to thank Dr. Susan Kolb, Director of Athletics, and Dr. Andrea Chapdelaine, Hood College President, for this incredible opportunity. I look forward to getting out right away to start the recruiting process throughout the U.S. and internationally."
Funk arrives in Frederick after a stint as the director of women's hockey at the Minnesota Advancement Program.
"We had a large, experienced candidate pool in our search for our first women's ice hockey coach, which supports our excitement from the campus and community," said Kolb. "Knowing the intricacies of starting a program, it was important that we selected a candidate who had the connections for recruiting, the experience as a head coach and the passion to develop our women's ice hockey program. Josh exhibited those characteristics we were looking for, and I am excited about the impact he will make on our hockey program, as well as our athletic department."
Funk served as the head coach at Division III Plymouth State from 2020-22. PSU opened his first season with a program-best three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and capped the COVID-19 abbreviated year with a thrilling overtime win over Castleton in the season's last weekend. The Panthers posted three shutouts over their eight games.
In his second season, Plymouth State won seven games and advanced to the first round of the New England Hockey Conference tournament. During his time on the Panthers' bench, he coached 27 NEHC All-Academic team members and six student-athletes earned American Hockey Coaches Association All-America Scholar accolades.
Prior to Plymouth State, Funk was an assistant coach for the women's program at NCAA Division I Robert Morris University. His career also includes stops at Albert Lea (Minn.) High School, St. Catherine (Minn.) University, Sugar Land (Texas) Imperials and Miami (Ohio) University while he also filled numerous roles with Minnesota Hockey CCM High Performance programs. He is a USA Hockey Level 4 coach.
Funk helped guide Robert Morris to a 20-12-4 record and a spot in the championship game of the College Hockey America tournament in 2019-20 after spending two years as the head girl's hockey coach at Albert Lea.
He led the Albert Lea program to its first playoff win in eight years, while his Tigers' team saw significant improvement in all areas, particularly goals scored, goals against, penalty kill, power play percentage, team wins and goalie save percentage. Under his direction Albert Lea earned consecutive Team Academic All-State selections, one of only 16 teams in the state to win the award and was the only team in Minnesota to earn the recognition in back-to-back years.
The Roseville, Minn. native served as an assistant women's hockey coach at D-III St. Catherine University in 2016-17 where he also taught in the Exercise Science program. He helped lead the Wildcats to their best record in seven years while also developing multiple All-MIAC selections.
In 2015-16, Funk was the assistant men's hockey coach and head equipment manager for the Sugar Land Imperials of the NA3HL (North American 3 Hockey League), one of two USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior leagues. His responsibilities included defense, goalie development, defensive and penalty kill systems and scouting and recruiting in the Midwest. The team posted its best record in franchise history and made its first playoff appearance while establishing program records for fewest goals against and highest penalty kill percentage.
Funk also gained experience at Miami University of Ohio, where he was an assistant coach for the women's club team while working towards his Master of Science in Sport Psychology. The Redhawks posted a 29-3-2 record and were runners up at the national tournament.
He got his start in coaching as a student assistant for the Gustavus Adolphus men's hockey program as a senior as the Gusties advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Funk graduated from Gustavus Adolphus in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a minor in coaching. He holds USA Hockey Level 4 certification.
