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Chrissy (Needham) Chappell enters her 11th season as the head field hockey coach at Connecticut College in 2024-25. 

Chappell has mentored 19 all-conference and 13 NFHCA All-Region honorees — including one defensive player of the year and one goalkeeper of the year — in her 14 seasons as a collegiate head coach. At Conn she has produced eight NFHCA All-Region selections, including six over the past seven seasons. Bridget McGann ’26 most recently earned the distinction in both 2022 and 2023.

Off the field, Chappell’s program has earned the NFHCA Team Academic Award for 10 straight years, and has consistently produced numerous NFHCA and NESCAC academic honorees. In 2023 the Camels led the nation in NFHCA National Academic Squad selections, boasting an impressive tally of 26 student-athletes on the prestigious list. A total of 20 student-athletes also landed on the NESCAC All-Academic Team, the most of any Conn College program for the fall 2023 season.

Prior to joining the Camels, Chappell served as head coach at both the Division II and III levels. She spent two years as head coach at American International College (2012-13) where she developed one All-American, a Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Year and five All-Northeast-10 performers. In two years at Kenyon College (2010-11), she led her team to a combined 15-11 North Coast Athletic Conference record and a NCAC semi-final berth in 2010. 

Before becoming a head coach at the collegiate level, Chappell served as an assistant at the University of Massachusetts. During this time, she helped the Minutewomen advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament twice.

A native of Killingworth, Conn., Chappell was a three-time Big East Conference champion and played in two NCAA Division I Final Fours as a student-athlete at the University of Connecticut. She was also a four-time Big East Academic All-Star and an NFHCA All-Academic selection.

After graduation, Chappell taught mathematics and coached field hockey at Greenwich High School. As a coach on the scholastic level, her clubs boasted a 42-3 record over a two-year span while also winning Connecticut’s CIAC Class L state championship twice in 2005 and 2006. She was also recognized as the CIAC Coach of the Year in 2005 and the FCIAC Coach of the Year in 2006.

Chappell earned a bachelor’s degree in education with a concentration in mathematics from the University of Connecticut in 2000 and a master’s in education at the same institution in 2001. A USA Field Hockey and National Field Hockey Coaches Association member, she holds a United States Field Hockey Level II Coaching Certificate and is also a graduate of the NCAA Women’s Coaches Academy. She was also inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023. 

Chappell currently resides in Mystic with her husband, Ryan, their son, Theodore.