Princeton University Athletics
Bourbeau Honored by AHCA
January 20, 2011 | Women's Ice Hockey
Complete list of honorees can be accessed by clicking here.
Passionate, professional, and efficient are three words that immediately come to mind when describing Bourbeau. She has served along side Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal for 12 years in a partnership that is believed to be the longest of its kind in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. Said Kampersal in nominating Bourbeau for this award, "When Amy first came to Princeton, I was a young coach trying to define the culture of our program. Amy's forthright, honest approach created an environment that was disciplined and conducive to learning. An excellent communicator, Amy outlined roles and expectations, which increased our team's competitiveness and ultimately our team's wins.
"Amy has a brilliant hockey mind. Perhaps, her greatest strength is her ability to make in-game adjustments. She excels at attacking other team's weaknesses as well as solidifying areas of improvement that would help our team. Furthermore, she works tirelessly watching game tape, so she can best prepare our players during a typical week's practice. In her practices, she mixes repetition and creativity. She understands that basic skills are required to win and must be practiced repetitively. Using small games, she makes players think by simulating game-like situations."
A 1996 graduate of Providence College, where she led the Friars to three ECAC titles, Bourbeau began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Middlebury College in 1996. She served as the head coach at Williams College for one season before joining the Princeton staff for the 1999-00 season.
Another coach with Princeton ties, Laura Halldorson '85, was honored by the AHCA as the 2011 recipient of the Women's Ice Hockey Founders Award.
The award, which was presented for the first time in 2010, honors a member of the hockey community or college coaching profession who has contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of women's ice hockey in the United States through their enthusiasm, passion and selflessness. Halldorson will be presented the award at the 2011 AHCA Convention in Naples, FL, April 28-May 1.
Halldorson has been a true pioneer in the sport of women's hockey. She played hockey as a young person for her high school in Wayzata, Minnesota, and then went to play four years at Princeton where she led the Tigers to three Ivy League championships. She has coached at the college level since 1987 at Princeton, Colby, and the University of Minnesota. Her coaching has extended to the national team level as well.
One of the most successful women's hockey coaches in the nation and the first to lead a program to five consecutive Frozen Fours, Halldorson guided Minnesota to three national championships (2000, 2004, 2005) during her 10 seasons of competitive coaching and departed Minnesota with an impressive record of 278-67-22 (.787). Coaching seven years at Colby College before her hiring at Minnesota, Halldorson left an 18-year head coaching career with a 337-142- 31 overall record.
Now a resident of Plymouth, Minn., Halldorson received her B.A. in Psychology from Princeton in 1985. Twice an All-Ivy performer, she carried this success into her coaching career. Among her coaching honors, she was the AHCA's National Coach of the Year in 1998, 2002 and 2004. She currently works in the Athletic Development Office at the University of Minnesota.