Mark Egner begins his fifth year at William & Mary in 2019, and second as Associate Head Coach after earning the promotion in February of 2018. On the field, Egner coordinates the Tribe defense, while also helping with all administrative and recruiting duties for W&M's nationally-recognized program.
After helping W&M improve from 7-12 his first year in 2015 and 9-10 in 2016, the last two seasons have been historic. The Tribe went 13-7 in 2017, making the CAA Championship game for the first time since 2002, and finishing the year ranked No. 19 nationally. In 2018, W&M took another step forward, winning the CAA Championship for the first time and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. The Tribe hosted and beat Monmouth in the opening round, its first-ever NCAA win, before falling to No. 1 and eventual NCAA Champion North Carolina in the first round. The results on the field over the last two years included road wins over No. 7 Michigan in 2017 and No. 14 Delaware in 2018, as well as a win over No. 15 James Madison in the 2017 CAA semifinals. The 2018 team was one of the most competitive in NCAA history, tying the national record with nine overtime contests, and ranking tied for second all-time in NCAA history with six overtime victories.
Egner's defensive unit has produced three-straight CAA Defensive Players of the Year, with Erin Menges' 18 being honored back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018, and Christie van de Kamp '20 winning the award in 2018. Menges is one of just two players in CAA history to win the award multiple times, and was named to the Team USA National Development Squad back-to-back years in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Van de Kamp, who was also named first-team All-CAA, all-region, and all-state in 2018, is a two-year member of the Team USA U21 Junior National team. Other standouts have included Booter Ellis '18, a three-year member of the All-CAA second team, as well as Cassidy Goodwin '20, who was named to the all-rookie team in 2016 and second-team All-CAA in 2018.
Before coming to W&M, Egner was an assistant coach for two years at Longwood. With the Lancers, he was responsible for assisting with all program aspects including practice, academics, recruiting, and clinics. He helped Longwood improve its defense into the nation's top 50 in 2014, and recruited Longwood's top overall female rookie of the year for 2014-15. He has served as a clinician and camp staff for field hockey camps both in Europe and in the U.S. since 2008, including at VCU, North Carolina, Princeton, W&M, and Longwood.
Egner has also worked for USA Field Hockey for the past several years, serving as coach, site director, and selector for the Futures program in the state of Virginia. That includes working with several levels of athletes in the high school and collegiate ranks, identifying and training athletes who are the path to joining Team USA squads. He also helped coach the U19 Junior National Team on a tour of Germany in the spring of 2016, and has coached at the Young Women's National Championships each of the past two summers. In March of 2018, he again traveled with the U19 team on a competition tour of Ireland, and was named an assistant coach for the U17 Junior National team for the 2018-19 season.
Prior to coming across the pond to coach in the U.S., Egner spent four years as a coach in his native Ireland. He was an assistant coach and video coordinator with the Irish Hockey Association's U-18 and Senior National teams in 2012, before becoming the head coach at the Fermoy Hockey Club. Egner also served turns as head and assistant coach of the U18 women's program for the Munster Hockey Association in Munster, Ireland, selecting and training 18-20 athletes each year for the national team selection tournament.
Egner earned his Bachelor's of Education from the Church of Ireland College of Education in 2009, and completed the same degree with Honors the following year at Trinity College Dublin. In 2015, he coached a U-19 team from the Richmond area to third place at the National Indoor Championships, and led Railway Union to the Irish Junior Cup title in 2011. Egner was also nominated for the Irish Hockey Association's "Coach of the Year" in 2013. He is currently pursuing an MSc in Performance Coaching from the University of Stirling in Scotland.
