Palm Desert alum Nicole Van Dyke named Big 10 Coach of the Year, led UW women’s soccer to historic season

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) -- Former Palm Desert high school soccer standout Nicole Van Dyke is making a name for herself on the national stage.

Van Dyke just led the Huskies to one of their best seasons in program history, but it's a year that was filled with success and sorrow.

"Very special season and there's a lot of joy and there's a lot of sadness, but I think one of the lessons we learned is that it can it can it can coexist," said Van Dyke.

Palm Desert native and former Aztec Nicole Van Dyke has been the head coach for Washington women's soccer since 2020.

And this past season, she helped the Lady Huskies to a Big 10 conference title, Big 10 tournament title, and an elite 8 finish in the NCAA tournament.

"It's something that you grow into as we develop players and bring in recruits that want to compete at the highest level. So it's been really fun to see. I think just their success over the last four years and just to see the program continue to grow. So really, really pumped for the players. When they buy in and compete with and for each other, you can do some really magical things," said Van Dyke.

The success did not come without suffering and sorrow. The team lost star goaltender Mia Hamant towards the end of the season, after she passed away due to kidney cancer. She was 21 years old.

"I think at the end of every year, you look back and you look at all the moments, the many moments that you had to celebrate, and I think one of the things that we did is we we celebrated all those moments with Mia. She was a part of everything that we did. So we didn't lose contact with her, that connection with her, and I think that's that's what good teams do as a teams that love each other and play for each other and compete against each other in training, but then they come together because they all have the same values and the same goal at hand," said Van Dyke.

It's easy to see why Van Dyke is such a great coach. She cares. She leads with her heart and pours her soul into the people within the program.

You know, the unconditional love part, the buying into something bigger than yourself. When you play with a purpose, sport can be a driver in that because there are so many highs and there are so many lows and I think it's just continuing to show up, bring your best, continually trying to move forward while bringing people with you along that journey," said Van Dyke.

"And I think that's one of the the special things that our team did this season."