Employee Directory

Kelly Rider Head Women’s Ice Hockey Coach/Game Administrator/Athletics Administration/ Student Athlete Advisory Committee
Athletics

Kelly Rider was named the first ever head coach of the Curry women's ice hockey team in 2020, and the team played its first varsity season in the 2021-22 academic year. She also serves as Curry's Senior Woman Administrator, athletics/academic liaison, and as a game administrator. Additionally, she is currently serving on the NCAA DIII Women’s Ice Hockey Championship Committee through August of 2027.

In just the program’s third season, Rider guided the Colonels to their first ever CCC Championship appearance. Since the program’s inception, the team’s record has improved each year. In the team's inaugural season, Rider helped lead the Colonels team, of all freshmen, to their first playoff victory over Suffolk, while freshman Grayson Goolgasian was named to the CCC Second Team All-Conference. The team doubled its win total in its second season, earning a playoff berth in the CCC Tournament. In the 2023-2024 season, the Colonels finished with a team record best of 11-12-5, winning all 5 shootout appearances. Soleil Archambeault was named the CCC Goalie of the Year and Curry College’s Female Athlete of the Year, while Danielle Reid was named to the CCC First Team All-Conference, and Hannah Berkowitz was named to the CCC Second Team All-Conference. The team also maintains the highest team average GPA among all Curry athletics teams.

Rider joined Curry after spending five years as the head women's ice hockey coach at Northland College, an NCAA Division III institution in Ashland, Wisconsin. She also held titles of Senior Woman Administrator and Interim Associate Athletic Director. She led Northland to a victory over No. 2 nationally-ranked Adrian College in just the 29th contest in program history. Under her leadership, seven student-athletes were named American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-American Scholars, including five in 2018, which was tied for the most in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHA). Rider also helped to guide two All-Conference goaltenders. Additionally, she served on the weekly ranking committee for d3hockey.com from 2015 to 2019.

Before her time at Northland, Rider spent much of her career in the Northeast. Her previous stops include two years at Neumann University in Ashton, Pennsylvania, the first as an assistant and the second as the Head Coach. She guided the Knights to an ECAC West Semifinal appearance in 2013 and had a student-athlete named to the ECAC West All-Rookie Team in 2014. She also served as an assistant for one season at nearby UMass-Boston. Additionally, Rider also spent three seasons coaching high school and prep school hockey at Canton High School and the Dexter-Southfield School.

Rider is active in USA Hockey as a coach, evaluator, and as an instructor in the coach education program. She serves as an evaluator and coach for the Central District and Pacific District. Additionally, she has been an evaluator for New York State. She also served as an intern coach for the USA Hockey U18 Developmental camps in Lake Placid and St. Cloud. She continues to speak at coaching clinics throughout the country. She currently holds a Level 5 USA Hockey coaching certification.

In addition to her USA Hockey coaching certification, she is also a Certified Athletic Trainer (NATA) and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA). In 2015, she served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Albany Academy Baseball team, helping to lead them to a New York State Section II Championship.

Rider earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training/Sports Medicine as well as a minor in Biology from Quinnipiac University in 2007, where she was a student-athlete on the women's ice hockey team (2003-07), and completed her Master's in Education with a specialization in Coaching from Boston University in 2010.