Adele Boyd
Field Hockey
Legendary Field Hockey & Lacrosse pioneer
Adele P. Boyd was an accomplished and revered athlete, coach, teacher, and mentor.
A superb athlete, she played fieldhockey, lacrosse, tennis, and squash. In field hockey, she was a member of the Philadelphia Association Team from 1953 to 1967. She played on the US national team from 1959 to 1967, serving as captain from 1963 to 1967. She played on touring squads that traveled to Great Britain in 1962, Jamaica in 1964, and Germany in 1967. In addition, she served as a national umpire, officer, and team selector for the United States Field Hockey Association.
Adele was also a member of the USA Umpiring Committee in lacrosse and, from 1975 to 1977, a national officer and vice president of the United States Women’s Lacrosse Association. She was an avid tennis player and won multiple women’s singles and doubles championships at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, where she was a member for 56 years.
Adele P. Boyd graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1949 and then attended Ursinus College, graduating in 1953. She received her Master’s degree in Education from Temple University and, in 1954, joined the faculty at Cheltenham High School to teach English and physical education, and to coach the field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse teams.
In 1967, Adele became a faculty member at Ursinus College. In 1972, she took over for Eleanor Snell as the field hockey head coach, beginning a 17-year career that would include 16 winning seasons.
In the late 1970s, Boyd led the Lady Bears to three consecutive second-place finishes in the AIAW Tournament. Her 1983 squad won the Eastern College Athletic Conference title. Her teams were consistently ranked in the national Top 20 and were considered among the best in the nation. “Adele was one of the special women who have led Ursinus in so many ways – being a terrific teacher, coach, mentor and friend to so many,” said Ursinus College Athletic Director Laura Moliken. “Her contributions to Ursinus have been selfless; she will forever be a part of the great legacy and tradition of women’s sports here at the college. I, like so many others, am grateful to have known Adele and to call her a friend.”
Adele believed in widening the world of her students. She took her field hockey teams on tour to New Zealand, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, and Ireland. “I tried to make sure we went beyond the Perkiomen or beyond Pottstown…we went abroad,” Adele said in a 2016 interview, describing where her teams competed abroad. “Opening the doors to people and seeing what the world had to offer was neat. I’m most proud of all the people who went through the program with me.”
In 1993, she was the recipient of Heritage Award, given by the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, in recognition of her contributions to the growth and development of women’s athletics in the state. She was the author of various articles in magazines associated with sports as well as two books, Field Hockey: The Coach and the Player and Position Play by the Defense: The Fullbacks.
An Inaugural member of the United States Field Hockey Association Hall of Fame, Adele Boyd is also enshrined in the Ursinus College Hall of Fame for Athletes, the Cheltenham High School Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Adele P. Boyd retired in 2001 as a professor emeritus of exercise and sport science, and as associate director of athletics, at Ursinus College. She died January 27, 2018, at age 85.
