After returning from a summer trip across the Netherlands, Villanova field hockey has started the season with a 5-3 record.
The Wildcats had a strong beginning to Big East play on Friday, with a dominating, 6-1 win against Georgetown before defeating William & Mary on Sunday, 2-1.
One factor contributing to Villanova’s early success is having an Olympian on the coaching staff, with assistant coach and Pennsylvania native Karlia Kisha rejoining the team full time after previously working under ‘Cats head coach Joanie Milhous for three seasons (2018-20).
“I know the area, I know how much field hockey lives in the area,” Kisha said. “It’s huge, it flourishes here. I’ve always seen the opportunities at Villanova. Talking to [Coach Milhous] and her dreams for Villanova at that time…I was just so excited to see her excitement for the team and for the program that I just fell in love with the school.”
Before coming to Villanova, Kisha was part of two national championship teams and four final four teams at UConn, being named a NFHCA Division I All-American and to the NCAA Division I Championship All-Tournament Team her senior year.
“It was awesome,” Kisha said. “I think we only lost, like, five games in four years, which was pretty cool. I was lucky and fortunate to be amongst a great group of women… Talent and skill can only go so far if you don’t have a team culture to back that up, in teammates that you want to play for, and who you would do anything for.”
During her college years, Kisha competed for the United States National U21 and U19 teams. In 2019, while she was volunteer-coaching at Villanova, she was named to the U.S. Women’s National Team traveling roster for the U.S. Women’s National Development Squad tour of The Netherlands.
By 2020, Kisha took time away from helping at Villanova to focus on her career with the U.S. National Team as she continued on the Olympic Development Pathway. After being bumped up to the senior US Women’s National Team in 2021, Kisha went on to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kisha’s path to achieving her dream was not an easy one, as her team had to fight hard in the 2024 FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier as one of the lowest-ranked teams and after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“It was crazy,” Kisha said. “I don’t think anyone thought we were going to do it, except for us. Keep in mind, once we beat Japan to qualify in India, we ended up being in India for seven weeks. We all lost, like, ten pounds. We literally came back skin and bones. We all got sick within 48 hours. It was something, but great team bonding, that’s all I have to say. But to be on the field and not only have my dreams come true, but to see [the team’s] dreams come true was just absolutely awesome.”
With this achievement also came a personal roadblock for Kisha to navigate.
In early May, five weeks before the roster for Paris was announced, Kisha was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. Two weeks after her diagnosis, Kisha had surgery to remove her thyroid and the lymph nodes to which the cancer had spread. In the following weeks, she underwent radiation as she tried to make it back on the field.
Within the span of a month, Kisha went from diagnosis to her return to competition, eventually earning a spot on the 16-player roster.
“It was all kind of a whirlwind, a very quick turnaround to try and get the cancer out because I had a slightly more aggressive type of thyroid cancer,” Kisha said. “It ended up spreading to my lymph nodes, so I have a pretty decent scar. My surgeon did a great job. I was able to get back out and play an international game a little over two weeks later. But then over the summer, right before we left, I had to get radiation so I was radioactive for a little bit. I wasn’t fully cleared to go to Paris until about five days before we left. It was not pretty, lots of emotions, lots of ups and downs, but just made the Olympics that much sweeter.”
Although the team did not get out of the group stage in the Olympics, Kisha can forever say that she is an Olympian and experienced the dream of representing Team USA.
“It was so cool,” Kisha said. “We had air conditioning. Our beds were fine. The chocolate chip muffins were fantastic. The camaraderie of Team USA and all of the teams, even just Olympians themselves, was such a cool thing to be a part of. My teammates and I all went and got the Olympic rings tattoo together in Paris. It was fun.”
